Based on the results of the review of foreign and domestic scientific and applied research of rural areas, the article analyses the essence,
Based on the results of the review of foreign and domestic scientific and applied research of rural areas, the article analyses the essence, content and assessment of the multifunctional role that they provide for achieving the goals of sustainable local and regional development. Special attention is paid to the rural territories of Belarus, which are viewed from geographical positions on the one hand as the operational spatial basis of the life of the local population, its organisation and management, on the other hand, as a receptacle of combinations of natural resources, settlement systems, objects of social, agricultural and other industrial purposes, ecological infrastructure, historical, cultural and spiritual values. It is concluded that the key task of ensuring the sustainable development of rural areas, characterised by a complex and multifaceted field of interaction between social and natural components, including their location, territorial structures of economy, infrastructure and population settlement, is the scientific justification and development of unified special territorial planning documents. As their analogue at the current stage, it is proposed to use coordinated and harmonised schemes of land management and schemes of integrated territorial organisation of administrative districts of Belarus, developed in Belarus, in accordance with the tasks of balanced development of rural territories. Some approaches to their improvement are proposed, in particular, the reflection of the results of the assessment of ecosystem services and the typology of the periphery of rural areas. As part of the research, mapping was carried out for the first-time using the GIS software, and a map of rural areas of Belarus was compiled. Indicators of the ratio of the number and density of urban and rural population, the time of transport accessibility of their cities are used as the basis for the allocation of rural territories. As a result, the geographical localisation of urbanised rural-urban (transitional) and rural territories is determined, the specific area of which in the republic is 7.1, 10.8, 82.1 %, respectively. A system of spatial planning solutions is proposed that contribute to the sustainable use of rural areas of the republic.
