Shrinking villages – trajectories for local development

The New Rural Paradigm was introduced in 2006 as a policy emphasising investments rather than subsidies and aimed at integrating different sectoral policies in order to improve the coherence and effectiveness of public expenditure. The new rural paradigm also stresses a place-based approach to rural policy that aims to identify and exploit the varied development potential of rural areas. Some rural communities are succeeding in transforming place bound resources and mobilising both social and economic capital. Other rural communities are suffering from population loss, loss of functions and services e.g. schools as well as investment. Rural municipalities are challenged due to shrinking villages but by focussing on place bound resources there is a risk of reinforcing disparities between ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ communities as placed bound resources are unevenly distributed. This paper will address considerations and dilemmas in place bound approaches in municipal policy for community development.