ABSTRACT
Across the world, rural areas are changing rapidly. In industrialized countries in particular, this trend has received a lot of attention from policy makers and the scientific community. Competition for natural resources in rural areas has intensified and the agricultural sector in many regions of the world has come under pressure. The predominant concern has been to maintain the multifunctionality of rural space so as to enable its various functions to coexist in tandem, while at the same time promoting the sustainable use of natural resources such as land and water. Policies that have been implemented have at times been controversial. In thinking about this issue, it is important to remember that developing countries have been experiencing the transformation of rural areas at even faster rates than in the industrialized world, and there may be significant lessons to be learnt from their experiences.
