Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in Russia: Legal and Technological Support

Abstract

AbstractThe chapter examines the legal category “sustainable development of rural areas” and gives its authors’ definition. The authors suggest meaning by sustainable development of rural areas the regular economic activities on agricultural lands, providing growth of agricultural production, under condition that social rights of residents of rural settlements are properly guaranteed, as well as measures protecting the environment on agricultural land (including measures for farmland fertility) are taken in rural settlements as well. As a result of the study, it is noted that the transition of rural areas to sustainable development is hampered by the lack of an efficient system of interdepartmental interaction and coordination of specific issues related to the development of rural areas. In comparison with developed countries, government support for agriculture in Russia is significantly lower, what can be considered as one of the factors of a low profitability of agriculture. Poor support limits the possibilities of modernization and innovative development of the industry, negatively affects wages of workers in the industry and the tax base of local budgets. The authors study the problems and prospects for the development of agricultural tourism as one of the most important elements of transition of rural areas to sustainable development, identifying the reasons for its insufficiently rapid and effective development. This chapter also shows that the Concept of Sustainable Development of Rural Areas can be a tool to mitigate the severity of social, economic, and environmental problems in rural areas, taking into account the interests of citizens, business, and the government. A complex and multi-level system of criteria and indicators for sustainable development of rural areas is required for an efficient realization of this concept offered in this chapter.KeywordsSustainable developmentRural areasRural populationAgricultural land