The regional development in the new approach

Gáspár, Tamás

Keywords: regional development, networks, objective and subjective measurement systems, life quality, education

Regional and rural development call for renewal owing to new results in different disciplines. Not only the methodology but the basic questions also need consideration, first of all the definition of development. Our approach identifies the key terms of development in linking and culture-consciousness. The former comes from the extending network theory, where the development of a region is not only a function of factor endowments and their performance, but it is also the extension of the number and quality of relations. Since regional organisation is one of the most effective social level of relations, it demands outstanding attention.
The increasing importance of culture and consciousness appears for instance in nurture theory and in the new efforts of economics. On the one hand by the critiques of GDP the objective development indicators have been extended as well as modified with human and environmental relations. On the other hand subjective measurements, which involve the psychological expression and the consciousness of the objective relations, have been receiving an extensive role. In our interpretation development in terms of culture and consciousness does not ignore the factors of production and their measurement. The difference is that we define natural, physical, human, social and spiritual capital as various dimensions of culture and conscious living. Furthermore, this approach does not remain abstract because the measurement of social and spiritual capital, which directly reflect non-material links, proceeds and collects an increasing number of experience.
Agriculture and rural development may be pioneers in redefining development, since links and culture are more natural and organic categories in their view than in other areas of economics. Agriculture directly reflects the law of household (oikos nomos), what economics is all about: a governor way of life, which is responsible, provider and forward looking. In this field the human relationships with nature and with other people are foundational and natural, not the results of training, management or environmental studies. Owing to the determining role of the natural factor, the agricultural view reflects strategic thinking, the handling of different production cycles at the same time; it contains uncertainty, risks and optional solutions.
On the basis of all above the paper suggests a renewed development model, which starts with culture and consciousness as well its material-social appearance in production factors; which is based on the dynamic and dialectic relationships between the objective and subjective approaches; and which is in organic connection with the external relationships of the region in research.

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