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Rural development
“Rural development is a specific aspect of territorial development. It
originates in the fact that the industrial and urban society which has been
prevailing in Europe for more than one century has left out from growth and
development trends numerous rural areas, in particular the most remote and
peripheral ones. Rural development has therefore become a priority of
spatial development policies in most European States.
In more recent years, a strong diversification of rural areas has however
taken place in Europe, with some rural regions benefiting largely from the
proximity of large agglomerations, others from tourism and/or from the
settlement of retirees, while a number of other rural areas are still facing
constraints of remoteness and marginalisation leading to out-migration of the
population. It results from this that the tasks related to rural development are
rather diversified and largely depend upon the context and situation of the
rural areas considered. They comprise measures such as the improvement
of accessibility, of living conditions, of the environment, the conservation of
cultural landscapes and of the cultural and natural heritage, the promotion of
soft tourism, the encouragement of small and medium-sized towns as well
as large villages to act as service suppliers for their rural hinterlands, the
promotion of high-quality regional agricultural, forestry and craft products
while adopting environmentally-friendly production practices.”