ABSTRACT

This chapter proposes some ways in which rural development in Asia might be designed and carried out. It highlights rural development, that is, development for the benefit of the 70% or 80% of the people who live in the rural areas of Asia. In China, industries have played a major role in rural transformation, and the employment in rural industries has been estimated at about 50% of total employment in manufacturing and mining or at 5% of the economically active population. The chapter also proposes a “political-territorial” framework consisting of two main elements: an option of integrated territorial development and a search for appropriate forms of local governance. Community will be used here in a political-territorial sense, referring to those institutions through which a legitimate political will may be formulated. Even more so than in cities, which are largely artificial creations, life in rural communities depends for its inherent quality and long-term viability on conditions in the natural environment.