Josef Kunc

LOCATION MATTERS! EXPLORING BROWNFIELDS REGENERATION IN A SPATIAL CONTEXT (A CASE STUDY OF THE SOUTH MORAVIAN REGION, CZECH REPUBLIC)

Abstract In this paper the authors attempt to answer the question of which location and site-specific factors have a decisive influence on the successful regeneration of brownfields. Using data from the South Moravian Region (Czech Republic), we analyze the spatial and functional distribution of brownfields, and test the correlation between the development potential of municipalities and the distribution of the brownfields that have already been regenerated. We then compare the structure and characteristics of existing and regenerated brownfields to identify significant drivers and barriers in the regeneration process. The findings indicate that regenerated brownfields are more likely located in municipalities with a higher local development potential (represented by the rate of local business activities, spatial peripherality - proximity to the regional centre and the main road network, and the quality of local infrastructure). It is also demonstrated that the large size of brownfields, their previous industrial use and the existence of contamination are not determinative barriers for regeneration if the brownfields are located in attractive areas and their ownership relations are not complicated. Shrnutí Článek se snaží odpovědět na otázku, které lokalizační a specifické faktory mají rozhodující vliv na úspěšnou regeneraci brownfields. S využitím dat za Jihomoravský kraj, autoři analyzují prostorovou a funkční distribuci brownfields, testují souvislost mezi rozvojovým potenciálem obcí a rozmístěním již regenerovaných brownfields a porovnávají strukturu a charakteristiky existujících a regenerovaných brownfields, aby identifikovali signifikantní katalyzátory a bariéry procesu regenerace. Výsledky ukazují, že regenerované brownfields se mnohem častěji nachází v obcích s vyšším rozvojovým potenciálem, který je reprezentován zejména mírou lokální podnikatelské aktivity, periférností (blízkostí k regionálními centru a napojením na hlavní silniční síť) a kvalitou lokální infrastruktury. Také se potvrdilo, že velikost brownfileds, jejich předchozí industriální využití a existence kontaminace nepředstavují rozhodující bariéry, pokud se nachází v atraktivní lokalitě a nemají komplikované vlastnické vztahy

Actor networks and the construction of applicable knowledge: the case of the Timbre Brownfield Prioritization Tool

This article deals with experiences acquired during the process of developing the Timbre Brownfield Prioritization Tool (TBPT). Developing a decision support tool that takes into account the expectations and experiences of its potential users is similar to creating applicable knowledge by the joint action of scientists and heterogeneous actors. Actor network theory is used to explore the construction of this form of applicable knowledge as a process of actor network creation. Following the French sociologist Callon, networks are seen to be initiated and carried out by a group of scientists (tool developers) via four moments of translation, called problematization, interessement, enrolment and mobilization. Each step in the construction of the TBPT—from the initial research question to the final model—can be linked in retrospect to changing configurations of actor networks. Based on the experiences of the tool developers in the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and Romania, we illustrate how these configurations varied across space and time. This contribution emphasizes the ability to correlate gains in knowledge with the more visible changes in the scope of actor networks in order to highlight achievements but also limitations in acquiring applicable knowledge.

Shopping and Services Related Travel in the Hinterland of Brno: Changes From the Socialist Period to the Present / Spádovost Za Obchodem A Službami V Zázemí Brna: Srovnání Období Socialismu A Současnosti

Abstract Shopping and services related travel represent significant aspects of the service functions of settlements and belong to basic region-forming processes. They are relatively irregular movements, and the analyses of these processes are based on data which are not available from official sources. This article presents some results from a survey on the attraction of retail and services provision, as exemplified by service processes in the hinterland of Brno City. The results from our survey contain both a time dimension in a single-model space (in terms of a comparison between current results and those from the socialist era at the end of the 1970s), and the possibility to compare various methodologies using responses from municipalities and those from local residents. Hence, this article presents an outline of selected changes in the shopping resources and shopping and services related travel in the Brno hinterland, over a period of about three decades, with some interesting methodological aspects. Shrnuti Dojížďka za obchodem a službami představuje významný aspekt obslužné funkce sídel a lze ji považovat za jeden ze základních regionotvorných procesů. Jedná se o pohyb nepravidelný, jehož analýzy jsou vázány na datovou základnu, která je z oficiálních zdrojů nedostupná. Příspěvek představuje vybrané výsledky šetření spádovosti obyvatel za obchodem a službami na příkladě obslužných procesů v zázemí města Brna. Výsledky šetření mají jak časovou dimenzi v jednom modelovém prostoru (srovnání výsledků z konce 70. let s aktuálními), tak nabízejí možnost srovnání odlišných metodických přístupů (odpovědi reprezentantů obcí a odpovědi místních obyvatel). Je tedy možné sledovat vybrané změny nákupních možností, resp. spádovosti za obchodem službami v horizontu zhruba tří desetiletí.

The expansion of coal mining in the depression areas – a way to development? - See more at: http://www.humangeographies.org.ro/81-toc#sthash.MADTV1Ic.dpuf

The coal has been mined in the Karvina area for more than 150 years. During the course of time mining areas were continuously extended at the expense of the settled areas. At the beginnings the mining was limited, but later, namely under conditions of centrally planned economy in the period between 1950s and 1980s, it was heavily intensified. Then, as a result of economic restructuring of the Czech Republic mining was reduced in the region to be re-developed in the last decade again. The expansion of coal mining has been continuously affecting the socio-economic structure of local popula- tion (huge working immigration, industrialisation, construction of mass housing for miners - miners dormitories, later housing estates etc., displacement of settlements), surrounding landscape (subsidence of terrain, undermining, hydrologi- cal changes and formation of artificial lakes, occurrence of plenty of post-mining brownfields after the reduction of mining etc.), but also contemporary outward, image and socio-spatial structure of cities (dominance housing in housing estates, effects of communists spatial urban planning etc.). Currently, negotiations about expansion of coal mining are in progress in this region, namely the city parts of Karvina (Stare Město) and Orlova (Výhoda) should be affected. In the introductory parts of this paper social, economical and environmental aspects of coal mining on the development of regions and con- nected problems are discussed and both cities are shortly presented. The questionnaire survey focused on perceptions of after-mining renewal and potential expansion of mining in the area of cities of Karvina and Orlova was conducted (n=1000). As the most important predictor that influences perception of mining and renewal, employment in mining com- panies has been identified. The higher education respondents achieved, the higher level of opposition against mining was manifested. The correlation was also found between the level of income and the agreement with expansion of mining. It can be concluded that employees of mining company, less educated population and people with higher income agreed with economic development of the city that is based on mining.

Different approaches to defining metropolitan areas (Case study: cities of Brno and Ostrava, Czech Republic)

The definition and delimitation of metropolitan areas has been the focus of many geographers and other specialists for quite a few decades. The complexity and diversity of the methods and techniques used, and the differing attitudes of those working in this area have brought considerably different, and often controversial, results. The EU has introduced a tool, Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI), to support study in this area by motivating EU member states to define their metropolitan areas. This article will introduce the methodological approaches related to the functional integration of regional units and to inter-regional relations, used with ITI to delimit the metropolitan areas in two large cities, Brno (monocentric system) and Ostrava (polycentric system), and will compare the results with those achieved using our own method. Through a comparison of the results this article will examine the efficacy of the methods previously used and their possible transferability to studies of metropolitan areas with completely different settlement systems. Finally, this article will consider whether a unification of previously fragmented approaches is possible.

Are there differences in the attractiveness of shopping centres? Experiences from the Czech and Slovak Republics

Abstract The measurement and evaluation of the attractiveness of shopping centres in the Czech and the Slovak Republics is examined in this paper, countries which had experienced seventy years of development within a single state. The methodological basis for measuring the attractiveness of 130 shopping centres is an evaluation of the factors that can be described as objective (exogenous and endogenous) and subjective (in vivo and in vitro approach). An aggregate indicator of the overall attractiveness of each shopping centre was computed as a combination of the sub-variables. Based on previous international studies, the factors (variables influencing attractiveness) that are typical for shopping malls anywhere in the world, as well as for the original specific information for the Czech-Slovak retail environment, enable a generalization of the results at least to the East Central European level, and to carry out a comparison with any other market environment.

Časoprostorové modely nákupního chování české populace

Ceský maloobchod prochazi obdobim největsich změn v cele sve historii. Na kapacitni i kvalitativni nedostatecnost odvětvi z konce 80. let minuleho stoleti navazala v prvni polovině let devadesatých etapa atomizace, podpořena malou privatizaci, kdy se pocet maloobchodnich jednotek za deset let zvýsil dvojnasobně na teměř 100 tisic. Od 2. poloviny 90. let zacaly ve větsi miře pronikat na tuzemský trh zahranicni řetězce a ceský maloobchod se velmi rychle internacionalizoval. Vstup zahranicniho kapitalu byl dominantni, domaci subjekty nebyly realně konkurenceschopne. Pokracovala transformace maloobchodu, jehož sitova struktura se opirala o stale větsi pocet velkoplosných maloobchodnich jednotek (super a hypermarkety, diskonty), objevila se prvni nakupni centra. Předložena publikace nabizi ctenařům hlavni výsledky projektu „Casoprostorova organizace dennich urbannich systemů: analýza a hodnoceni vybraných procesů“. Denni rytmus obyvatel zde neni primarně vazan na pohyb za praci, ale je modifikovan dojižďkou za službami a specificky za maloobchodem, resp. je dotvařen novými formami nakupniho chovani. V prvni casti textu je představen teoretický zaklad nakupniho chovani jako socialně-prostoroveho fenomenu, dale navazuje transformace ceskeho maloobchodu a fenomen nakupnich center. Druha cast prace je založena na výsledcich rozsahlých setřeni v modelových aglomeracich Brna a Olomouce.

From School Benches Straight to Retirement? Similarities and Differences in the Shopping Behaviour of Teenagers and Seniors in Bratislava, Slovakia

Abstract The shopping behaviours of teenagers in shopping centres in Bratislava (Slovakia) is compared to those of seniors in this paper. The analysis focuses on the perception of shopping centres by teenagers and seniors in the context of time (shopping frequency), social (with whom they shop) and financial (amount of money spent) factors. The survey was conducted on random samples of 504 teenagers and 431 seniors. To test the hypotheses, group means were evaluated (Analysis of Variance models). When assessing the spatial aspects of teenagers’ and seniors’ shopping behaviours, a concentric zone approach was used. It can be concluded that Bratislava teenagers are not as sensitive consumers as seniors in the context of the variables assessed in the survey. Teenagers perceive shopping centres as a normal part of their consumption behaviours. Seniors perceive the shopping centres less positively and they spent a shorter time there. Also, in the case of seniors, the frequency of their visits to shopping centres increased in the context of their positive perceptions.

Changing European retail landscapes: New trends and challenges

Abstract During the second half of the 20thcentury, consumption patterns in the developed market economies have stabilised, while in the transition/EU-accession countries these patterns were accepted with unusual speed and dynamics. Differences, changes and current trends in Western Europe and post-socialist countries in the quantity and concentration of retailing activities have been minimised, whereas some distinctions in the quality of retail environments have remained. Changes have occurred in buying habits, shopping behaviour and consumer preferences basically for all population groups across the generations. This article is a theoretical and conceptual introduction to a Special Issue of the Moravian Geographical Reports (Volume 26, No. 3) on “The contemporary retail environment: shopping behaviour, consumers’ preferences, retailing and geomarketing”. The basic features which have occurred in European retailing environments are presented, together with a comparison (and confrontation) between Western and Eastern Europe. The multidisciplinary nature of retailing opens the discussion not only from a geographical perspective but also from the point of view of other social science disciplines that naturally interconnect in the retail environments.

THE CREATIVITY INDEX GROWTH RATE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC: A SPATIAL APPROACH

The presented paper analyses the development of conditions for the development of a creative economy in the regions of the Czech Republic. Through the calculations of a number of sub-indicators in the area of talent, technology and tolerance (Florida´s 3T model), the development of the Creativity Index in 2011-2015 has been mapped in individual regions. In the next phase the development of the average growth rate of the Creativity Index was evaluated and graphically illustrated. At the end of the research, a situational and trending matrix of creativity was compiled, dividing the regions into four quadrants (leaders, up and coming, laggards, and losing ground). The results showed the dominant position of the capital city of Prague, which reached the highest score throughout the whole period and with great precedence surpassed all other regions. Only the South Moravian Region surpassed Prague in a specific way, in the value of the R & D indicator. In this region lies the second largest city of the Czech Republic in Brno, which has a very strong position in the field of research, development and innovation. The situational matrix captured the situation in which the leader’s quadrant was only Prague, while the other regions were growing in the region quadrant. On the contrary, the trend matrix has suggested that Prague is losing its leading position as it is overtaken by the South Moravian region.