Rural – urban interactions. Influences on the rural development process in the North-East Region of Romania

This paper aims to present the interactions that occur between urban and rural, realizing a strict separation of these two areas, their populations and their activities here. This thing is being reflected in the division of policies on spatial and sectorial criteria, urban planners usually concentrating on the importance of urban centers as commerce and transportation nods in the regional policy giving little attention to agricultural or rural-led development. It is based on
statistical data provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development and by the National Statistics Institute and on direct observation executed in the North – East region of Romania. The data has been processed into the following indicators: aging indicator, average number of rural inhabitants, active occupied population, infant mortality, the average index of poverty and others. This paper represents an overview of how the strategies of urban and rural are intertwined. It ends with some recommendations on how the planners and decision makers can take these issues into consideration.