This article seeks to contribute to discussion concerning the concept of countryside in geographical sciences. In the first section it discusses selected approaches for assessing rural areas and presents key stimulants from the new regional and cultural geography (rural areas as a socio-spatial process and as living space). The second section presents examples of empirical findings from a field survey, the respondents to which were mayors of rural municipalities – with up to 3,000 inhabitants – in Czechia. We empirically explore the truthfulness of a thesis concerning the existence of several distinct types of rural areas in Czechia: rural areas with differing development potential and diverse problems, calling for the use of different instruments in overcoming the problems in question. The results of the survey make it possible to assess the territorial differences of so-called soft factors of ruralmunicipality development (perceptions regarding rural areas, inhabitants’ relationship to the territory of their municipality, local pride, the conditions and indicators of a successful municipality).

The continuing European recession underlines the urgency of the unemployment and labour force mobility issue. Therefore, the objective of this study is to scrutinise the relationship between changes in unemployment rate and transport indicators in the intercensal period 2001--2011. Both primary and secondary data are used in the analysis. Rate of car ownership and commuting data were taken from national censuses in 2001 and 2011 which surrounded the 2008 crisis. Primary data came from 1,023 interviews. The relationships among indicators are identified with the help of several statistical techniques whose results are analysed. Further, analyses have confirmed the dominant importance of passenger car ownership and car use in relation to decreased unemployment. It is particularly important in economically weaker areas with a poor access, that are endangered by social exclusions. Furthermore, it is necessary to emphasise the importance of public transport as a means of preventing social exclusion.

The paper focuses on the impacts of the general education curriculum reform that has placed the pupils’ skills in the foreground of interest. Map skills are one of the most important groups of geographical skills. A test of map skills was drawn up in order to evaluate the level of map skills among pupils aged 11, 15 and 18. Its implementation proved, among others, the elementary assumption that map skills develop along with pupils’ growing age. It was also proven that Czech pupils primarily master cognitively less demanding operations with maps such as location of objects in the map, while more difficult uses associated with map reading and analysis of information posed rather serious problems to them. Statistical figures showed that girls faced the problems significantly more often than boys. Last but not least, it was proven that pupils have not acquired map skills on such a level as prescribed by the curriculum for a given educational level.

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This article addresses the analysis of theoretical and methodological concepts of the quality of human and social capital and their relation to the theory of spatial polarisation. Selected conditions for the development of human and social capital and their territorial differentiation in Czechia are evaluated. On the basis of an evaluation of component indicators of human capital (the ratio of university educated residents in the population over 15 years of age as well as an economic burden index) and social capital (voter participation in municipal elections and the number of candidates divided by the number of offices to be filled in the 2006 municipal elections) problematic areas are identified at a micro-regional level (the network of municipalities having a certified municipal authority).