Nouvelles fonctions tertiaires et dynamiques démographiques en milieu rural

Abstract

The new Service Sector and demographic Dynamics in rural Areas. The demographic growth of the rural areas is a phenomenon that can be observed today in the majority of the European territories. Several processes contribute to this demographic revitalization, of which some, like the extension of the areas of urban influence and the growth of the residential zones or the development of tourism have long been factors. Others are more recent and less perceptible due to their specificity, the diversity of the local situations and their variable levels of influence. The rise of the environmental function is generally considered one of the principal components of rural revival. If environment and landscape are often mentioned as explanatory factors for the choices concerning the localization of people as well as of certain economic activities, the creation of activities which one can directly attribute to these factors and their influence on employment remains very limited and often partial, seasonal and complementary to other activities. In fact, it is in the very broad field of the service sector that one must look, in its various levels of development, to find the economic counterpart of the demographic growth of rural areas.