ABSTRACT
Conceptualisations of rural areas have delved in the ‘darker’ or ‘negative’ side of rurality. The concept of ‘shrinkage processes’ is related to the treatment by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) of the vicious circle within rural areas. Rural areas are infinite in their variety and some rural areas are flourishing. Statistically defining rural areas, though, entails incorporating additional criteria. In the context of academic discussions on the nature of the diverse types of definitions of rural space, the need to create a ‘typology of typologies’ for the delimitation of rural areas has even begun to be pointed out in the body of literature. However, only the OECD has so far compiled an internationally recognised statistical definition of rural areas that is based on the population density criterion at Local Administrative Units II level with a maximum of 150 inhabitants per km.
