¿POR QUÉ SE DECIDE NO EMIGRAR? UN ESTUDIO DE PARTIDA PARA EL DISEÑO DE PROGRAMAS DE DESARROLLO RURAL EN LA PROVINCIA DE CUENCA

Abstract

To design rural development programs, a deep knowledge of the territory is required, being necessary the elaboration of previous studies. This implies a need to question: What should we really know in order to define the activities that would be included in the development strategy? The target of any rural development strategy is to stop or, better, to reverse the depopulating process as low density population constitutes a constraint for development because it implies a decrease in the quantity and quality of social services. For this reason, many studies have been devoted to identify causes of migration in both rural-urban and urban-rural directions, but no studies have addressed the reasons why some people go against the stream and decide to remain in the rural areas. Within this perspective, and in order to complement the diagnosis of a rural area in which a development strategy is intended to be implemented, a study in Cuenca province analysing individual cases of people under forty that have voluntary chosen rural area as their home has been undertaken. Key words: rural development, baseline rural studies, migration, rural settlement, Spain.