Are small towns doomed to decline? The case of a post-socialist CEE country

Cole, David; Svidroňová, Mária Murray

doi:10.1080/14631377.2021.1886786

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Here, it would be interesting to map the living preferences of Ukrainians. Previous research [44] has revealed that roughly 1000 Slovak students prefer "traditional" living in a smaller community. That is home ownership, a suburban environment rather than big city life.…”

Section: Author Detailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Challenges of Ukrainian Refugees in Slovakia – Labour Market Integration Aspects with the Help of NGOs

Seberíni,

Lacová,

Gubalová

et al. 2024

Non-Governmental Organizations - Role and Performance in Turbulent Times

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Since the Second World War, the war in Ukraine has led to the largest and fastest forced displacement in Europe, when millions of Ukrainians fled abroad. The European Union reacted very swiftly to this mass influx and activated the Temporary Protection Directive, granting Ukrainians special temporary protection status, including the right to work, until March 2024. Following national legislation, the Slovak Republic has provided Ukrainians with financial assistance, accommodation, medical assistance, access to its labour markets and education for their children by active participation of Slovak NGOs. The aim of this study is to examine the challenges that young Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia face. We use data collected through a qualitative research design interview based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Although it is currently very difficult to predict the duration and outcome of the war, we expect a proportion of Ukrainian refugees will remain in Slovakia, and the longer the war lasts, the greater the proportion of those who will settle permanently in the EU Member States. Effective labour market integration is one of the key elements of EU sustainability, as it ensures individual economic self-sufficiency and promotes civic participation in the social and cultural life of host countries.

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Section: Author Detailsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Challenges of Ukrainian Refugees in Slovakia – Labour Market Integration Aspects with the Help of NGOs

Seberíni,

Lacová,

Gubalová

et al. 2024

Non-Governmental Organizations - Role and Performance in Turbulent Times

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“…In the changing patterns of territorial inequalities, not every small town can be seen as a loser. Some have integrated into functional metropolitan regions (Kwiatek-Sołtys, 2005), while others have provided attractive locational factors allowing their businesses, based on external direct investment rather than locally rooted, to successfully integrate into global value chains (Cole & Svidroňová, 2021;Novotný et al, 2019;Pipan, 2018;Wirth et al, 2016).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The combination of low spatial mobility and the deficiencies of larger cities' networks make the regional importance of these settlements more emphasized as central locations -primarily as employment centres concentrating workplaces -in comparison to Western Europe (Filipović et al, 2016;Kwiatek-Sołtys, 2005;Pirisi et al, 2016). On the other hand, their relative weakness, the limitations of their economic power appear as a key factor hampering regional convergence (Bartosiewicz et al, 2019;Cole & Svidroňová, 2021;Horeczki, 2014Horeczki, , 2021Molnár, 2015a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population dynamics of the Hungarian small towns in the light of censuses

Horeczki,

Molnár,

Pirisi

2023

The Central European Journal of Regional Development and Touris

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The importance of cities throughout history is indisputable. Their allocation of economic, cultural and political power, their spatial organization functions are impressive, and their role in social reproduction reached a milestone in 2008, when more than half of the world's population was considered urban. Today, the urban population is still growing. Small towns are extremely diverse in terms of economic power and society, but their numbers and population base do not justify their dominance in the urban network. There have been intense waves of urbanization across Europe, with the scope of formal cities widening and the scope of functional cities closing. Grouped by population category, there are more than 7,000 small towns in Europe, almost two-thirds of the countries' urban settlements are small towns. This is particularly true in Central-and Eastern-Europe, where, due to delayed urban development, there is a combination of welfare suburbanization and urban depopulation, as well as forced-generated movements from the big cities to smaller towns.In our study, we present the main characteristics of population change in small towns in Hungary. We examine spatial and functional differences in the population dynamics of small towns. The aim of the study is to show the spatial distribution of the settlements identified by prosperous suburbs and shrinking cities by illustrating the changes in the population dynamics of the Hungarian small towns population over the last almost twenty years.

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“…The combination of low spatial mobility and the deficiencies of larger city networks made the regional importance of these settlements more emphasized as central locations -primarily as cultural centers concentrating workplaces and resources -in comparison to Western Europe (Pirisi et al, 2016). On the other hand, their relative weakness, and the limitations of their economic power appear as key factors hampering regional convergence (Bartosiewicz et al, 2019;Cole-Svidroňová, 2021;Horeczki, 2021;Molnár, 2015). In addition to its position in the Carpathian Basin and its membership of the European Union, Hungary has had to adapt to the changes taking place worldwide in keeping with the appropriate geopolitical preferences and authentic medium-and long-term development visions.…”

Section: Urban Development In the Macro-regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative and Sustainable Cultural Heritage for Local Development in the Face of Territorial Imbalance

Hidalgo¹,

Horeczki²

2022

ACE: Architecture, City and Environment

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Els recents canvis en la concepció del patrimoni cultural han portat a considerar-lo no sols com a objecte de protecció i salvaguarda sinó, més enllà, com un recurs per al desenvolupament sostenible. En conseqüència, els efectes del seu correcte tractament podrien contribuir significativament a un dels grans reptes contemporanis del món occidental: el desequilibri urbà-territorial. El nostre propòsit en aquest estudi és extreure les claus de la contribució de l'ús innovador i sostenible del patrimoni cultural per al desenvolupament local de zones rurals, perifèriques o vulnerables. A través de la consideració dels aspectes socioeconòmics i urbà-territorials, i de l'anàlisi de dos estudis de cas europeus, tractarem de revelar com aquestes pràctiques i la pròpia presència del patrimoni cultural poden contribuir a pal·liar el desequilibri territorial. Per a això, combinarem la recerca bibliogràfica i documental amb l'ús i tractament de dades. Hem utilitzat principalment dades estadístiques sobre l'evolució demogràfica a diferents escales, així com dades sobre elements del patrimoni natural i cultural, material i immaterial. Els dos casos triats són el sud d'Espanya i Hongria. Reflecteixen la pluralitat del territori rural a Europa i la seva diversitat de circumstàncies tant en termes d'ocupació del territori com d'evolució sociodemogràfica i de tractament del patrimoni. Els resultats revelen que la mera presència del patrimoni i la seva protecció contribueixen a millorar el comportament demogràfic de les zones vulnerables, però que els efectes es potencien quan van acompanyats d'iniciatives innovadores i de cooperació territorial. Recent changes in the conception of cultural heritage have led to considering it not only as an object of protection and safeguarding but, beyond that, as a resource for sustainable development. Consequently, the effects of correctly handling heritage issues may significantly contribute to one of the great contemporary challenges of the western world: the urban-territorial imbalance. In this study, our purpose is to extract the key means of contributing to the innovative and sustainable deployment of cultural heritage for the local development of rural, peripheral, and/or vulnerable areas. Through the consideration of both socio-economic and urban-territorial aspects, and analysis of two European case studies, we aim to demonstrate how these practices and the very presence of cultural heritage can contribute to alleviating territorial imbalances. For this purpose, we set out the findings of bibliographic and documentary research with recourse to data processing. We have mainly applied statistical data on demographic trends across different scales as well as data on facets of natural and cultural, tangible and intangible heritage. The two cases chosen are southern Spain and Hungary. They reflect the plurality of the rural territories of Europe and their diversity of circumstances, both in terms of their territorial occupation and the socio-demographic evolution and treatment of their respective heritage. The results not only reveal how the mere presence of heritage and its protection contribute to improving demographic trends in vulnerable areas but also that these effects are enhanced when accompanied by innovative initiatives and territorial cooperation. Los recientes cambios en la concepción del patrimonio cultural han llevado a considerarlo no sólo como objeto de protección y salvaguarda sino, más allá, como un recurso para el desarrollo sostenible. En consecuencia, los efectos de su correcto tratamiento podrían contribuir significativamente a uno de los grandes retos contemporáneos del mundo occidental: el desequilibrio urbano-territorial. Nuestro propósito en este estudio es extraer las claves de la contribución del uso innovador y sostenible del patrimonio cultural para el desarrollo local de zonas rurales, periféricas o vulnerables. A través de la consideración de los aspectos socioeconómicos y urbano-territoriales, y del análisis de dos estudios de caso europeos, trataremos de desvelar cómo estas prácticas y la propia presencia del patrimonio cultural pueden contribuir a paliar el desequilibrio territorial. Para ello, combinaremos la investigación bibliográfica y documental con el uso y tratamiento de datos. Hemos utilizado principalmente datos estadísticos sobre la evolución demográfica a diferentes escalas, así como datos sobre elementos del patrimonio natural y cultural, material e inmaterial. Los dos casos elegidos son el sur de España y Hungría. Reflejan la pluralidad del territorio rural en Europa y su diversidad de circunstancias tanto en términos de ocupación del territorio como de evolución sociodemográfica y de tratamiento del patrimonio. Los resultados revelan que la mera presencia del patrimonio y su protección contribuyen a mejorar el comportamiento demográfico de las zonas vulnerables, pero que los efectos se potencian cuando van acompañados de iniciativas innovadoras y de cooperación territorial.

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Are small towns doomed to decline? The case of a post-socialist CEE country

Cited by 3 publications

References 17 publications

The Challenges of Ukrainian Refugees in Slovakia – Labour Market Integration Aspects with the Help of NGOs

The Challenges of Ukrainian Refugees in Slovakia – Labour Market Integration Aspects with the Help of NGOs

Population dynamics of the Hungarian small towns in the light of censuses

Innovative and Sustainable Cultural Heritage for Local Development in the Face of Territorial Imbalance

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