DEVELOPMENT ACTORS IN MULTIFUNCTIONAL RURAL SPACES IN

Like in other countries of the European periphery, deep social and economic change has taken place over the last few decades in rural Portugal. A major outcome has been an increasing social and demographic differentiation of the rural space. However, the intensity and nature of this change have not had even impacts on all parts of the Portuguese countryside and are reflected in an increasing inner economic, social and demographic differentiation. In fact, increased interregional economic, social and demographic differentiation emerged, and new types of rural spaces can now be distinguished, such as peri-urban, intermediate and deep countryside. This paper focuses the Lima Valley, an intermediary rural space in northwestern Portugal. Its objective is to identify the territory’s main development actors that will serve as the basis for a subsequent discussion on the adequacy of some local development instruments. The discussion is based on the analyses of statistical data and policy instruments at different levels and the experience from fieldwork. The main conclusion is that in designing the main local development instrument, th