Theoretical definition of rural areas constitutes a classical subject of academic studies in the field of geography. However, this definition also begins to assume the role of a more and more indispensable instrument that is used for the purpose of assessment of the policy of development of rural areas at the national and European level. The aim of this paper is to present a comparative review of the latest official definitions of a rural area that are used in over thirty European countries in order to characterise the most important divisions and criteria of application as well as the resulting, different typologies. Regardless of the theoretical exercise itself it seems that a certain international convergence begins to gradually surface in Europe in connection with the EU requirements pertaining to spatial development and the need to formulate the definition of gradual, regional, multi-scale and functional development of rural areas in Europe.
Basing on the opinions of farmers the authors have constructed a linear programming model to analyse the possibilities of altering the allocation of means allocated for the development of rural areas and ventures increasing the competitiveness of Polish agriculture. The conducted analyses have indicated that the preferences of small and medium-sized farms differ from the preferences of the large farms. Therefore, different activities create opportunities for the development of these three types of farms. Consequently, the optimal allocation of means for the development of rural areas is different in the opinion of the owners of small and medium-sized farms and in the opinion of the large farm owners.
This article marks an attempt at determining the level of entrepreneurship in rural areas, with special attention given to social-economic factors that have stimulated growth in the number of economic entities formed by natural persons. The problem of economic activity carried out by natural persons analysed at the level of communes reveals a relatively great spatial diversification. A dynamic rise in the number of non-agricultural businesses recorded in 1995-2007 related to 14 territorial units in which the value of the entrepreneurship index exceeded 80. The analysis of spatial diversification of the development of entrepreneurship showed a high index value for areas attractive from the point of view of investments and tourism. Another zone of development of entrepreneurship is formed by areas located near major urban centres and areas situated close to transport routes. The conducted research has also indicated that a rise in the economic activity of natural persons is closely connected with attitudes characterising rural population and with its access to financial resources.
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