Why did the concept of rural development suddenly come to the forefront in the middle of the seventies ? To which social movement does it belong through its demands and practices? A brief appraisal of recent experience in the field of country planning with the «rural planning guidelines» and the «neighbourhood contracts» and in the field of development management (development boards, planning boards...) aims at evaluating the social change processes induced by country planning. Emphasis is placed on comparing agricultural development policies and practices in the fifties and sixties and rural development since the seventies.
