Research of Rural Areas with Preliminaries and Facts

Abstract

Researches of rural areas were always a dominant part of the spatial process researches during the 15 years existence of the West Hungarian Research Institute. Our institute concentrated in the last one and a half-decade to the following issues:

• What were the impacts of process started with the transformation of political and socio- economic system on the peripheral regions and rural areas?
• What were the impacts of the regional policy of the European Union?
• To what extent did the establishment of the new institutional system and instruments of regional development contribute to the restructuring of rural spaces?
• To what extent were the rural areas differentiated?
• Was there any change in their functions?

Summary of the results of researches in the fields of the change in the spatial structures, the formation and operable of small regions and the rural economy and incomes give answer for us to the above questions.