The Economic Structure and Performance of the Catchment Area of the Hungarian Regional Centers

Abstract

This study examines the economic structure and performance of urban catchment areas. The five largest Hungarian regional centers are a traditional part of the Hungarian city network, as they are the five most populous cities after Budapest. The approach of territorial research is increasingly focused on the fact that the city as a center should not be studied without its immediate surroundings (agglomeration, region, catchment area). This study also keeps this in mind. The data were processed for the period between 1992 and 2015, on the basis of which the change can also be examined. Development trajectories show very different tendencies; Győr operates the catchment area as a strong center, while the surroundings of Pécs became fragmented due to the weakness of the center. Miskolc is characterized by a stagnant area, where the operation of another sub-center is very intensive, thus improving economic performance. Szeged is a solid center, whose catchment area is stabilized by several substations. The area of Debrecen is divided, the center is not able to energize its area.

From the "West of the East" to the "East of the West": The post-socialist economic and structural transition of Central and South-Eastern Europe

“…Importantly, after a steep decline of their population in the 1990s, diverging demographic processes have begun to take shape in the post-millennial development of regional centres of several countries, with the majority qualifying as "small big cities" with a population of 100 to 200 thousand (Páthy, 2017;Rechnitzer & Páthy, 2022). However, studies examining the major trends of polarization in the urban network in selected CEE countries (Csizmadia & Páthy, 2010;Dogaru et al, 2014;Berkes, 2020;Korcelli & Olejniczak, 2021) do not necessarily confirm positive developments for second-tier city regions, undermining their networked FDI-based development due to a lack of knowledge assets and critical size. Moreover, the socio-spatial transformation processes of the city regions themselves are indicative of heteropolitanization (Gentile et al, 2012;Neugebauer & Kovács, 2015) understood as the growing prevalence of socially, economically, culturally and spatially heterogeneous and complex urban spaces.…”

The role of the foundational economy: The case of two regional centres in Central and Eastern Europe.

“…The same cannot be stated for the deindustrialized, shrinking, rural university city of Pécs and its region, Baranya county, located in a weak economic environment, and its economy showing signs of stagnation rather than expansion (see e.g. Berkes, 2020). In this research we intend to gain insight into the development potential of second-tier cities, which are themselves developed, but whose regional hinterland is underdeveloped.…”

The firm geography of Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans

“…The increase in income disparity in Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations during the early 1990s, subsequent to the shift from centrally planned to market-based economies, was an anticipated outcome [52]. Prior to this transition, the socialist economies in the region were characterized by severe scarcities, minimal investment in human capital, non-competitive management, predominantly state-owned physical assets, inadequate services, and full yet highly inefficient employment.…”