An important issue for rural research is to clarify the concept of rural areas. A study of the literature here points to the existence of many and varied definitions under which the rural area is variously treated as a physical, social or economic space. This merely strengthens our conviction that there is no uniform definition of such an area. However, the one option that seems to have gained widest acceptance may well be the traditional definition, whereby a rural area is a physical space of relatively low population density, dispersed settlement and extensive land use. According to Polish statistics, a specific form of the rural area is a suburban zone. In the author's opinion, those territories should be considered as a separate space.

The objective of the survey was to recognize the level of differentiation of non-agricultural entrepreneurship in rural areas in the Warmia and Mazury Voivodeship and to point out the areas of economic sector concentration. Intensification of economic connections of rural communes situated close to cities and a visible weakness of the SME sector in suburban areas were found in the study. This may be due to many factors such as: low purchasing force of the population, a small scale and level of differentiation of economic activity.

Inland fisheries is one of the oldest human activities and is performed mainly in rural areas. Like agriculture, it is largely dependent on natural factors and provides food of high nutritional value. The diversity of sources of income (including a growing share of leisure and tourism) is now a common feature of inland fisheries and agriculture and is clearly visible in Warmia and Mazury. Issues of environmental protection are equally important because, from the government's perspective, fisheries are regarded as part of agriculture. However, environmental factors (water-related for fisheries and landrelated for agriculture) make inland fisheries and agriculture subject to different legal regulations, both at the national and community levels. Inland fisheries includes elements of inland capture fisheries, but also typical fish breeding and rearing (called aquaculture). Inland capture fisheries are restricted to catching aquatic organisms, whereas fisheries involves a number of actions aimed at improving the condition of fish and aquatic ecosystems, such as the protection of spawning grounds, controlled fish reproduction, stocking waters with fry and their protection and monitoring. Inland fisheries activities are carried out in lakes and rivers, which are public water bodies, as well as in private waters, mainly in ponds used for production or leisure [angling]. The aim of this study is to identify the natural, technological, legal, administrative and financial factors which affect inland fisheries as a separate industry and as a part of agriculture. Knowledge of these factors should contribute to more efficient planning and development of the rural areas of Warmia and Mazury, while preserving their natural values.

This study analyzed the changes in the main forms of agricultural and nonagricultural land-use in rural areas in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in 2005 and 2010 based on the materials of the Geodesy and Cartography Office in Toruń. The analysis of agricultural land was limited to only arable land, orchards and permanent pastures which were conventionally defined as an "agricultural production area". The areas of use were divided into two main forms: 1 suburban areas (housing, industrial areas, other areas of built-up land, the suburbs of non-build-up areas, roads and mining land; 2 tourist-recreational areas (including forest lands, trees and shrubs, recreational land, waters and ecological grasslands). The assessment of the land for tourism also includes the natural, cultural and tourist assets of rural areas in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. In assessing changes in the structure of land use, the directions and trends of further changes in the use of the surrounding rural areas in the province were also indicated.

The Great Masurian Lakes District is a region of significant natural and landscape values. The system of Masurian lakes and canals, developed during hydrotechnical engineering works started in the 19^th century [Toeppen, 1998], has created a clearly-defined and unique sequence of landscape macro-interiors. Their basic components to be considered include areas of lakes, forests and arable land. The tourist attractiveness of the study area results from, inter alia, the variability and diversity of the perceived sights, and is particularly noticeable in the longitudinal orientation which is in line with the direction of the main waterway. Agricultural land has been actively shaping the landscape of the region under study, and the variability of both its area and the structure of use implies observable landscape effects.

This paper identifies the factors which determine the direction and dynamics of changes in the peri-urban areas with a similar demographic potential (Wrocław, Kraków, Łódź, Poznań). An assessment of the level of transformation of individual groups of conditions was made. This, in turn, made it possible to present an image of synthetic transformations and identify trends taking place in multi-functional development.

This paper indicates the opportunities for the agricultural multifunctional development and the rural areas, the creation of new jobs, both in agriculture and in other sectors. Plans for rural areas should pay particular attention to rural employment and diversification of production as well as development of other non-agricultural functions in the rural areas.

The paper presents the results of the research of structural changes in the rural areas of the Polish-German borderland region. The main objective of this study was to determine the nature, rate and directions of the changes in the demographic structure and the rural economy. An important part of the research were case studies of individual farms in the municipalities of Letschin and Krzeszyce. The study covered the period from 2002 to 2010. The study used the methods of observation, as well as monographic, diagnostic and statistical survey. The results show an unstable demographic development. The limited labour market in the border areas contributes to the outflow of the working age population from both Miirkisch-Oderland and Sulęcin to the cities of the Berlin Metropolis. The influx of working and retirement-aged populations to rural areas is associated with more attractive conditions of residence. In contrast to Miirkisch-Oderland, the age structure of the poviat of Sulęcin is characterised by a higher proportion of the pre-working age population and a smaller share of those at the retirement age. The structure of land use still shows the old boundaries of large-scale collective farms. The leading form of the use of arable land of large holdings is leasing, while private property accounts for only 10-20%. In Poland, however, the share of ownership of small farms is 80-90%.

This article analyses the relationship between the level of economic development and level of human capital in rural areas of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. The typology of the commune (pol. gmina a principal unit of administrative and territorial division in Poland) with regard to the level of human capital proposed by W. Kamińska [2011] has been applied in the paper. Thirteen measures describing the economic structure of rural areas (considering the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors), labour market and level of wealth of local government units have been used in order to analyse the level of economic development. No strong statistical relationship between the analysed phenomena were observed in the study. This means that human capital as the only factor does not guarantee outstanding economic growth. It may be an element (factor) facilitating growth, but it becomes active only when there is a certain level of other assets (location, natural environment, infrastructure factors).

Landscape is not only the environment surrounding people, but also a part of their quality of life, a general combination of culture and nature which arrangement is concurrent with the knowledge of its setup and historical development. The previous 20^th century was distinguished in Lithuania for especially fast historical events and radical rearrangement of the agrarian landscape inspired by them, therefore the modern landscape is a manifestation of interaction of previous and current factors with the natural environment. The article familiarises with the most important features of the Lithuanian agrarian landscape. The main components forming its spatial structure are reviewed settlements and a system of fields. It also briefly introduces past historical events that have had an effect on it, as well as the newest change trends in the agrarian landscape.

On the basis of the data of the Regional Data Bank and the indicators of the Ministry of Finance, an attempt was made to evaluate the investment capabilities of local communal governments. An analysis was performed on several budgetary and non-budgetary indicators evaluating communes' investment capabilities with regard to investment. The main research question is how the economic slowdown is influencing the investment potential of local communal governments in Poland. The results of the presented research indicate communes' significant resistance to negative macroeconomic trends, as well as maintenance of the unhindered pace of the implemented investments.

This paper is an attempt to answer the questions: Is it possible to use entropy to determine the quantity of information for the purpose of analysis and spatial planning of rural areas? Is it possible to predict the directions of settlement around cities by analysing the entropy of built-up areas and determining the quantity of information? The paper presents a theoretical attempt to determine the quantity of information according to Shannon. The data used in the paper consists in the records of the built-up areas of Stawiguda commune (the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship).

Since 1990, rural Lithuania has experienced a transformation due to a change in the agricultural model, when social and economic reforms were launched towards creating a market economy. Agricultural activity started concentrating in territories with the best social and physical conditions. A type of latifundium agrarian structure has formed in northern and central Lithuania. The transition from the collective model into the family farming model in western and south-western Lithuania developed faster than in other regions by the active formation of medium and large family farming. Small family farming has overtaken the collective agricultural exploitation in eastern, southern and coastal regions. Landscape structure analysis supported the results of socio-geographical research in rural spaces. During 1995-2009, the decline of the agrarian land area was the most intensive and an increase in the average size of land plot was the least visible in the morainic hill landscape (eastern Lithuania), the most unproductive compared to the other investigated landscape types: clayey plains and downy clayey plains (central and northern Lithuania).

The origins of rural gardens date back to the 13^th century when landless peasants were given patches of land for their own cultivation; crops harvested from those fields constituted a significant source of food for families and were paid as tithes. For centuries, gardens primarily served practical purposes. At first, ornamental gardens were established next to manor houses, noblemen's residences and the estates of the Church. Flowering plants appeared in the so-called "front" gardens adjacent to peasants' households, following the completion of the process of granting freehold to peasants. Rural homestead gardens changed their forms, sizes and functions over the years, depending on the region. This paper presents the results of research conducted in selected rural gardens in Giżycko and Węgorzewo Districts. The subject of analysis was the manner of arranging the immediate house surroundings, including: species diversity; manner of vegetation maintenance; the choice of landscaping elements; layout and functional arrangement; aesthetic and environmental aspects and the local traditions. Another issue was the assessment of the impact of the development of a structure on both the neighbouring land and the image of the village. The study considered the following aspects: multiplicity of function; diversity of species and colours; mixture of styles; and standardisation of rural and urban gardens.

This paper analyses the relationship between the level of socio-economic development in rural areas of the Mazowieckie voivodeship and the degree of modern information-communication technologies in agriculture in these areas. The case study area was the Mazowieckie voivodeship, which is very diversified in both the level of rural area socio-economic development and the types of agriculture. Empirical data was obtained by a survey of over 1400 questionnaires. They were addressed to farmers from 20 selected communes, diversified by location in the voivodeship functional-spatial structure background and by the type of agriculture. This group of respondents revealed a rather low level of ICT application in agriculture. The results were analysed by regression analysis between the level of socio-economic development and indexes of the ICT application level in a given commune. The level of socio-economic development was measured by the Hellwig index of distance to theoretical exemplar of development. It takes into consideration three dimensions of development: economic, demographic-social and infrastructural. Characteristics of ICT application in agriculture were used to describe four categories: infrastructural equipment, frequency of ICT usage, scope of application of the Internet in household and for agricultural purposes. The results were verified by regression analysis, where the Hellwig index values for a given commune were the describing variables and the index of ICT application in agriculture was the described variable.

Sustainable development of local government isn't possible without the four basic groups of strategic tools. The spatial order is created by good information, policy and spatial management. It is also important how to manage the spatial resources. Summary of these instruments (selection, recording, storing, and sharing of land information, spatial policy, administration and spatial management) and implementation of planned activities in the field of spatial arranging space, and their relationships on the basis of synergy determines the spatial order, in accordance with the principle of sustainable development. It should also be remembered that GIS tools play an increasingly important role in collecting, processing and sharing of spatial information for planning. The article presents an example of using GIS tools in form of topographic indices, geometric and spatial analysis of the basic fields separated by use of evaluation techniques geographical processing conditions, which decided of the development and delimitation of spatial planning areas.

The issue of proper public area development, so often discussed in the urban context, is hardly ever studied in the rural areas. However, local communities, more and more often need well-designed common areas. Projects for these areas are also supported within the framework of EU funds. This paper outlines problems in rural public areas and presents the method of proper rural public space development. The subject is presented on the basis of the example of three villages in the commune of Uścimów, in the West Polesie region. The detailed analyses include the social functioning of the identified public areas, their state of development and landscape values. As a result of the analyses, the main directions of selected public area development were identified, which could form the basis of the future communal plan development.

The aim of this study was to select factors influencing the value of undeveloped agricultural landed property in the Mosina commune in the years 2004-2007, with particular emphasis on natural and socio-economic values. The study was based on data concerning purchase transactions for undeveloped landed property, obtained from the County Geodesy and Cartographic Documentation Centre in Poznań. The collected data were subjected to multiple regression analysis. Based on the analyses the attributes having a significant effect on the value of landed property and the degree of their impact were identified.