Regional future scenarios for rural space types in Austria

The results of this study show development paths of rural regions in Austria. The conflicts between various policy objectives in regard to agriculture, the regional economy and protection of the environment will increase further. The value, which the society attaches to the social functions of agriculture and the areas covered by it, will increase more than the value of the production of biomass. In main agricultural regions the function "production of food and raw materials " is still the most important pillar of agriculture and the regional economy. In the more densely populated districts also the functions of resource protection, spatial structuring and biodiversity are very important for society. In the mountainous districts multifunctionality appears to be a complementary phenomenon. Most important there is the function of biodiversity, but also tourism-relations in the case of developed tourist regions. In the case of eastern border regions, with special problems in regional economy the functions of agriculture and agricultural areas assume low levels. In some districts new dynamics can be observed since the opening of the borders, but in some regions there is still lack of progress. The subsidies for agriculture and regional development should depend on the different multifunctional bases of the regions.