Regional Development in Rural Areas: Analytical Tools and Public Policies

This book intends to provide analytical and policy tools for investigating the question of the development of rural and peri-urban areas. The aim is to shed some light on this topic and in particular to contribute to a better understanding of the link between issues of regional or territorial development and issues of rural development. The text addresses the question of the disputed notions and definitions of rural development in rural and regional studies, examines the literature of regional and territorial development and the policies of regional development and planning. It also presents scenarios for the future of rural areas, with a focus on European territories.

André Torre is research director at INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research) and AgroParisTech (the main school of engineers in this field) in Paris. He teaches in several French Universities. He is Chief Editor of the Revue d’Economie Régionale et Urbaine and immediate past-President of the French speaking section of RSAI. He is currently head of the national PSDR (For and About Regional development) research program, which involves various teams and stakeholders belonging from ten French regions. André Torre has published 11 books and 15 special issues of scientific peer review journals, as well as two hundred papers on the topics of proximity, innovation and regional development.

Frederic Wallet is a researcher at INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research) and Agroparistech in Paris. His research interests include governance and institutional innovation processes and their influence on regional development, in particular in rural and suburban areas. He teaches in several universities and French engineering schools, and is expert for the French government on issues of rural development. He published twenty articles, edited two books, and also contributed to several collective books. Currently, he is national manager of the national PSDR (For and About Regional development) research program, and member of the editorial board of Géographie, Economie et Société.