DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN RURAL CONTEXTS. A THEORETICAL APPROACH

Development planning is an interaction process between development actors and agents, which articulates policies and strategies in the territories with the aim of seeking better living conditions for the population. In this context, the article aims to determine the development planning elements in the rural con-text, from a theoretical perspective and how they are shaping rural development scenarios from a planning perspective. For this purpose, the specialized literature is used to approach the study phenomenon through a classification according to a theoretical approach and the variables prioritized as a basis for the development of rural areas. The research concludes by high-lighting that the rural population general vision have about development planning processes are the existing local resources in the geographical area, culture and endogenous knowledge, together with local productive activity, natural resources and citizen participation, are the most important elements that are linked to development planning processes in the rural context; in each situation, local community actors are highlighted as decision-makers and promoters or drivers of development processes, with the participation of development agents.