Intra-regional Rural Territories Development: Methodology

The paper shows the necessity of a differentiated approach to the planning of the rural territories development. The article focuses on the criteria of grouping rural territories. The affinity to city (center) is a key criterion that determines rural social and economic development in many respects. The author offers his approach to the methods of differentiation of intra-regional rural periphery. The main feature of the approach is that all the cities of the regional system are used as centers of regional development.