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| Economic Dimension |
Many languages have
sayings which point out that for ordinary men and women the
economic sphere of life comes first and foremost. In the end, if
there is no viable economic basis for rural life, there will
be no rural life. Societies cannot indefinitely afford to subsidize
living conditions only for reasons such as "landscape
preservation" or "cultural heritage".
Essential for the economic analysis is a broad perspective.
Agriculture and forestry are often not the most important
economic activities in rural areas. There are rural regions in
Europe, where agriculture and forestry play a minor role or are
almost irrelevant for the income of the population. Austrian tourist
"villages" in the Alpine mountains are a case in point.
But even under ordinary conditions other sectors than agriculture
and forestry are getting more and more important, such as rural
industry or rural services.
In recent years there have been also economic developments in rural areas
that could be summarized under the term "new economy".
These include not only facilities and services of the IT industry, but also
bio-technology firms. The "new economy" is sometimes
combined with traditional production and tourism, such as in the
direct marketing projects on the Internet for organically produced
agricultural products (see for instance: "Culinarium
Austria" or "Styria Beef") |
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