The implementation of EU rural development policy has required the territorialization of rural areas. The methodology adopted by the MiPAAF Working Group, within the editing of the Italian NSP, holds the power to have used other indicators besides the population density. The implemented process has certainly allowed to differentiate the rural territory, but through a complex structure. The aim of this research has been to identify an alternative zoning process to the NSP one, equally effective (capable of providing identical or similar results), but more efficient (able to minimize the resources required to implement it). The region Friuli Venezia Giulia has been chosen as the study area. Using the same indicators as the NSP methodology, a different classification process has been identified; this process has been divided into two main sequential stages. Firstly, Two-Step Cluster Analysis, a classical clustering method that can deal also with mixed variables, has been applied. Secondly, the obtained partition has been improved by FANNY, a fuzzy clustering procedure also capable to operate with mixed types variables. The implemented process has generated a zoning of the rural areas equal to that proposed by the NSP. However, these results have been obtained with spare of time and costs, thanks to the availability of efficient software for data management that are, in some cases, open source. Furthermore, the clustering algorithm FANNY provides the membership degrees of the statistical units (municipalities) to each identified cluster. This information is useful for territorial planning; it allows to differentiate development projects in terms of both intercluster differences and intracluster peculiarities.
