Developmental Difficulties and Developmental Priorities of Communes and Towns of Ličko-senjska County in Local Experts Optics

The paper is founded upon the survey research in developmental aspirations and attitudes made in 1996 for the purpose of making the programme of spatial regulation of Licko-senjska County, which is undeveloped and impoverished rural area. The research was carried out by means of inquiry made among the representatives of local expert groups rom seven towns and communes of the County. Because of the breach in systematically carried out researches, this paper is among the rare empirical scientific works on undevelope rural areas in Croatia made in the last ten years. The insight in developmental resources and factors and in development planning and organization is not possible without socia and above all, sociological researches. The price of this situation is known: for pure or no insight at all, developmental resources are being wasted and many actions aiming at revitalization of economically and demographically depressed regions have failed. The results of the research of perception of the way and extent the towns’ and communes’ belong to the County, of the judgement of developmental difficulties and priorities set by towns and communes as well as suggestions given by the participants of inquiry, are given in this paper by towns and communes. The author concludes with deduction and interpretation of common characteristics. First, because of the size and heterogeneity of the sparsely populated region and in the absence of a strong centre as well as because of the influence of Rijeka, Zagreb and Split macroregions, the cohesion of Licko-senjska County is very poor and the question of its identity is still open. Second, this County undoubtedly belongs to Croatian periphery with prevailing rural communities in all its communes and in small undeveloped towns without motivation for setting development in motion. Common causes generating County’s developmental problems and originating particu ar developmental difficulties and priorities make the contents of the characteristics mentione