THE REGIONAL CONDITION OF BULGARIA AND SMALL SETTLEMENTS

Abstract

Hardly anyone doubts that the general Bulgarian crisis also affects settlements and settlement agglomerations. Its dimensions—spiritual and material—are unequivocal. The most general features include depopulation, poverty, morbidity, weakened social connections between populated areas, emigration, and ultimately apathy, disbelief, and withdrawal from public life.
No sense of alarm can be observed among political parties, NGOs, or the media. The grim silence is occasionally disturbed by national statistics providing alarming yet expected information. There is no noticeable legislation, civic activity, policies, or implemented ideas. Nor is there a public institution with a clear position.
The main objective of this work is to examine the contemporary state of small settlements in Bulgaria and to analyze the country’s regional development. The object of the study is small settlements, and the subject is the processes associated with them.
The regional development of the country is a serious issue that has been outside the focus of public attention for many years. The necessary deep reforms have been postponed, or only partial transformations have been undertaken. Unfortunately, these efforts have not brought about the much-desired harmonious and balanced territorial development. Bulgaria’s population has continued to decline, and small settlements have continued their decay. This decline is linked to depopulation, the lack of education and healthcare, the absence of quality social services, and insufficient therapeutic care for the aging population. Migration processes are significant, incomes are low, and the standard of living—especially in small settlements—is not high.
In this context, the present material raises questions for discussion within Bulgarian society. These are complex topics, and the problems cannot be resolved quickly or with ready-made answers. Observation, analysis, and comparison are required, along with a clear understanding of the crisis in which Bulgarian society and the state have been for a long time.