La proximidad: clave de las interacciones externas y dinámica interna de las zonas rurales. Propuesta teórico-metodológica y el caso valenciano

(Artículo de monográfico)

Abstract

The socio-economic dynamism of rural areas depends as much on their internal resources and potential as on their external interactions. On this basis, the article aims to explain how external interactions (with different types of clusters) in rural areas can contribute to improving the internal dynamism of rural areas. To achieve this goal, a theoretical framework based on the notions of proximity and mobility is outlined, and literature on rural-urban relations too, which is used as a guide to study the external interactions of several rural areas in the Valencia Region. The empirical research combines statistical information to define local labour markets, with longitudinal qualitative information based on in-depth interviews with different actors to interpret these results. It is concluded that external contribution is effectively produced when there is the generation of forms of organised proximity between rural and urban areas that allow the generation of specific resources in rural areas, a fundamental element to generate symmetrical relations between rural and urban areas. And this external contribution is different depending on the type of cluster with which rural areas interact.