The integration of socioeconomically marginalized areas into regional systems in the context of post-communist transformation has been an important subject of social science research in general. The military training areas (MTA), as specifi c type of peripheries, have been so far little explored. Based on the results of an extensive questionnaire survey (N = 1,362), the authors of this study analyze local community perceptions of MTA in the Czech Republic, assess positive and negative impacts of MTA on the quality of life, and discuss possible future development scenarios of the areas. The results show that local communities in the hinterland of MTA perceive similar problems as those living in other peripheral and/ or rural areas, particularly unemployment, limited options of obtaining own housing, maintenance of road infrastructure, limited options of leisure activities, etc. Ensuring a harmony between local development and MTA activities is considered a specifi c issue. Problems are perceived more likely by older and highly educated people, and those living in smaller municipalities with higher unemployment and municipalities located closer to MTA. On the other hand, young and less educated people living in larger municipalities with higher unemployment rates, which are located at a greater distance from county seats, perceive more likely positive impacts of MTA.
The paper focuses on assessing the implementation of the Smart cities concept in Czech and Slovak public administration. Examination is subject to all the regional cities of the two countries, assessing whether the city has a developed development strategy and whether this strategy is in line with the Smart cities concept, given the conditions below. If the strategy exists, it remains to be seen how deeply the strategy focuses on smart governance, as a subdivision of the Smart cities concept. The main benefit of this contribution can be considered as a summary of the situation and a subsequent comparison of the current situation into a whole. Although in many respects the Czech and Slovak Republics are similar, it has been found that the concept of smart cities is included in all strategies of development of regional cities in the Slovak Republic, while in the Czech Republic only in ten of the thirteen cities surveyed.
This paper provides new empirical evidence on the hypothesis that the perception of landscape disruption by wind turbines is a substantially subjective and relative matter. It is based on a survey involving nearly five hundred residents living in six different locations with operational wind turbines in the Czech Republic. Geographical and socioeconomic factors and sociodemographic characteristics that affect local community perceptions of landscape disruption are explored using correlations and a regression analysis model. The results suggest that the expressed perception of landscape disruption is not determined by the number of existing wind turbines, the proximity of residences to them and their visibility from the home but is significantly affected by the perception of the economic favourability of projects (benefits to local communities), perception of other negative impacts of wind turbines (particularly the noise annoyance) and the socio-cultural background of people (particularly the level of education).
Publikace neprošla jazykovou úpravou. / Publication is not a subject of language check. Za správnost obsahu a originalitu výzkumu zodpovídají autoři. / Authors are fully responsible for the content and originality of the articles.
Publikace neprošla jazykovou úpravou. / Publication is not a subject of language check. Za správnost obsahu a originalitu výzkumu zodpovídají autoři. / Authors are fully responsible for the content and originality of the articles.
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