The socio-spatial aspect of rurality – A case study of rural settlements in Central Serbia

Abstract

Contemporary rural areas have been significantly changed. Thus, previous rural typologies are no longer valid and there is a need for developing and standardising new measures of rurality. We developed a set of 23 rural indicators which were tested on data on the characteristics of rural areas in contemporary Serbian society. Based on statistical analyses, four variables were excluded and three main rural attributes were confirmed (population change, economic dependency ratio, population density in the built-up area). The reduced set of 19 variables could be a relevant platform for establishing a rural typology in Central Serbia, but also for conducting precise analyses of the transformation of rural areas in similar post-socialist societies.