Reciprocal Relations and Integrated Settlement Systems: Concepts, Methods and Analysis of Post-Socialist Urbanization in the Czech Republic
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2010 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | During socialism, national urban systems were characterized by hierarchically organized nodal regions considered as closed territorial entities within which labor markets and the provision of services was managed by planning authorities. This situation changed with the transformation towards market economy. While local labor markets are still organized around distinct nodes, there is increasing share of multidirectional commuting from places of residence to several urban centers and growth of reciprocal commuting between job centers. The closeness of single-node city regions is being in some territories reorganized to tissues of polycentric systems of small and medium sized cities and poly-nucleated metropolitan areas. Furthermore, this change is part of long term transition from extensive to intensive forms of urbanization. While extensive urbanization is characterized by concentration of population to cities, monocentric pattern of spatial organization around urban centers and one-directional commuting from hinterland to cities, intensive urbanization is characterized by the overlapping spheres of influence between centers, more cooperative functional relations among plurality of centers and territorial functional integration of existing centers and nuclear regions into networks of Integrated Polycentric Settlement Systems. Using data on population, jobs and commuting, we document transformations from mono to polycentric organization and formation of Integrated Polycentric Settlement Systems in Czech national urban system. |
| Related projects: |