Abstract

The study establishes a typology of urban-rural configuration that allows for the differentiated spatial classification of the communes of Itata Province, one of the three provinces in the recently created Ñuble Region, a rural territory par excellence. For this purpose, the communal typology described in the National Rural Development Policy is used, based on OECD criteria and the characterization of urban entities, incorporating a series of indicators of variable weight in the territorial description. The obtained information facilitates the design of development strategies by showing, from the current conceptions of rurality, heterogeneous spaces where agglomeration and density do not define a sense of appropriation and functionality in an area with high levels of poverty and growing population loss.