Rural areas: definition, management and development prospects

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:39

Rural area is any area of human habitation, with the exception of cities and suburbs. It includes natural areas, agricultural land, villages, towns, farms and farms. The diversity of rural areas is associated with various types of economic activities. This can be nature protection (zakazniks), recreation areas (dachas, hotels, etc.), agriculture, hunting, mining and processing of minerals, places of residence for people, roads, railways, etc.

Rural Development

In the historical past, the countryside has experienced a gradual transformation. Depending on the stages of development, it is divided into the following categories:

• Natural - with a predominance of subsistence farming. Characterized by small rare isolated settlements against the background of the natural (natural) environment. In the past it was the most common option. Now found mainly in backward countries and regions.
• Early. The development of agriculture and hunting predominates, and the territory becomes more differentiated. Strengthening connectionrural settlements with each other and with cities. There is an orientation towards obtaining a certain (predominant) type of product.
• Average. With it, the territorial differentiation of the economy increases, the number of the rural population stops growing.
• Late. Specialized farms and agricultural enterprises, industrial enterprises are being created. The rural population is decreasing due to the outflow of the population to the cities.
• Recreational-ecological. Rural settlements are being replaced by dachas, holiday homes and other similar facilities.

Rural settlements

There is no clear boundary between the village and the city. Most often, population size is considered as a criterion. However, classical rural settlements are also characterized by other features: the predominance of low-rise buildings, the presence of a household, low population, and low infrastructure development. In this case, the criterion is the way of life of people, which is reflected in the activities of the village council.

Typical rural settlements are characterized by lower building density, smaller (on average) size of private houses, fewer cars (per person). The standard of living is generally lower than in cities. In many farms there is no medical service at all. Poultry, cattle, pigs and goats are common. The governing body is the administration of the rural settlement.

PopulationRural areas tend to be he althier than urban areas, which is associated with more quality natural foods in the diet, higher physical activity and less environmental pollution.

Differences between urban and rural settlements

Urban and rural settlements can be divided based on the following features:

• total population in this locality;
• level of development of transport, industry, construction;
• the level of infrastructure development and the degree of well-being of the environment, public and private facilities;
• degree of development of the service sector and its role in the economy of the settlement;
• peculiarities of the way of life of the population;
• prevailing standard of living of the population, material we alth;
• level of education and access to information, life values and norms, skill level of employees;
• degree of dependence of the population on the weather and other natural factors;
• availability of village council;
• people's opinion about the status of this settlement.

Rural demographics

The demographic situation in rural areas has its own characteristics. The southern countries are characterized by an increase in the rural population due to the birth rate, which is higher there than in cities. In the northern regions, on the contrary, there is a decline in the rural population due to migration to cities and a lower birth rate.

Rural economic activities

The predominant type of productionactivity in rural areas is the primary processing of raw materials with a rather extensive method of land use. In more urbanized areas, manufacturing and trade also play a significant role, with a greater development of the service sector.

Rural development in Russia

In Russia over the past 150 years, there have been changes in the structure of the economy of rural regions. At the beginning of the last century, small-scale farming prevailed, which was combined with the landlord economy. With the transition to the Soviet era, the kolkhoz-sovkhoz system spread, which corresponded to collectivization plans. After 1990, the role of individual farms, small businesses and private entrepreneurship increased. Many collective farms fell into decay, and part of the farmland turned out to be ownerless. The modern village in Russia often has a unkempt appearance, which is associated with the decline of the economy and the low standard of living of the population. The administration of a rural settlement does not always pay due attention to maintaining rural infrastructure.

The creative system that existed in Soviet times (state plans for planting forest belts, protecting water bodies, increasing soil fertility) has fallen into decay, which may negatively affect the future of domestic agriculture.

Similar negative trends exist in the field of forestry. Recently, Russia has been characterized by the irrational use of forests and the absence of creative processes (forest planting). The problem of felling exists in almost all more or less populated areas. At the same time, forestry is not carried out at all in sparsely populated areas.

Rural Functions

The predominant functions of rural areas depend on the most demanded industries. From the point of view of the economy, the most important is the agricultural function - providing the country with food. In contrast, in the urban area, industrial production plays a decisive role. From the point of view of urban residents, the countryside is, first of all, places of rest and solitude. And for the permanent inhabitants of the villages - local residents - this is their habitat and life.

The main industries in rural areas are agricultural production, logging, fish and game mining, and minerals such as gravel and sand.

The rural region is also a place of production of various works of art, souvenirs. Villages often host art museums and museums of folk art.

The recreational function of the countryside is to provide an area for recreation. In specialized places (sanatoriums, camp sites, rest houses, etc.), the staff often consists of rural residents.

The rural area also serves as a place for various communications, roads and railways, thus performing transport and communication functions.

Ecological function of rural areas

The ecological function is to protectreserves and other natural objects from illegal logging or poaching. On the other hand, on the territory of rural areas, urban and industrial wastewater treatment and waste processing are carried out. This is not only the result of targeted measures, but also a natural purification process through chemical, physical and biological processes.

Studying rural areas in Russia

Socio-economic geography is the study of the countryside. Most attention is paid to population dynamics, relationships with cities, recreational opportunities, changes in agricultural activities and forecasts for the future.

The section of geography devoted to the study of the countryside is called georuralistics. This is an actively developing field of knowledge. Previously, the countryside was studied in two disciplines: population geography and agricultural geography. A significant contribution to the study of the rural population was made by such authors as: Agafonova N. T., Golubeva A. N., Guzhina G. S., Alekseeva A. I, Kovaleva S. A. and other researchers.

The most extensive work was carried out by Alekseeva (1990) and Kovaleva (1963). In the course of these studies, regularities and features of the distribution of rural settlements and living in them were revealed. The connection of the rural population with infrastructure, production processes and the natural environment is increasingly being analyzed.

Agricultural geography explores agricultural systems. A comprehensive study of the regions of agriculture is being carried out, an analysisrural population, infrastructural features of rural areas and ways of settling.

Subject study of the village in Russia began only in the late 80s and the first half of the 90s of the 20th century. In this case, cartographic, analytical and synthetic methods are used. Mapping gives a visual picture; the analysis makes it possible to determine the ways in which agriculture is organized, the options for resettlement, and the predominant functions of the countryside. The synthetic method reveals various patterns in infrastructure, economy and population.