Innovations and Changing Role of Public Sector in Spatial Development Strategies: Problems and Challenges for Local and Regional Development in Central and Eastern European Countries After 2020

Abstract

The global transformation processes of the society at the edge of twentieth and twenty-first century accelerated by the transition processes in majority of the countries in Central and Eastern Europe represent huge challenge for spatial development. Moreover, they deeply concern not only the development of the physical and functional structures, functioning and qualitative and quantitative changes in the Central European cities and regions, but they represent crucial changes in the nature of the spatial development management as well. The shift from government to governance framed by the movement towards civil society development is combined with the fuzzification and softening of the borders between functional and administrative spatial units, with the multiplication of the relevant actors in spatial development and increased spatial effects of their individual decisions, with the regionalisation of local policies, as well as state policies and with the shift from ecologisation towards economisation of spatial planning (Understanding geographies of polarization and peripheralization: perspectives from Central and Eastern Europe and Beyond. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2015). Spatial development is about intensive interplay between all hierarchical levels, between different temporal dimensions, and between public and private actors. The public sector representatives are more and more diverse, going far behind the governmental and self-governmental bodies. They play specific role in the management of spatial development being more and more limited in their operational space by strong economic interests, interests expressed by broad public and responsibilities for safeguarding societal values and sustainability. The role of public authorities is changing in the development and implementation of spatial development strategies as their position among public sector representatives is changing (Multilevel governance for balanced development between core and peripheral spaces. Ceske vysoke uceni technicke, Praha, 2015). The examples from Slovakia and other European Countries show the problems and challenges connected with this development as well as the whole range of creative solutions and possibilities to strengthen the quality and efficiency of public interventions towards meeting the goals of spatial development.