Infrastructural Equipment of Rural Settlements in Croatia

Predmetom je članka odnos seoskih i gradskih naselja i mjesto seoskih naselja u naseljskoj mreži hrvatskog društva. Izneseni su i rezultati empirijskog istraživanja opremljenosti hrvatskih sela institucijama socijalne i tehničke infrastrukture provedenom u 107 sela u projektu Sociološki aspekti mreže naselja u kontekstu tranzicije. U hijerahijski i piramidalno organiziranoj naseljskoj mreži, na čijem su vrhu najveći gradovi i državno središte kao najvažnija središta u prostoru, seoska su naselja po funkcijama i važnosti smještena vrlo nisko. Zato je ovo pogled na ono što se zbiva na dnu te piramide. Seoska su naselja loše opremljena socijalnom i tehničkom infrastrukturorn. Selima nedostaju i elementarne službe i institucije, pa su upućena koristiti njihove usluge u većim lokalnim središtima i gradovima. Istraživanje je pokazalo svu složenost, međuovisnost i isprepletenost odnosa tipova naselja. Hrvatska ima sustav od gotovo 700 središnjih naselja. Osim gradova, u toj je mreži oko 75% seoskih središta. Očito se u seoskim sredinama stvara mreža lokalnih središta, a to su ponajviše seoski općinski centri i važnija seoska središta. Budući da je od 107 seoskih naselja obuhvaćenih uzorkom bilo 35 tih centara, moglo se rasvijetliti i njihovu uloga u procesima modernizacije suvremenog sela. Istraživanje je, dalje, pokazalo poboljšanje kvalitetnije opremljenosti sela institucijama socijalne i objektima tehničke infrastrukture samo u komunalnoj infrastrukturi i širenju nekih uslužnih djelatnosti važnih za svakodnevni život u selu. Izrazit je nedostatak zdravstvenih i obrazovnih ustanova, a u tom su pogledu i seoska središta slabo opremljena. Disperzivna naseljenost u seoskom prostoru i mnoštvo malih i patuljastih sela otežavajuće djeluje na infrastrukturnu opremljenost, dostupnost i kvalitetu usluga na raspolaganju seoskom stanovništvu. To upućuje na potrebu uravnoteženijeg razvoja u prostoru i jačanja lokalnih razvojnih žarišta u policentričnoj mreži naselja, pri čemu bi se u današnjem selu koje znatno širi dimenzije svog prostora, smanjila važnost teritorija, a mreža utjecaja i usluga među gradićima i seoskim središtima u širem seoskom prostoru dobila na važnosti. To bi nesumnjivo poboljšalo i kvalitetu života u suvremenom selu, i usporilo snažan ruralni egzodus što je prouzročio veliku neuravnoteženost ukupna prostora.The subject of this article is a relation between the rural and urban settlements and the rural settlements position within the Croatian society network of settlements. The article also gives the results of the empirical research into how well the Croatia\u27s villages are equipped with institutions of social and technical infrastructure, carried out in 107 villages within the project Sociological aspects of the network of settlements in the transition context. In terms of function and importance, in hierarchically and pyramidally organized network of settlements - on the top of which there are the biggest cities and the state centre as central and the most important spatial centres - rural settlements are placed very low. This is why this article is the view upon what is going on at the bottom of that pyramid. Rural settlements are poorly equipped with social and technical infrastructure. Because of the deficiency of elementary agencies and institutions in villages, the villagers have to go and use their services in bigger local centres and towns. The research has shown how complex, interdependent and interwoven the relations between the types of settlements are. Croatia has a system of nearly 700 central settlements. Besides the towns, this network encompasses about 75% rural centres. It is obvious that in rural areas a local centres\u27 network is being formed, these local centres being mostly rural municipal centres and more important rural centres. As among the 107 rural settlements making the research sample there were 35 such centres, their role in the processes of the contemporary village modernization could have been enlightened. The research has also shown that the improvement in terms of more quality equipment of villages with the institutions of social infrastructure and installations and objects of technical infrastructure had only occurred in the field of basic infrastructure, like power stations, sewers, roads, and in expansion of some services important for the everyday life in the village. The insufficiency of medical and educational institutions is notable, and even rural centres are poorly equipped in this concern. Infrastructural equipment, accessibility and quality of service at disposal of the inhabitants of rural areas is being impacted by the burden of dispersive settling in rural areas as well as by a great many of small villages and dwarf hamlets. This situation points at the need for more balanced development within the space and for the strengthening of local development centres within the polycentric network of settlements. In this case, in the nowadays village that is significantly broadening the size of its space the importance of territory would decrease, and the network of impacts and services between small towns and rural centres in broader rural space would become more important. It would undoubtedly also improve the quality of living in eon-temporary village, and slow down intense rural exodus that had brought to the great imbalance in the entire space