Development Problems of the Žumberak Border Region

Abstract

Cilj rada bio je istražiti razvojne probleme Žumberka u kontekstu njegove periferič-nosti unutar Središnje Hrvatske te položaja uz državnu granicu sa Slovenijom. U skladu s tim razmotreni su problemi demografskog razvoja i demografskih struktura, socijalnoekonomskog razvoja, gravitacijske usmjerenosti te opremljenosti i upotrebe stanova toga područja (koji su prostorno diferencirani unutar pograničnog pojasa Žumberka). Prikupljeni podaci statistički su obrađeni i tablično analizirani. Terenskim anketnim istraživanjem te metodom istraživačkog razgovora ispitani su intenzitet cirkulacija stanovništva uz granicu, funkcionalna usmjerenost na pojedine centre u Hrvatskoj i Sloveniji, promjene koje je donijela primjena Schengenskog sporazuma te perspektive naselja u pograničnom pojasu Žumberka. Primjenom SWOT analize zaključno su prikazane prednosti i nedostaci razvoja Žumberka te prilike i prijetnje u njegovu razvoju.Ključne riječi: pogranična područja, periferija, razvojni problemi, transgranična cirkulacija, Žumberak Development Problems of the Žumberak Border RegionThe objective of this research was to analyse the development problems of Žumberak in the context of its peripheral position within Central Croatia, and its position at the state border with Slovenia. Taking this into account, problems of demographic development, demographic structures, socio-economic development, gravitational orientation, housing standards, and usage of houses of this area have been spatially differentiated and studied within the border zone of the Žumberak region.Data obtained from several sources were statistically processed, and analysed in tabular form. The intensity of commuting of the border zone inhabitants, functional orientation of the border area to individual centres in Croatia and Slovenia, changes caused by implementation of the Schengen Agreement, and perspectives of settlements located in the border zone were examined using a questionnaire survey and interviews in the field. Using the technique of SWOT analysis, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to further development of Žumberak have been analysed.

Determining of the degree of geographical marginality of settlements in Međimurje using GIS and exploratory factor analysis

“…In contemporary research in Croatia, it is worth emphasizing research that is directly or indirectly related to research in marginal areas: at the local level (Nejašmić, 2005;Popović and Radeljak, 2011;Nejašmić and Toskić, 2013;Feletar, 2014;Nejašmić and Toskić, 2016); research focused on land use change and the determination of landscape degradation as a feature of marginal areas (Horvat, 2013;Cvitanović and Fuerst-Bjeliš, 2018); an overview of the basic concepts of geographic marginality (Horvat and Toskić, 2017); research on social exclusion in the sense of marginalization (Šućur, 1995; Šućur, 2004; Šporer, 2004); a look at the historical aspect of marginal groups in Croatian medieval societies (Karbić, 1991); and the impact of the traffic marginality on the everyday lives of secondary school students in Zagreb (Gašparović and Jakovčić, 2014).…”

Socio-demographic analysis of border regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina

“…Borderlands research in Southeast Europe (e.g., in Serbia and Croatia) has applied a range of methodological approaches to confirm the hypothesis of border regions as economically, socially and demographically marginalized parts of the national territory (Popović and Radeljak 2011;Zorko 2012;Pejnović and Kordej-De Villa 2015;Vukmirović et al 2016). In comparing the socio-economic indicators of border regions with the national average and examining the standard of living in these areas (Máliková et al 2015;Đerčan et al 2016), determining the incidence of demographic issues (Zupanc 2018;Anđelković-Stoilković 2019) and analyzing borderlands in the context of national security (Vukmirović et al 2016), multiple authors have concluded that border regions are observed through the paradigm of spatial polarization due to the disparity in the levels of development between the center and periphery.…”