The main objective of this work is to review the recent achievements on the mechanisms explaining local and rural development, which underpin the current defi-nition of rural areas in the European literature. The analysis carried out in this article acknowledges a gap between local development processes and the current representa-tion of rural diversity by international organisations and national/regional authorities. New concepts can be drawn from this comparative analysis: 1) rural diversity cannot be explained exclusively by agglomeration forces and geographical distance from urban centres; b) multiple functions of rural areas, often rooted into sustainable agri-food systems or other forms of territorial capital, contribute to explain more autonomous roles of rural areas; c) organised or relational proximity is emerging in a context of a globalised economy and non-geographical networks, as a critical factor of connection between rural areas and distant regions/markets. This article translates these differ-ent disciplinary developments into a practical and integrated conceptual approach, in which local development processes result from three components: local resource sys-tems, networks, institutions and enabling policies.
