Regional Formation and Development Studies

There are 33 rural, 18 semi-rural and 9 urban municipalities in Lithuania according to three criterias: 1) part of population living in rural areas; 2) population density and 3) distance of municipality from large towns/cities. Šilutė district municipality together with Rusnė ward has been studied in detail to search the main problems of sustainable development of these rural territories of Klaipėda region. System analysis approach and method of integrated sustainability index were applied with suplement of social inquiry fulfiled in Rusnė ward. The indices selected for calculations and comparison of rural and semi-rural municipalities, including Šilutė district, were social, economic and environmental: for Šilutė 4 different indices in each group were selected, for Rusnė ward – 3 indices. The integrated sustainability index was calculated for all rural municipalities of Lithuania and Rusnė ward. The research period for Šilutė and other municipalities was 2006-2012, and for Rusnė ward 2008-2012. Research has revealed that the main problems with sustainability in the studied territories are of social character. According to the Integrated sustainability index, Šilutė district municipality was somehow lower than other rural municipalities of Lithuania, and even in Rusnė ward this index was a little higher during 2011–2012, than in Šilutė district municipality.K