Conceptualising patterns of spatial flows: Five decades of advances in the definition and use of functional regions

Abstract

Some fifty years in the development of ideas about the definition and use of functional regions are elaborated in this article, as an introduction to this Special Issue of the Moravian Geographical Reports. The conceptual basis for functional regions is discussed, initially in relation to region-organising interactions and their behavioural foundations. This paper presents an approach to functional regions which presumes that such regions objectively exist and that they are based on more or less tangible processes (however, a different view of regions is also briefly described). A typology of functional regions is presented and the development of methods for finding a definition of functional regions is discussed, as well as a typology for these methods. The final part of this article stresses the importance of functional regions in geographical research, and introduces some emerging new prospects in the study of functional regions.

Selective migration of population in functional urban regions of Slovakia

“…For regional scale, functional urban regions (FURs) were used. Regional networks of FURs have been delimited for many countries since the 1960s (Klapka & Halás, 2016) to provide a spatial network suitable for analysis of mainly human geographic phenomena based on horizontal relations. Among various approaches to delineation of FURs, the regional taxonomic procedure developed by Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS) in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) became the most frequently applied (cf.…”

“…Among various approaches to delineation of FURs, the regional taxonomic procedure developed by Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS) in Newcastle upon Tyne (UK) became the most frequently applied (cf. Coombes, 2014;Klapka, Halás, Erlebach, Tonev, & Bednář, 2014;Klapka & Halás, 2016). Regional networks based on the CURDS methodology were delimited also in Slovakia by Bezák (2000Bezák ( , 2014, Halás, Klapka, Bleha, and Bednář (2014) and Halás et al (2018).…”

The delimitation of planning regions on the basis of functional regions: An algorithm and its implementation in Turkey

“…In contrast, Erlebach et al (2016) and Klapka and Halás (2016) create a separate category for graph-oriented approaches that are included by Coombes (2000) within clustering methods, and they group hierarchical algorithms under the clustering methods characterised by a numerical taxonomy approach. Rule-based procedures (also known as multistage methods) are again defined as a separate category by them.…”

Delineation of the boundary of an urban agglomeration: evidence from Riga, Latvia

“…Conversely, for this research a functional agglomeration is defined as a functional urban region (see e.g. Klapka & Halas 2016), but paying attention to the interaction between the core city and surrounding areas in both directions (in this commuting to and from Riga). Also, there are no datasets that would allow an in-depth description of urban spatial structure.…”