SMALL TOWNS IN BULGARIA: FUNCTIONS AND ROLE IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Boian KOULOV, National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria
The interrelations between small towns and their rural regions serve as socio-economic transmissions, which foster closer territorial integration and create inclusive and self-sustainable environment. The study tests the above hypothesis in Bulgaria and uses the results to assess and forecast changes in the characteristics and functions of the small towns. Special focus has been placed on one of the most efficient instruments for geo-spatial information integration: The Functional categorization of territorial units in Bulgaria. Besides revealing methodological and data deficiencies in the European Union and Bulgaria, the results confirm that the demographic characteristics of small towns are important indicators of their potential as rural development drivers. The vast majority of the small towns do not have the necessary demographic, economic, social, and administrative capacity to fulfil their development 'transmissions’ function. So far, EU urban and rural development instruments are largely failing to reach small towns, to the detriment of the efficiency of territorial policy integration and rural regions’ sustainability. Proposed evidence-based geospatial policy changes include introduction of green and digital technologies, innovative approaches, including natural capital and ecosystem accounting, that will allow diversification of small towns’ functional structures, re-evaluation of their policy priorities for closer integration with rural and other natural areas. Bulgaria needs urgent administrative territorial reform at the local and regional scales that will implement functional and financial decentralization and create territorially inclusive, self-sustaining regions.
Mots clés : Bulgaria|small towns|regional development|territorial integration|rural regions
A103074BK