Rapid change in the international economy - globalisation, improved communications and reduced transportation costs, changing trade patterns for commodities, and the emergence of important non farm activities in rural regions - confront rural regions with some obvious threats but also with significant opportunities. Against this background, policy makers increasingly recognise that traditional sectoral policies need...

This book presents an innovative analysis of the notion of culture applied to territorial and local development.

In recent years, the main focus of territorial policy has been on sustaining growth, not only to address relative decline, but also to make regions more competitive. Putting this in practice is complicated because different regions have different characteristics (urban, intermediate, industrial, rural, etc.), which imply specific policy and investment needs. This report assesses the...

The following case study on the Lake Balaton region in Hungary is organised in four parts:

1. The work that the OECD Rural Working Party has carried out in the last years has converged towards acceptance that sectoral approaches to rural areas have not given the expected results and that there is a need for more effective, place-based policies which can better capture the diverse challenges and potential of rural areas...