What has changed? Spatial development of the current Hungarian border areas nowadays and one century ago PÉNZES, János, PhD assistant professor Europe a Century after the End of the First World War (1918-2018) International conference 10-12 October 2018 University of Oradea, Romania Supported b the ÚNKP-17-4 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities
Border regions are frequently described as underdeveloped areas and can often be affirmed empirically (Petrakos Topaloglou 2006), especially in Central and Eastern Europe (Süli-Zakar 1992; Gorzelak 1996). Borders territorial development peripherality In general, borders are perceived as features acting as a constraint rather than an incentive upon the operation of spatial systems (Reichman 1993); Borders often appear as barriers having important effect on the regional development (Van Geenhuizen et al. 1996); Decrease and discontinuity can be observed in the number and intensity of activities (Van Houtum 2000); The characteristics of borders have dominant effect on the neighbouring territory though the border area also has influence on the features of the border itself (Hansen 1977); Increase of the expenditures might occur due to the higher risk for investments in the case of border areas in insecure political situation (Ratti 1993);
Borders territorial development peripherality Border as a unique element of the social space may have several basic functions with obviously differing effect on territorial development (Ratti 1993; Nemes Nagy 2009); Borders may have positive influence on territorial development as the result of the decreasing barrier function and increasing permeability (Hansen 1977); Positive effects are culminating in the proximity of the border crossing points (Van Houtum 2000). In the current study, territorial development is analysed on the basis of datasets from two periods covering the changes of more than 100 years.
Patterns of territorial development nowadays After a multi steps systematic narroving 7 indicators were used for the development calculation (updated for 2016): Taxable income per capita; Ratio of children supported by regular child protection aid; Number of inhabitants per dwelling; Average housing price; Number of respiratory diseases cases per capita; Ratio of newly built dwellings; Elderly dependency ratio. The territorial development index was calculated by the average of the normalized values of the listed indicators.
Patterns of territorial development one century ago A recently developed dataset provided the basis for the research (http://www.gistory.com). The selection of the appropriate indicators was framed by a similar methodology. The selected indicators were: Ratio of infant mortality; Dependent population in the ratio of earners; Ratio of earners from the industrial sector; Income per capita on the basis of cadastre; Proceeds of settlements per capita; State tax per capita. Significant correction of the territorial data was required with the application of GIS methods almost 380 were not officially separated and administratively created (some of them did not exist one century ago).
Values of settlements by the territorial development index in 1910 on the basis of the historical administrative division Deciles of the development index Source: own edition on the basis of the census from 1910 and taxation data from 1908 http://www.gistory.hu
Values of settlements by the territorial development index in 1910 Source: own edition on the basis of the census from 1910 and taxation data from 1908 http://www.gistory.hu
Values of settlements by the territorial development index in 2016 Source: own edition on the basis of TeIR
Development deciles of settlements by the territorial development index in 1910 Source: own edition on the basis of the census from 1910 and taxation data from 1908 http://www.gistory.hu
Development deciles of settlements by the territorial development index in 2016 Source: own edition on the basis of TeIR
Development level of the sections of border areas compared to the corrected national average in 1910 and 2016 Border section Territorial development index in 1910 Territorial development index in 2016 Change (in percentage point) Austrian 100,58 104,01 +3,43 Western-Slovakian 103,77 106,34 +2,57 Eastern-Slovakian 82,06 87,37 +5,30 Ukrainian 72,99 83,18 +10,19 Romanian 88,02 88,54 +0,51 Serbian 109,23 99,88-9,34 Croatian 74,42 94,44 +20,02 Slovenian 99,51 90,55-8,97 Hungary 100,00 100,00 +/-0,00 Source: own edition by four different delimitation of backward settlements
The location of peripheral settlements in 1910 and in 2016 Source: own edition on the basis of TeIR, the census from 1910 and taxation data from 1908 http://www.gistory.hu
Conclusions Territorial development is a multivariate phenomena that is strongly influenced and interrelated by the state borders; The investigation of territorial development by historical datasets means a significant (or impossible?) challenge but the concept of territorial development index provides a methodological frame to realize the computations; The administrative and demographic changes meant significant obstacles during the comparative analysis of the different periods; Results demonstrated the negative effects of newly formed state borders on the territorial development along the eastern and southern borders of Hungary but the western part of the country is different; Two faced character of territorial development could be seen in the light of the closing development gap of border areas to the national average and the spectacular spatial concentration of peripheral settlements along the state borders during one century.
Thank You for the attention! References: GORZELAK, G. 1996: The Regional Dimension of Transformation in Central Europe. Regional Policy and Development 10. RSA, Jessica Kingsley Publishers. London HANSEN, N. 1977: Border Regions: a critique of spatial theory and a European case study. Annals of Regional Science, 11 (1) pp 1-14. NEMES NAGY J. 2009: Terek, helyek, régiók. A regionális tudomány alapjai. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. 350 p. PETRAKOS, G. - TOPALOGLOU, L. 2006: Economic Geography and European Integration: The Effects on the EU External Border Regions. Department of Planning and Regional Development University of Thessaly. Discussion Paper Series. 12 (8) pp. 153-174. RATTI, R. 1993: Spatial and economic effects of frontiers. In: Theory and Practice of Transborder Cooperation (eds. Ratti, R. - Reichman, S.), Helbing and Lichtenhahn, Basel. pp. 23-49. REICHMAN, S. 1993: Barriers and Strategic Planning: Spatial and Institutional Formulations. In: Theory and Practice of Transborder Cooperation (eds. Ratti, R. Reichman, S.), Helbing and Lichtenhahn, Basel. pp. 55-64. SÜLI-ZAKAR, I. 1992: A study of state borders as factors blocking socio-economic progress in North-Eastern Hungary. Geographical Review (International Edition), 66 (40) pp. 53-64. VAN GEENHUIZEN, M. - VAN DER KNAAP, B. - NIJKAMP, P. 1996: Trans-border European networking: Shifts in Corporate Strategy? European Planning Studies, 4 (6) pp. 671-682. VAN HOUTUM, H. 2000: An overview of European Geographical Research on Borders and Border Regions. Journal of Borderlands Studies, 15 (1) pp. 57-85. http://gistory.hu