Evaluation of Development of Cooperation in South Bohemian Municipalities in the Years 2007–2014

The article presents results of the research of cooperation of municipalities in the South Bohemian Region, focused on the analysis of forms and means of cooperation between 2007 and 2014. The published results are part of an internal research that lasted for many years, the goal of which was both to analyse the development of cooperation of municipalities in the studied region and to identify the prerequisites and barriers of all cooperative relations. The research was done on a sample of 623 South Bohemian municipalities in the period of 2007-2010 and 2013- 2016, the obtained data was processed using descriptive statistics and multidimensional statistical methods, and the results show an almost 20% increase in the means of municipal cooperation across the entire South Bohemian Region. Based on the respective means of cooperation, National Healthy Cities Network of the Czech Republic saw the biggest growth, amounting to +3.275% between 2007 and 2014. Participation in local action groups, where the total of 580 municipalities are already engaged, increased by 32.12%. Although less dynamic, this growth is much more important, as it significantly contributes to the development of rural areas and their absorption abilities, mainly as regards financial resources from the national and European sources. However, fragmented means of municipal cooperation is a current problem of cooperation of municipalities, leading to the disintegrated power of the respective municipalities.