Rural residential development and municipal service provision: a Canadian case study

The relationships between rural residential development and the provision of services in rural municipalities are explored for a township in southern Ontario, Canada. The evolution of the settlement pattern, particularly the density of nonfarm development, is traced from 1955 to 1983 using aerial photographs and field surveys. The implications of this settlement morphology for the provision of services, especially their cost, are examined, focussing upon three services: roads, school bus transportation, and fire protection. Despite the demonstrated difficulty in segregating the effects of settlement morphology on service provision, this issue has played an important role in the formulation and application of policies pertaining to rural residential development. These policies, which have a relatively short yet nonetheless lively history in Ontario, are shown to be reflected in the present pattern of nonfarm settlement in the study area.