To make something less rural or rural in character; to reduce the rural nature or agricultural focus of a place or community.
From 'de-' (reverse, remove) + 'ruralize' (make rural), from Latin 'ruralis' (relating to the countryside). The word describes the opposite process of making something rural.
This is the opposite of 'urbanize'—as cities sprawl outward, suburbs 'deruralize' farmland, a process that ecologists and sociologists study intensely in development studies!
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