---
id: ch5-rae-poe
type: spine
title: "Rural attractiveness: from a regional index to a 1 km grid"
readingTime: 3
standalone: true
core: false
teaser: "PoliRural+ maps attractiveness instead of only debating it. On the Czech-Bavarian border it now does so one square kilometre at a time."
voice: universal
parent: null
diagram: fig-attractiveness-grid
recallQ: "Why does the Czech-Bavarian innovation potential tool use a 1×1 km grid, and what does it combine?"
recallA: "A regular grid shows where potential actually lies, without the bias that comes from aggregating data into municipalities or districts. The tool combines statistical indicators, the locations of universities and research institutes, transport networks and socio-economic data into an Attractiveness Index, with thematic maps and sector reports."
highlights:
  - "PoliRural's Rural Attractiveness Explorer built a composite Rural Attractiveness Index"
  - "Each pilot defines attractiveness differently, from innovation potential to tourism"
  - "The Beta tool for the Czech-Bavarian border works on a 1×1 km grid, led by Plan4all and Deggendorf Institute of Technology"
  - "Segment analyses and cross-border indicator harmonisation are still in progress"
status: accepted
concept: rural-attractiveness
conceptTitle: "Rural attractiveness mapping"
parents: tool-ecosystem
lang: en
lens: czech-bavaria
depth: standard
formalism: none
visuality: balanced
lengthBand: standard
genre: explainer
state: edited
carriers: prose|diagram
---

PoliRural+ measures rural attractiveness on a map, and its tools have gone through three stages.

## 1. The Rural Attractiveness Explorer (inherited from PoliRural)

The **Rural Attractiveness Explorer (RAE)** produces a **Rural Attractiveness Index (RAI)**. The index combines indicators such as social capital, economic opportunities and environmental assets, and the tool supports comparisons between regions. It was integrated into the PoliRural Digital Innovation Hub (D4.1 §2.1.1). The existing application offers data visualisation, filtering of input data, map viewer functions and work with user scenarios (D4.1 §6.10).

## 2. One app, many meanings of "attractive"

D4.1 notes that each pilot understands attractiveness differently, from innovation potential to tourism. The application is therefore adapted through dialogue with each pilot rather than with a single fixed formula (§6.10).

## 3. Innovation potential on a 1×1 km grid (Beta)

In the [Czech-Bavarian border pilot](#c/czech-bavarian-pilot), Plan4all and the Deggendorf Institute of Technology lead the **Data-driven Innovation Potential Assessment** tool. It maps south-western Bohemia and eastern Bavaria (D4.2 §3.10). Its main design choices:

- **A regular 1×1 km grid** replaces municipalities or districts, which avoids the bias built into aggregated administrative units.
- **Inputs:** statistical indicators, the locations of universities and research institutes, transport networks and socio-economic metadata.
- **Outputs:** a consolidated Attractiveness Index, high-resolution thematic maps, municipal summaries and sector reports, for example on the agri-food economy.
- **Scales:** from the local grid up to Central Europe, with segment analyses such as agrotourism or identifying high-tech hubs.

The tool is meant to pinpoint locations for food innovation and rural entrepreneurship, to assess digital skills and AI competence, and to support AI-powered help with grant applications. It also gives Czech and Bavarian actors a shared evidence base for coordinating investment.

**Status:** the tool is implemented as the analytical engine. The segment analyses are still being populated, the cross-border statistical indicators still need to be harmonised, and the AI advisory services for subsidies are to be expanded. Scaling the method to other Central European regions is a stated future direction (D4.2 §3.10). D4.2 also lists rural attractiveness analysis among the reproducible demos to prepare with model builders (§11.1).

The tool shows where potential lies today; it does not simulate futures. PoliRural+ handles scenario thinking through foresight and [system dynamics](#c/system-dynamics).

**How-to:** [Reading the innovation potential grid](#ch5-guide-attractiveness).

**Sources:**
- D4.2 PoliRuralPlus Platform Beta, §3.10 Rural Attractiveness / area-potential analysis; §11.1 Remaining development priorities. [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/421/D4.2_PoliRuralPlus_Platform_Beta.pdf)
- D4.1 PoliRuralPlus platform design, §2.1.1 Key Components and Their Current State; §6.10 Rural Attractiveness Analysis Application. [PDF](https://www.poliruralplus.eu/docs/162/D4.1_PoliRuralPlus_platform_design_v1.pdf)