The article deals with the strategically important problems of metropolisation. In this context, it presents a theoretically based method of assessment of metropolises, the explanatory power of which was verified on the example of the Central Europe. This method is based on three components: population size (initial assumption), economic profile (ties to economic performance) and general attractiveness (the perception of development potential). The results of the evaluation of the 27 identified metropolises were generalized using a typology of their inclusion within the framework of the listed components: most metropolises were classified as type B -an established metropolis, followed by type C -an elementary metropolis, and type A -a dominant metropolis. A practically targeted conceptualization is then demonstrated on the example of the Czech Republic. The main attention was focused on the intensity of the economic links of Prague (and two further Czech centres) with other Central European metropolises.

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ABSTRACT:The definition and delimitation of metropolitan areas has been the focus of many geographers and other specialists for quite a few decades. The complexity and diversity of the methods and techniques used, and the differing attitudes of those working in this area have brought considerably different, and often controversial, results. The EU has introduced a tool, Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI), to support study in this area by motivating EU member states to define their metropolitan areas. This article will introduce the methodological approaches related to the functional integration of regional units and to inter-regional relations, used with ITI to delimit the metropolitan areas in two large cities, Brno (monocentric system) and Ostrava (polycentric system), and will compare the results with those achieved using our own method. Through a comparison of the results this article will examine the efficacy of the methods previously used and their possible transferability to studies of metropolitan areas with completely different settlement systems. Finally, this article will consider whether a unification of previously fragmented approaches is possible.

The acceleration of urbanization in developed countries in the 20th century has become during last 50 years a global phenomenon bringing many challenges. Relations between city and its surroundings have been consequently evolved by many essential changes. In post-socialistic countries the development of urbanization was affected by specific factors which influence – on the basis of historical memory – creating of functional regions. The subject of this paper is to discuss that the formal or informal institutionalization of metropolitan areas in the Czech Republic (covering the delimitation of metropolitan area or a consequent anchoring of metropolitan areas in the process of spatial planning), may be advantageous even from an economic point of view for all stakeholders.

The Czech Republic is typical for its fragmented settlement structure with a high number of small self-governing municipalities. Such a distinction causes many problems, including a non-effective way of their management. Even though various integration methods have already been applied in Europe for several decades, the Czech Republic, due to its historical development influenced by the period of communism, is still looking for intermunicipal cooperation opportunities at a higher (metropolitan) level. The presented text aims to evaluate a municipalities’ willingness to cooperate on particular activities and participate in selected topics on strategic and spatial planning at a metropolitan level. Their willingness is analysed according to the population size category of municipalities so that diverse approaches towards the willingness to cooperate could be identified for municipalities in different categories. The results are demonstrated by the example of the Brno Metropolitan Area, which is regarded to be a leader in the development of inter-municipal cooperation at a metropolitan level in the Czech Republic. The results were obtained from a questionnaire survey carried out with the mayors of the Brno metropolitan area in 2020. From a total of 184 municipalities, 175 municipalities took part in the questionnaire survey. Thus, the return was 95%. The results show that the assumption of the importance of the municipality population size is significant when making decisions about future development and cooperation within a metropolitan area. Although most municipalities in all size categories consider it useful to engage in cooperation and solve selected topics together at a metropolitan level, the municipalities in the smallest size categories of up to 1,000 inhabitants had a significantly lower proportion of very positive responses (definitely yes) than municipalities in the other categories. This fact may be attributed to the specific development of the Czech settlement system and the so-called historical memory of the residents from small municipalities during the directive merger in the 1970s and 1980s.