EIGHTEEN hairpin bends on a mountain road separate the four Alpine hamlets of Nâves (pictured) from the towns in the valley below. At this time of year villagers are busy preparing winter stocks: chopping firewood, harvesting sugar beet, or laying down carrots in crates of sand. A century ago 650 people lived in Nâves, tending cattle and living off the land. Today the figure is just 123. Yet for the first time in a century, the decline has reversed.
Across western Europe, once-populous hamlets like Nâves are challenging policymakers to find a way to keep services going and villages viable. Rural areas in most of Europe’s poorer regions, including the former east but also Spain, Portugal and Greece, are emptying out as younger generations head for the cities. Yet after decades of decline, France’s villages have been growing again—even in unfashionable parts that tourists seldom reach. In 1982-1990, the remotest rural areas in France were still losing 6,400 people a year. By 1999-2007, those same areas had recorded an annual net gain of 59,800 .
The reasons are a mix of public policy and changing aspirations. France’s strong…