Geographia Polonica (1999) vol. 72, iss. 1

Abstract

Budapest is not only one of he most relevant and dynamically-developing cities of Eastern Europe, it is also the most significant industrial centre in Hungary. This paper demonstrates the most important changes in the industry and industrial areas of Budapest after 1989. The new tendencies in industry (organizational, structural changes, privatization, dein-dustrialization etc.) have directly or indirectly affected the location of industry, and the size and utilization of industrial areas. Thus, industrial restructuring has contributed to local urban restructuring too, as has been the case in other European cities.

Keywords: restructuring, industry, deindustrialization, urban development, Budapest, Hungary

Eva Kiss [kiss.eva@csfk.org, kisse@helka.iif.hu], Geographical Research Institute, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1112. Budapest, Budaörsi út 45, Hungary

Abstract

The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union has had major impacts on farming in the Republic of Ireland since accession in 1973. Consideration of the policy context is foolowed by a disscusion of agricultural change with regard to inputs and output and to farm enterprises. Consequences of farm modernisation include uneven development and environmental impacts. While agriculture remains of great importance in Ireland, there has been a broadening of the approach to rural development in the 1990s.

Keywords: agriculture, European Union, Republic of Ireland, rural development

Desmond A. Gillmor, Department of Geography, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland

Abstract

The network characteristics are now considered of particular importance to innovation and technological change and to the growth prospects of regions. According to this idea, innovation is a process which results from various interactions among a number of actors in a given region. Such economic (and social) links can be considered 'intangible capital' that has durability, is created by means of an investment effort but deteriorates if not maintained. Although firms generally play the central role in these interactions, a network with other scientific and public institutions has significantly contributed to their R&D and innovation successes as well as to organisational change. Consequently, when analysing a regional innovation system, one should not only investigate the (horizontal and vertical) relations among firms but also the contacts with universities and other research institutions, as well as technology centres, which make the diffusion of technological know-how possible. Furthermore, the role of the government agencies, support companies and interest groups which provide the commercial, technical and information support, as well as of the financial lending bodies, should also be taken into account in the context of the regional innovation system. Apart from offering a critical review of already-existing theoretical and empirical research, this study introduces the present regional technology and R&D promotion policies in Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, and examines the distinctive characteristics of the local innovation systems, emphasising the interaction and networking among the major actors mentioned above. For these purposes, two areas - Landshut (in Bavaria) and Bochum (North Rhine-Westphalia) - are selected for case study.

Keywords: local innovation network, regional technology policy, Germany, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Landshut, Bochum

Chang Woon Nam, Ifo Institute for Economic Research, Poschinger Str. 5. 81679 Munich, Germany

Abstract

This paper examines the spatial dimension to economic development in Brazil. The analysis focuses on different theories of regional development, which provide a back-ground against which to explore the patterns of regional inequality and structural changes in the country. It is suggested that the new growth cycle of the Brazilian economy will have adverse effects on the regional distribution of income and output, and, regarding the less developed regions of the North and Northeast, and in as far as regional equity is a desirable outcome of economic policy, regional development necessarily demands government inter-vention.

Keywords: Brazil regional inequality, economic growth, expansion cycle, analysis of outlined tendencies

Eduardo A. Haddad, Regional Economics Applications Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 220 Davenport Hall, 607 S. Matthews Av„ Urbana, IL 61801-3671, USA
Geoffrey J. D. Hewings, Regional Economics Applications Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 220 Davenport Hall, 607 S. Matthews Av„ Urbana, IL 61801-3671, USA
Werner Baer, Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 220 Davenport Hall, 607 S. Matthews Av., Urbana, IL 61801-3671, USA

Abstract

This paper is concerned with interurban competition. Although large cities are still the focal points of information flows, creativity and innovation, particular medium-sized towns seem to offer good opportunities for economic growth. Against this background, the paper investigates whether medium-sized towns have improved their position at the expense of large towns in recent decades. To this end, an analysis has been made of the way in which companies in the financial sector have adapted their domestic networks across the Dutch urban system and their connections with larger cities abroad. Particular attention has been paid to the influence of the use of information and communication technology. The paper is organised as follows. In the first introductory sections, dynamics in city systems are discussed from a conceptual point of view, and important structural adjustments of the banking sector in The Netherlands are considered. The paper proceeds with an analysis of the location pattern of national control functions and regional functions in banking. This is followed by an analysis of the location pattern of venture capital banking and global banking in connection with first-order financial centres abroad. The paper concludes with a summary of results in terms of competition between cities, and with a few interesting lines for future research.

Keywords: interurban competition, The Netherlands, financial services, office networks, venture capital activity

Marina Van Geenhuizen, Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft, The Netherlands

Abstract

This article presents the demographic and ethnic situation of Central and Eastern Europe. For geographical, political and ethnic reasons the region was split up into five separate groups, namely:

• the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kaliningrad district),
• Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia,
• Belarus and Ukraine,
• Hungary, Romania and Moldova,
• Balkan countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia, Macedonia),
• Bulgaria and Albania.

The article discusses the abundance and spatial distribution of ethnic minorities living in the region. Its aim is to show the political consequences of intricate ethnic structure.

Keywords: ethnic structure, minorities, Central-Eastern Europe

Piotr Eberhardt [p.ebe@twarda.pan.pl], Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00‑818 Warszawa, Poland

Abstract

Mean daily temperatures for 10 Polish meteorological stations from the period 1956-1990 were examined from the point of view of their periodicity. Classical spectrum estimation based on the Fourier transformation of the autocorrelation function was used. Particular attention was paid to similarities in power spectra for different stations. Two significant and well-marked periods are characteristic of time series for all the stations analysed: ~7.3 years and 196 days. Other common climatic fluctuations such as quasi-bien-nial, quasi-five-year or quasi-eleven-year oscillations were not found and neither were shorter cycles of the order of days or tens of days.

Keywords: Poland, temperature, spectral analysis, climate dynamic

Krzysztof Fortuniak [krzysztof.fortuniak@geo.uni.lodz.pl], Zakład Meteorologii i Klimatologii, Uniwersytet Łódzki, Lipowa 81, 90-568 Łódź, Poland
Kazimierz Kłysik, Zakład Meteorologii i Klimatologii, Uniwersytet Łódzki, Lipowa 81, 90-568 Łódź, Poland