Rapid transition from rural to peri-urban settlement in coastal southern Western Australia, combined with the potential changes in climate, demographic growth and intergenerational transitions, are creating potential future policy challenges. This has emerged as an issue for research within the context of the natural resource management (NRM) sector in the region and the concept of ‘transitions’ of knowledge and capital as Australia ages.

In a discussion about ‘rural futures’ for the developed world, a landmark paper written in 1999, which focuses on the issue for the developing world, offers some frameworks for discussion. This chapter draws on this framework to highlight key issues. It begins with a statement of the issue and some reflections from the literature; it then gives a snapshot of the region in question and of the evidence gathered to date, summarising some aspects of the framework and concluding with some questions for future research.