Volume 12 (2018): Issue 2 (December 2018)

Following the publication of ‘European Spatial Development Perspective’ in 1999, a large number of theoretical and empirical studies have been carried out on polycentric spatial development especially in European settlements. The relationship between polycentricity and economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability and social cohesion are some of the main concerns of these studies. This study aims to clarify ‘the meaning of polycentricity’ in the case of Turkey, as a developing country and analyse the relationship between polycentric spatial development and economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability and social cohesion. After calculation of morphological polycentricity of the regions at NUTS-5 level, the propositions on the positive effects of polycentric spatial development on economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability and social cohesion is tested by using Pearson correlation and OLS regression models. The results of the empirical study are mixed for these three subjects. Polycentric spatial development has not positive effects on economic competitiveness and social cohesion in Turkey case. Conversely, a positive effect exists in terms of environmental sustainability. It can be said, that to reach those policy aims highlighted by European Spatial Development Perspective, could not be realised by only taken into account polycentric spatial development in Turkey case.

Corporate headquarters, which occupy the top of enterprise organizational hierarchies became the subject of an increased interest in last three decades. Until now, posttransformation economies suffer from a distinct cognitive gap in this respect. The main objective of this paper is to analyse and interpret the development of the spatial pattern of top 100 biggest companies in the Czech Republic. Both quantitative and qualitative dimension of this issue will be investigated in the frame of this article. The basic territorial level we examine is constituted by self-governing regions. Finally, particular managerial and regionally-orientated recommendations for both largest enterprises and public administration will be formulated.

The aim of this paper is to analyze in chronological terms the idea for the construction of Morava-Vardar canal and the contemporary geopolitical consequences of this project along with its economic, environmental and social impacts. Through critical readings of different contributions and reports made by scientific community, other institutions and media we have presented the idea in chronological terms from the late years of the 19th century until recent years. Continental geographical position Serbs have, has always been considered as an obstacle for their overall development. Through participation in unsustainable geopolitical formations they have continuously managed to develop any kind of connections to the sea. Even though part of various political entities over the time the effort to reach the direct contact to the sea was not successful. For this reason, Serbs raised idea and developed a project to connect their continental state with the sea through construction of the Morava-Vardar water canal. Except economic and environmental consequences, construction of this canal would have geopolitical implications in Balkan Peninsula known as very unstable geopolitical region.

More than 40% of China’s arable land is degraded. This paper reviews the direct and indirect consequences of soil degradation in China. Soil degradation has observable and measurable impacts, which include soil nutrient loss, salinization, acidification, and desertification. It also has a number of indirect consequences, in particular, a reduction of the agricultural output due to a drop in soil nutrient; an increase in the frequency and magnitude of floods and landslides; a decline in livestock production due to a decrease in grass density available to roaming livestock; an intensification of dust storms and sandstorms which affects health, the productivity of the land, and visibility; and a faster accumulation of silt in dams, which damages their structure, reduces their water storage capacity, and compromises their original functions, in particular their electricity generation capacity.

Even in situations when welfare state budgets can be considered generous, many socially responsible, beneficial activities remain that cannot survive without the financial support of private individual or corporate donors. The article seeks an answer to questions of to what extent the willingness to donate one’s own money depends on wealth and income, and what the role of other socio-cultural factors is. The data about the amount of private and corporate donations in particular regions of the Czech Republic in the period of the years 2011–2015 is compared with data about the regional economic prosperity and income. The regression analysis results show that it was only possible to explain to certain level the amount of donations by the rate of the wealth of firms and individuals in particular regions. In case of the companies, it is a medium-strong correlation, while the correlation is strong in terms of individuals. Particularly in terms of the corporate donation, the willingness to donate is significantly related also with other, non-economic factors in the region.

Spatial planning axes are an important instrument of spatial planning to help connect urban areas and ensure the accessibility of rural areas and their development. The planning of such axes can steer population and traffic flows, decisions on the locations of economic developments as well as infrastructures such as cable networks. In this paper, current spatial planning axes and their continuity are analysed regarding their suitability to promote sustainable cross-border European development. Two neighbouring regions are investigated as examples, namely the Regional Planning Authority Oberes Elbtal/Osterzgebirge (Germany, Saxony) and the Ústí nad Labem Region (Czechia). The overarching research question is how transboundary spatial planning axes can be harmonised? This can be broken down into the following three sub-questions: (1) Which differences exist between the Saxon and Czech planning systems? (2) How is the need for harmonisation assessed by planning practitioners? (3) Which transboundary recommendations can be given from a scientific perspective? To answer these research questions, expert interviews were conducted with relevant stakeholders from spatial planning authorities as well as scientific and political institutions.

The aim of this paper is to provide a geographical urban policy perspective on the strategy of Smart Cities in the specific context of Czechia. Considering that the implementation of the Smart Cities (SC) concept is still relatively young in Czechia, it is highly relevant to examine the time-space diffusion of this concept in Czechia in the geographical lens: where the first initiative to build a smart city started, when the process was started and by whom; in other words, to provide basic empirical evidence of understanding the policy mobility and implementation of smart city policy into the urban development strategies. In the first of our approach, we evaluate the implementation of the term “smart city” in strategic city documents. The next step is the analysis of the strategic urban (city) and smart city documents by distinguishing conceptually distinct pillars of the SC concept and an overview of actors and policy-makers who initiate and support individual pillars of the concept of SC in Czechia. The results of the analysis highlight the differences between the implemented SC topics into city strategies which are caused by fragmented policy mobility, its modifications and influence of key actors who have found the opportunity to participate in policy-making processes at the certain spatial level.