Abstract
This paper reports on the fundamental processes reshaping rural areas in Hungary. Using indicators of social composition of settlements, the first section demonstrates large-scale polarisation resulting in vast zones of social crisis on the peripheries. The proceeding sections explore that small villages in lagging areas have been in a situation of despair in the last decade and a half, partly because of the social and economic burden they had to cope with, and partly because of their meagre financial situation brought about by the contradictions of the Hungarian administrative system, fiscal policies and their marginal position in relation to their access to development funds. The last paragraph of the last section voices hopes concerning some second generation development policies targeting rural areas in general and lagging areas in particular with more focused policy instruments.
The study refers to research material gained from the following projects.