Multifunctional Rural Development

Rural area was traditionally connected with agriculture. To compare with urban, rural areas were considered to be backward, retarded, not worthy of an intensive research. But the situation has changed in the last time. Although cities are still centres of development in the globalization process, people in Europe leave them as a result of the processes of suburbanization and counter-urbanization. The share of rural population slowly increases in European countries. In addition, farmers form only a minority in contemporary rural settlements. The countryside is getting to be a multi-functional space. Secondary and tertiary sectors penetrate to the countryside. Tourism and agro-tourism develop in the large scale. Agriculture is getting focused more on the maintenance of landscape than with the production. On the other hand, environmental problems also have an impact on rural landscape. European countryside develops within the globalization process