Rural Development - A Basic Condition For Narrowing Regional Disparities In Romania

Rural community development may be described as a territorial development approach. In Romania the territorial disparities have historical, cultural and economic roots. Also the industrialisation process in the period before 1989 and later the structural changes during the transition to market economy had a long run impact on the rural areas. The rural space covers over 87% of the territory and 45% of the population, these shares being significantly higher than in other EU countries. The high dependence of rural population on subsistence agriculture and the low level of income and living standards have made the regions dominated by rural areas less attractive. As a result, in the last decade, the emigration of the economically active population to urban areas and to EU countries has increased. The paper focuses on a multi-criteria analysis of rural-urban disparities in Romania and on the strategic role of multifunctional and sustainable rural development for the reduction of regional disparities and of labour force deficit.