Standard and quality of life of rural areas population in the view of new paradigm of development

One of the main tasks of modern civilization is development according to a New Paradigm, so-called sustainable development. It involves economic and social development with respect to the state of environment. Demands of sustainable development involve the notion of intergenerational justice, which provides the possibilities of meeting the requirements of humanity in the future. A man constitutes the centre of interest and is the main subject of sustainable development. Its superior aim is to fulfill the needs and aspirations of people, especially the improvement of their standard and quality of life. The work presents analysis of theoretical and empirical issues connected with the development, as well as the standard and quality of life of rural areas population in the region of Lower Silesia, taking into account its functional regions. The analysis made use of sustainable development indexes, basing on normalization method. The mentioned indexes involved housing conditions, as well as expenses connected with housing, health, culture and sport. Areas situated in the surrounding of larger urban agglomerations with higher potential of development, proved to acquire higher standards and quality of life. From the regional point of view the lowest values featured region I of rural character. Research results clearly defined the standard and quality of life of rural areas population in Lower Silesian voivodeship, as well as the changes in these two examined parameters, which confirmed the results of the research conducted in the territory of the whole country.