This report critically reviews social science perspectives on rural-urban relations and their incorporation into public policy and governance structures as a foundation for the Horizon 2020 ROBUST (Rural-Urban Outlooks: Unlocking Synergies). ROBUST builds on an extensive body of work in human geography, sociology, planning and regional science that has repeatedly explored rural-urban differences and interactions over several decades, which has informed rural and urban policy and governance arrangements. It questions the prevailing dichotomy in which the rural and the urban have been conventionally conceived as separate and distinct arenas for policy and governance, and seeks to instead promote the management of rural-urban synergies.