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Geopolitics and International Relations are two phenomena always undivided and as usual closely related to each other. Nowadays Geopolitics is presented as a universal term in the global world which is essential in explanation of international relations because it gives a great illustration regarding the influence of geography in political power of a state. Historically, the Western Balkans has been and of course continues to remain an important geostrategic region characterized by diversity in geopolitical orientation. It's an area where great powers have always had interests. Thus, if we refer the Euro-Atlantic process, the connectivity of geopolitics and Western Balkans is unavoidable. So, examined from this point of view in this scientific paper I will elaborate issues related with geopolitics in general, its relation with international relations, the struggle of great power for their influence towards Western Balkans, and undoubtedly the importance of the Republic of Macedonia, as a country with very favorable geopolitical position whose purpose is integration into Euro-Atlantic structures and challenges of Republic of Macedonia during this process.
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Barcaság/Burzenland/Ţara Bârsei is a historical and ethnographic geographical unit area located on the border of the Eastern- and Southern Carpathians, in the Carpathian Bend, bordered by mountain ranges.The area, mentioned in written sources as early as in 1211 is located in the south-eastern part of Transylvania, in the geographical centre of Romania. The system of Transylvanian counties, Székely and Saxon seats and regions, established by the 14th century, existed, with two short interruptions, up until 1876. The „traditional” public admin-istration was reorganized in the Habs-burg era, between 1784–1790 and 1850–1860, in accordance with the empire's centralization aspirations. The system of counties, seats, and regions in Hungary was permanently abolished in 1876. The civil administration, established at that time, was organized at settlement- district county level. Despite the political, social and border changes after World War I, during World War II and after World War II, the „county sys-tem” operated in Transylvania until 1950. Between 1950–1968, Sovietstyle spatial organization was used in Romania, in 1968, new counties were established. Spatial division organized at settlement/commune and the county level is still in force in Romania today. This study summarizes the geographical features of the Burzenland/Barcaság public administration from 1876 to the present day.
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The study examines an area at the bor-der of two disciplines, criminology and tourism, the victimization of foreign citi-zens in Budapest between 2017 and 2021. Until now, neither criminology (victimology) nor tourism science (tour-ism safety) has examined sufficiently this area. Based on police data, the au-thors investigated three topics: the na-tionality of foreign victims, the locations where they became victims, and the types of crimes committed against for-eign citizens. During the investigation, correlations have been revealed that could be used in developing tourism se-curity concepts and area-specific crime prevention strategies.
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The study examines the social innova-tion potential and competitiveness of municipalities in terms of competitive advantage- and disadvantage. While our previous research on social innovation studied independently the processes, levels, stakeholders and relationships with technical and technological innova-tion, the current study analyses the complex index created by social innova-tion potential. The link between social innovation potential and the factors of competitive advantage can be estab-lished on the conceptual plane of sus-tainable value creation, seeking to link the concept of competition to the en-hancement of social well-being and prosperity in a new way. The paper pays particular attention to the measurement challenges of the social innovation pro-cess, as well as to the impact measure-ment and sustainability assessment of social innovation initiatives. This re-search defines a complex indicator of the social innovation potential of Hun-garian districts and is using the indicator to examine the extent to which key terri-torial processes are related to the char-acteristics defined by the indicator. In the analysis, the authors discuss the rela-tionship between territorial competi-tiveness and social innovation potential in Hungary's districts. The study also draws conclusions on how the results may be applied in the economic devel-opment decision-making processes of the districts.
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Network analysis is not a novelty in spa-tial statistics, however, in terms of data availability and data analysis techniques, there have been many developments in the recent years. Circuity is a quantita-tive indicator characterizing the transport network and the physical structure of the space in general, com-paring the shortest distance in a straight line between any two points belonging to the network with the distance re-quired to actually get there. Our re-search goal is twofold: (1) the develop-ment of a circuity calculation methodol-ogy based on numerous amount of road segment calculations, which exploits the potential inherent in the development of information technology in recent years and could reliably characterize the structure of each territorial unit; and with the developed methodology (2) the examination of (i) car, (ii) public transport and (iii) pedestrian networks in the internal areas of the Budapest dis-tricts where public transport is available. According to the analysis, driving circui-ty in Budapest's inner-city districts, and the public transportation circuity in its outer districts indicates a tendency for a higher additional travel demand com-pared to the distance in a straight line (sinuosity). In the case of the walking circuity, the coefficient values are more homogeneous, there are no particularly large differences compared to the aver-age. The method could help spatial planning and the exploration of the rela-tionships between the spatial structure and other socio-economic indicators.
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The study focuses on the old housing es-tates built before World War 2 in Buda-pest. They are not as homogeneous by far as the large housing estates of the-post-1945 ones; being diverse from in-vestors and architectural design point of view. The authors are examining the old housing estates’ position in the housing market. The questions whether the ini-tial differences between the old housing estates still exist and how the physical characteristics of the buildings (size and type) effect the housing prices are ad-dressed. The city itself changed signifi-cantly since the construction of the old housing estates. Several of the once pe-ripheral estates have become a part of newly developed residential areas, their transport connections and infrastructure have improved. The article explores the effect of the location on the market posi-tion. To answer these questions, the au-thors developed a database of old hous-ing estates and used the housing prices calculated by the Central Statistical Of-fice.Empirical evidence suggests that the ma-jority of dwellings of old housing estates are in the lowest price segment of the housing market; only a very small part of them can be sold at a price above the Budapest average. The location is one of the most important factors in determin-ing the prices. Old housing estates in dif-ferent residential zones are typically cheaper than the ones in the neighbour-ing housing areas. Those located around ex-industrial areas have the lowest mar-ket value.
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The paper is based on the five principal dimensions of the International Digital Economy and Society Index (I-DESI), however, instead of the original scoring model based on arbitrary pre-determined weights, the authors apply more objective ranking methods using the statistical properties of the data se-ries to determine where Hungary stands in terms of digital development among the countries of the European Union and other developed countries in the data set. The ranking is performed using the DEA-CWA (Data Envelopment Analysis / Common Weights Analysis) method (with six models) and the TOPSIS (Tech-nique for Order of Preference by Simi-larity to Ideal Solution) method; the re-sulting weight vectors and rankings are then compared. Although the resulting weight vectors differ significantly from the arbitrary weights set by the Europe-an Commission, the country rankings remain similar, displaying relatively lit-tle sensitivity to the chosen weighting method.
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Today, satellite settlements surrounding large cities have become popular destinations for tourism-driven mobility. Foreign tourists play a significant role in these flows, typically staying in large ci-ties as centres of gravity and making vi-sits of varying duration to satellite settlements with tourist attractions. ‘Invisible’ tourism trips of less than 24 hours are difficult to measure using traditional statistical tools, so mobile phone cellular data offered by digital technology is an alternative to monitoring. The paper explores how cellular data generated by mobile phone communication can be used to understand the characteristics of short-duration mobility in metropolitan areas, satellite tourism, and how Big Data technology can be used to study tourism in socio-geographical terms. The study has found that the gravitational pull of the metropolis, i.e. the range of settlements accessible through satellite tourism, goes far beyond the boundaries of the agglomeration area outlined in the hypothesis, and has also pointed out that the methodology used has a number of limitations that may weaken the validity of the results.
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Examining the impact of spatial parameters is a central factor in research related to the analysis of housing prices, mostly involving data at the municipal level or higher. The present study builds on a less common approach, focusing on the analysis of the impact of a spatial parameter, distance from the centre, on property prices, furthermore, the empirical research uses aggregated municipal level data based on the level of individual dwellings. On the one hand, the study aims to review and systematise the determinants of property prices, with a more detailed focus on previous studies of the impact of distance from the cent-re, and on the other hand, within the framework of empirical research, to examine the impact of distance from Győr as a centre on the supply price of detached houses.
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Based on the findings of the international research on the complex development potential of Europe's Great Lakes (ESPON LAKES), the authors examine the environmental, social, economic and governance challenges of Europe's great lake regions and their potential for feeding into European policy. Statistical analysis of the Lake Balaton, Lake Constance and Lake Vänern regions has shown that they have significant differences in natural, social and economic terms, but also commonalities that link them. These include their significant but fragile ecological values and their peripheral, partly border location in social and administrative terms. For these rea-sons, it is worth developing the great lake regions in an integrated way, while taking into account the challenges of the given region. The results of the study are also useful for national spatial policy, as they illustrate the role and development potential of regions facing specific challenges.
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The primary objective of the available EU financial resources is to reduce territorial disparities and inequalities. The study analyses EU cofunded municipal tenders at national level that have an impact on the communities of settlements and the community building factors. The authors present the spatial distribution of the awarded tenders according to the calls for proposals, then they analyse the correlations between the funding and the municipal variables, and finally they outline the impact of tenders on the development of the settlement/community and suggest problemsolving solutions. The results show that in the future, local governments will not only act as a delegated public organisation in rural municipalities but will also be essential for promoting development and creating active communities.
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In 2021, Act LXXVIII of 1997 on the De-velopment and Protection of the Built Environment redefined the types of plans used in settlement development and planning. The Act introduced the socalled “settlement plan” as a compre-hensive plan type that integrated both the settlement development strategy and the settlement regulation plan. Govern-ment Decree No. 419/2021. (VII. 15.) on the content, and the orders of preparation and approval of the settlement plans, and some specific legal institutions of settlement regulation declares which settlements are required to prepare a detailed settlement plan, and which settlements are allowed to prepare a “simplified” settlement plan. The legal provision considers a population threshold of 5,000 inhabitants to classify settlements into two groups, indirectly suggesting that settlements over 5,000 inhabitants have greater potential for development than smaller ones. However, this study questions the relevance of that population threshold and assumes that a settlement’s development potential is rather impacted by its legal status and geographical position. Therefore, this study compares the development volume of 27 large villages and villages over 5,000 inhabitants with 27 towns having less than 5,000 inhabitants based on the number and total amount of EU-funded projects they implemented be-tween 2004 and 2022. The author draws the conclusion that towns, primarily due to their complex institution systems, im-plemented 1.62 times more development projects from about 2.9 more funding than large villages and villages with higher population. However, villages that are located in the agglomeration of a large city and have good transportation connections were also successful in acquiring EU funding, primarily due to the suburbanization of economic functions.
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This study critically examines data sources on pet and companion animal keeping in Hungary on a national and lower geographical scale. The authors present records of dogs dating back to as early as the 19th century due to the fight against rabies, the surveys of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office that go back several decades and contain information on the expenditure and time spent on companion animal keeping, and some occasional representative surveys carried out in recent years. The results from data sources with limited comparability highlight differences in companion animal (mainly dog) keeping by settlement type in Hungary. It is striking that dog ownership is more and more popular in major cities and it is becoming a way of life for many people.
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The study is based on a sub-result of a 4-year research project funded by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NRDIO). The original project's research plan (Transforming local housing markets in large Hungarian cities) also included an overview of spatial processes that can be captured by housing market indicators across administrative boundaries. The main re-search question was: do such indicators exist and, if so, what elements of the suburbanisation process can they capture, based on the available public data-bases, which are little used by domestic researchers? The author concludes that such indicators do exist, and that their analysis provides useful direct or indirect inputs for mapping the spatial pro-cesses taking place in the two interpretative frameworks (relative deconcentration and spatial exodus of the middle class), and that, in combination with other methods, they can explain the differences in the processes taking place in different urban areas.
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The study examines the distribution and spatial concentration of students enrolled in domestic IT courses according to the headquarters of the institution. The research objective is justified by the fact that digitalisation has become one of the dominant global megatrends with the advent of the Internet and ICT. Thanks to this, the number of students enrolled in computer science education is a priority for each country and region. In almost every field, there is a need for highly qualified IT professionals who are vested with up-to-date knowledge and can implement digital changes and digital technologies. The research covers the period between 2005 and 2021, as the Bologna system introduced in 2005 in Hungarian higher education fundamentally changed high-er education courses and had a significant impact on the spatial concentration of training. The author examines the latter with the Hirschmann-Herfindahl and Gini index indicators (spatial concentration indicators), separately for bachelor and master programmes. The research highlights and supports with facts that in our country computer science courses are provided in relative-ly few locations, in only 15 cities, and that their spatial concentration is also increasing, which will become a growing problem for the labour market and institutional actors further away from the training locations. The leading role of Budapest and its agglomeration in high-er education cannot be questioned, as half of the students study here and the largest number of students apply here from almost every region of the country.
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The network of ambulance stations of the National Ambulance Service, established in 1948, has been developed significantly over the past decades: from 77 ambulance stations in the beginning, there are now 256 such stations in Hungary. The aim of this study is to describe the spatial characteristics of this growth. The study shows that the location of new ambulance stations has been influenced by different aspects in different decades (1950s – important role of economic development, 1960s/1970s – administrative role, from 1980s – urban status). As a result of this network expansion, the parameter regarding the settlement size has changed significantly: the affiliation to larger settlements became less characteristic, ambulance stations became a typical public service of medium-sized settlements.
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The study examines the background of the improving economic position of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county between 2000 and 2020 in the light of the balance sheet data of the county’s double-entry bookkeeping enterprises. Utilising the ideas of the trade-off theory, seeks the answer for questions like which districts determined the county’s real convergence processes to the greatest extent, how internal inequalities changed during the catching up period, what kind of structural changes facilitated the processes, i.e. how the long-term factors affecting the county’s economic dependence changed in the meanwhile? The study evaluates dependence in terms of economic power growth, embeddedness in foreign markets and eco-nomic vulnerability. The research established that trade-off theory prevailed during the county’s economic catching up, i.e. the inequality scale changed. At the same time, it can also be stated that the inequalities between the national economy’s core areas and the over-whelming majority of the peripheral districts remained essentially unchanged in the last twenty years, just a definite clubbing process took place. The catching up has been achieved by an increasing ratio and volume between the export and the domestic registered capital, improving the resilience of the economy, the one-sidedness of the economic structure driving the catching up, however, is leading to instability.
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