ABSTRACT
A number of general observations on the international experience with rural public service provision are at a broad macro level. Overall, the provision of essential public services is an ongoing concern in rural areas seemingly everywhere, whatever the economic or political system, or whatever the cultural heritage or level of economic development of the nation or region concerned. What constitutes a “rural service problem” is of course highly subjective. It is difficult to say, in any given area, what represents a satisfactory or unsatisfactory level of education or public transportation or repair facilities. The Third World faces staggering rural service problems in almost every respect. Struggling to modernize and develop economically in the aggregate, socialist nations do not give much priority to questions of rural-urban differences and their minimization. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.
