Silver Economy In Rural Areas In The Context Of (Un)Sustainable Development

The aim of the article is to show how the implementation of the silver economy can enable the transformation of demographic problems into opportunities for the development of rural areas. Desk research and descriptive analysis are applied and the study is based on documents of international organisations, a critical literature review and secondary sources. The problem of the ageing Polish society (inhabitants of rural areas) and its resulting social and economic consequences have formed the basis of a new paradigm of development – the development of the silver economy The effect of the analysis is the thesis that the development of the silver economy may be of unsustainable character, where rural areas become beneficiaries to a lesser extent, thus generating new social inequalities and the development of destructive phenomena. The issue of the ageing rural population in Poland, the concept of the silver economy as a new paradigm of development in rural areas and the problems associated with it are presented in the study. The consistent development of the silver economy offers the opportunity of weakening the effects of the ageing population. Recognizing the potential of seniors will allow for greater development benefits which can be gained by the country’s economy or the economy of individual regions. The importance of the ethical aspect of the ageing rural population, which is the prevention of unsustainable development of the silver economy from a regional and environmental perspective, is highlighted.