DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE BASED ON COMMUNITY NEEDS

Analysing development patterns of rural social infrastructure (hereinafter referred to as the RSI) and rural community needs, the uniqueness and coherences of these two phenomena are based in this article. The emphasis is laid on the methodological strengths and possible synergy, while the RSI management solutions are based on Maslow's A. hierarchy of needs. It is argued that the RSI can be developed focusing on the needs of rural communities, rooting one of the principles of the new public management, i.e. user-orientation. The survey result reflects the opinion of the residents of Alytus (Lithuania) region and shows the links between rural social infrastructure condition in the region and residents needs. The RSI management concept search for improvements is described in the paper.