An interesting chap called Jinan posted on a group, where I have been a passive participant for some time. Jinan, based on his experience of living with rural communities, observes that children who grow up in these communities seem to be more skilled, mature and responsible - caring better for their siblings, less prone to tantrums.
Like many of us, I have always been in cities. As a student (at school and later in Design School) I have always found that those who had spent their earlier years in rural areas were (on the average), were perceptibly responsive and responsible, mature and calm - there was a sense of dignity about them. As an aside, recent studies sponsored by the National Geographic society on immunity and allergies also shows those with a rural upbringing more resistant to the usual ills and ailments that plague their city counterparts.
Our former neighbours in India - both scientists at the Indian Space Reaserch Org gave up lucrative careers to bring up their two children in a rural community - and there are echoes of these in the west - more and more people are heading out to the countryside (so are supermarkets).
Again, on a more academic note, there are a few themes -
The whole Marxist take on the rift between the consumers and the producers - in rural communities, the producer or craftsman may still have a direct connection with the consumer, making his or her labour worthwhile. The theme of cities and human alienation is another one - modern Philosophers like Henri Lefebvre and the Situationist Movement led by Guy Debord, looked upon spontaneity, play and festivities as necessities of daily life opposing the forces of beauracratic planning - unfortunately city life itself seems to present a vision of governments, planners and architects - of control and activities dictated by time.
James Donald describes his grand overview (a view of NY from the World Trade Centre), devoid almost of human beings, as "the fantasy that motivates planners and reformers in their desire to make the city an object of knowledgeable and governable space". Le Corbusier is another professional that some would love to trash - his utopian vision of cities is a sanitised one. Far removed from the humane existence of unplanned but organic existence. In a nutshell - these writers/thinkers give us more and more reasons why life close to nature favours a much higher probability of growth and development of a humane child within a fullfilling family context.
Another reference point may be the more recent television documentary exploring the concept of happiness and if it can be measured. Part of a 10 point finding (in a boring but commercially sucessful town of Slough) was that those who feel part of a community and are involved in growing (plants, and possibly beards) are statistically more likely to be happy - again supporting the case for small rural communities...
See:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/lifestyle/tv_and_radio/making_slough_happy/
Enough random ramblings, its a subject close to my heart, but if you are looking for material, inspiration or further support there is plenty around - the work of French philosophers, anthropologists and thinkers in the second half of the 20th century is a excellent starting point. And let me start looking for a house in the countryside and more importantly grab my lunch before the sandwiches run out.
