Upper Silesia: a changing cross-border region. A field report from a Brazilian geographer

Since the 1970s, spatial planning and urban/regional development policies have increasingly paid attention to challenges of city regions. In the Austrian context, two city regions are interesting in this respect: CENTROPE and the EuRegio Salzburg – Berchtesgadener Land – Traunstein. CENTROPE is the largest city region in Austria and is located at the borders to three other European countries. Currently, four European Member States are taking part in this cross-border region (Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Czech Republic; in total eight partner regions and nine partner cities). EuRegio Salzburg – Berchtesgadener Land – Traunstein covers parts of Bavaria (two ‘Landkreise’) and parts of the federal provinces of Salzburg and Upper Austria. These are cross-border city regions, which are mainly constructed politically and have to deal with a range of governance challenges. Both city regions have developed a certain set of measures to establish city regional governance, particularly through fostering thematically oriented cooperation between different city regional actors. In this article, CENTROPE and the EuRegio Salzburg – Berchtesgadener Land – Traunstein will be analysed comparatively with regard to their efforts to establish cross-border city regional governance. The yardstick for depicting developments regarding governance is derived from the literature about governance and city regional governance as well as by a certain theoretical understanding of space. Accordingly, the article argues for defining and analysing city regions more as places of social and political conflict, as sites of actors’ interests’ formation, hence as places, which are socially produced and reproduced. Against that background, the article will mainly address the following: (1) the most evident challenges for further developing cross-border city-regional governance in both regions, (2) the differences between the two regions in terms of governance structures and (3) relation between certain spatial and governance theories to understand the making of city regions.

The strikes in Silesia built upon previously established social networks and helped to establish new ties and strengthen old ones. As the negotiations proceeded inside the shipyards, a great mass of people avidly followed the proceedings and gathered outside to demonstrate their support. Out of this activity, a Farmers’ Solidarity union was eventually formed and recognised by the government in 1981. In Gdansk, musicians performed a concert in the Lenin Shipyard in solidarity with the strikers. The centripetal pull of these strikes led some people to change their lives. During this period, eyes turned especially toward Upper Silesia. In Gdansk, Zdzislaw Kobylinski announced the strikes in the Warsaw Steel Mill, in the Lenin Steel Mill in Nowa Huta , and in the Jastrzebie mines. The agreements in Gdansk and Szczecin heralded the evolution of Soviet-style society into entirely uncharted realms. Keywords:Gdansk; solidarity; strikes; Upper Silesia

This data-paper presents and describes a consolidated, harmonized, internationally comparable database to quantify the impacts of the housing affordability crisis. Local harmonized indicators allow to examine the unequal spatial patterns of housing affordability across a selection of European cities. This study seeks at informing and mapping the increased and unequal affordability gap, a critical issue for social cohesion and sustainability in metropolitan areas in Europe. We characterize affordability with measures of price (property and rent) and income in a selection of European Functional Urban Areas (FUAs). The methodological goal was to cope with a data gap, i.e. a lack of harmonized spatial data to map and analyze affordability in Europe. This research, conducted in 2018-19 by a European consortium for the ESPON agency, covers 4 countries and one cross-border region: Geneva (Switzerland), Annecy-Annemasse, Avignon and Paris (France), Madrid, Barcelona and Palma de Majorca (Spain) and Warsaw, Łódź and Krakow (Poland). We bring insights on how institutional data (i.e. transactions data), can be bridged with unconventional data (“big data” harvested on line) to provide a cost-effective and harmonized data collection effort that can contribute to compare affordability within cities (between neighborhoods) and across cities, using various geographical levels (1km square-grid, municipalities, FUA). We present the structure of the database, how it has been constructed in a reproducible manner; we document the validation process, the strengths and limitations of the data provided, and document the reproducibility of the workflow.

This chapter aims to answer the following questions important for the elaboration of an urban agenda and, more specifically, for the Eixo Atlantico Urban Agenda: Is the model of functional urban areas (FUA) defended by the EU applicable to cross-border regions with a polycentric system of small and medium-sized cities? What role should the rural areas that surround cities have in urban planning? Based on the principle that the model of FUAs is applicable to the reality of cross-border regions, how can these areas contribute to the management of services between medium-sized and dispersed cities? Given that one of the characteristics of cross-border regions is urban sprawl, which puts undue strain on public funds and entails inefficient use of natural resources, what alternatives can be trialed to resolve this dispersion? Apropos the principle of the sustainability of this territory, how can we make the interior of cities more attractive? Should the medium-sized and small European cities of the future move to being vertical, horizontal or mixed cities?

Purpose: The objective of this paper is to present Chinese investment flows and the nature of participation, to analyze the differences between host countries, and to identify the determinants of Chinese FDI in Poland and the Czech Republic. Design/methodology/approach: Comparison of the specifics of Chinese direct investments in Poland and the Czech Republic. Findings: The nature of Chinese investment in Europe is changing. After years of being dominated by mergers and acquisitions, Chinese investment in Europe is now more focused on greenfield projects. In 2021, greenfield investments reached €3.3 billion, the highest ever recorded, and accounted for nearly one- third of all Chinese FDI. More recently, the volume of Chinese FDI in Europe has reached the level of European FDI in China (now constrained by restrictions and risks). It matched the level of FDI by Chinese companies in the United States before declining over the past two years, generally due to Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine. Chinese economic presence in Europe can be divided into three areas based on size, destination, and type of acquisition: The core of Europe is formed by the three major target countries (Germany, UK, France), where more capital-intensive investments are made, followed by other Western European countries (EU-15). The new member states (NMS), which joined the EU in 2004, 2007 and 2013, as well as the Western Balkan countries in the process of accession, are associated with China in the 16+1 format (with the exception of Kosovo) and form another gateway to Europe. Due to fewer market opportunities, they receive less direct investment, but China is building infrastructure (ports, highways, railroads) - segments of the Silk Road that will bring Chinese products to mature EU markets (Richtet, 2019). It is unlikely that Chinese investment in Europe will recover in 2023. The Chinese government is expected to maintain strict capital controls, financial retrenchment, and Covid-19 restrictions. The war in Ukraine and the expansion of regulations to monitor and control Chinese investments in the EU and the UK will cause additional difficulties. Originality/value: The article could be an attempt to answer the question of combining macroeconomic and institutional factors to better understand the internationalization of firms (Dunning, Lundan, 2008). There is no doubt, that the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine made it necessary to deepen the study of the phenomenon of FDI, its inflows, determinants, and related challenges in a turbulent world. Keywords: foreign direct investments (FDI), People's Republic of China, Czech Republic, Poland, international relationships. Category of the paper: Research paper.

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have posed profound challenges to social enterprises and public sector organizations engaged in social service delivery in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. This study examines the resilience strategies employed by these organizations and seeks to discern any notable divergences between social enterprises and public sector entities. Design/methodology/approach We employ a qualitative approach, utilizing semi-structured interviews with key personnel across 28 organizations within the Czech and Slovak Republics, comprising both social enterprises and public sector bodies. Findings Our findings reveal a consistent pattern: social enterprises primarily utilize offensive strategies, such as seeking new resources, exploring new markets and innovating products or services. In contrast, public sector organizations tend to rely on defensive strategies, focusing on streamlining operations, reducing expenses and supporting staff. Originality/value This study addresses a gap in scholarly understanding of how recent crises, including COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, have impacted management practices in the public and nonprofit sectors across Central and Eastern Europe.

This study is a continuation of our preceding research identifying suitable environmental samples for the tracing of atmospheric pollution in industrial areas. Three additional types of environmental samples were used to characterise contamination sources in the industrial area of Ostrava city, Czech Republic. The region is known for its extensive metallurgical and mining activities. Fingerprinting of stable Pb isotopes was applied to distinguish individual sources of anthropogenic Pb. A wide range of 206Pb/207Pb ratios was observed in the investigated samples: 206Pb/207Pb=1.168-1.198 in mosses; 206Pb/207Pb=1.167-1.215 in soils and 206Pb/207Pb=1.158-1.184 in tree cores. Black and brown coal combustion, as well as metallurgical activities, is the two main sources of pollution in the area. Fossil fuel burning in industry and households seems to be a stronger source of Pb emissions than from the metallurgical industry. Concentration analyses of tree rings showed that a significant increase in As concentrations occurred between 1999 and 2016 (from 0.38mgkg-1 to 13.8mgkg-1). This shift corresponds to the use of brown coal from Bílina, Czech Republic, with an increased As concentration. The burning of low-quality fuels in households remains a problem in the area, as small ground sources have a greater influence on the air quality than do industrial sources.

Motives: Urban mobility models are constantly changing due to economic, social, infrastructural, and geographical factors. Preferences for transport modes vary by country, region, and city, and transport infrastructure and policy have a significant impact on residents’ choices. Additionally, economic factors such as economic crises, public policy decisions, and events such as armed conflicts have a significant impact on the dynamics of mobility in functional urban areas (FUAs).Aim: The main goal of the research was to create groups of countries (clusters) that have similar priorities regarding travel behaviour threats revealed as a result of the economic crisis resulting from the conflict in Ukraine.Results: The study shows that the main threats during the economic crisis (resulting from the war in Ukraine) are economic factors (e.g., ticket prices, an increase in fuel costs), legal factors (e.g., loss of a driving license or passenger transport license), and infrastructural factors (e.g., poor condition of infrastructure). The analysed countries were grouped based on the hierarchical prioritization of threats, using Ward’s hierarchical clustering method. Interestingly, the distance from the conflict epicentre did not significantly influence the prioritization of threat factors influencing transportation behaviour in FUAs. Instead, factors such as membership in international organizations, energy dependence on Russia, the level of economic growth, and transport infrastructure played a more key role in the priority-setting process.

In this study, we argue that a historical background of the region matters in tax mimicking and yardstick competition as a matter of principle. We seek to determine factors supporting the policy of the high local property tax in the Czech Republic. Based on the statistical and spatial data of 6,258 municipalities between 2009 and 2019, the results show that the municipalities burdened by large industrial facilities, as well as municipalities in the functional urban areas (FUAs), apply the policy of higher property taxation twice frequently than the rest. On the other hand, the industrial stimuli keep enfeebling after 2010, and the number of local governments preferring high property taxation is variegated across different FUAs. The causal analysis based on Granger's approach concludes an existence of cumulative effects of both industry and the FUAs, which push the municipalities with large industrial facilities located within an FUA to increase the property taxes. From the mimicking point of view, we found that mimicking policy is an important phenomenon among the municipalities of Czech Republic; however, it has different impacts on both stimuli (Industry and FUA). The analysis suggests that it rather incites the municipalities within the FUA to increase the local property taxes.

Research background: In 2020 and 2021, there was a significant price development in the real estate market in the whole of Europe. Many investors moved their capital into what they thought was a safe investment. These are specific investments in commodities and, above all, real estate. In the last three years, the Czech and Slovak Republics, along with other countries, had to deal with several crisis effects that fundamentally affected the real estate market. These are the global pandemic of the disease COVID-19, the energy crisis, and the war in Ukraine. Purpose of the article: In recent years, the housing market in the Czech Republic and Slovakia has been a hotly debated topic. The high demand for housing and at the same time the low supply of apartments and land cause a situation where real estate prices have a high tendency to rise. In this contribution, we will focus on the analysis of the development of the housing market in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and we will try to evaluate the situation in both markets with subsequent comparisons of both markets. Methods: We will be focused on the analysis of the situation in both markets for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022. For the evaluation, we will use many indicators for comparisons such as housing price indices, average wages, indebtedness, unemployment, and interest rates of the central banks of both countries and hypoindex indicators DTI, DSTI, and LTV. Based on these factors, we will then compare the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 2023. Subsequently, we will focus on the availability of housing in these countries, we will also mention in which parts of individual countries housing is cheaper and, conversely, more expensive. In the last part, we will deal with the macroeconomic forecast of both countries. That is, how indicators such as GDP, unemployment, average wages, inflation, and others will develop. We will also give examples of investment in real estate with selected funds. Finally, we will compare interest rates for mortgage loans from Czech and Slovak banks. Findings & Value added: In both countries, it is therefore assumed that real estate prices will stagnate in 2023, or possibly only grow more moderately.

Resistance to the ‘State of War’ began almost immediately, as those not detained gathered at their workplaces and universities. In Upper Silesia, resistance was more determined. The miners and other industrial workers in the region, having once been mobilised, were not easy to quell. The government tried to use psychological pressure on the workers of Katowice Steel Mill. But after a while it became clear that some of these workers were simply not going to surrender. Resistance continued long after the period that martial law was imposed. The declaration of martial law and the round-ups associated with it moved another generation into opposition. Miniature Solidarity buttons appeared; high-school and university students wore black to school; at football matches, cries of ‘Solidarity’ were frequently heard. Very few new people joined until 1985, when the Party slowly began to grow, but not enough to rejuvenate it. Keywords:Katowice Steel Mill; martial law; resistance; Solidarity; Upper Silesia

During World War II Upper Silesia was to strengthen the German economic potential by maximizing the involvement of industrial infrastructure for the needs of military operations. The strategic location of Bytom in the region was determined by the possibility of a quick transformation of the existing production from socially useful for the needs of the war economy. This plan was implemented in the second half of the 1930s. Upper Silesia, as a center of heavy industry, was to compete with the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia. After the outbreak of World War II, Bytom became part of the Katowice poviat. Heavy industry plants located in and around the city (mines, steel mills and steel mills cooperating with them) were subordinated to the Bytom-Północ Mining Authority (Bergamt Beuthen-Nord), the Bytom-Południe Mining Authority (Bergamt Beuthen-Süd) and partially the Gliwice-Północ Mining Authority (Bergamt Gleiwitz-Nord).

The thesis explores economic, political and social processes in former socialist countries with a case study in one of the biggest conurbations in Europe, Upper Silesia. The ongoing but selective economic processes of global and macro-regional economic integration have been identified as a main issue in geographical research. In particular the nexus between the global and the local seen as a dialectical relationship, composed of multiple and asymmetric interdependencies has stressed the necessity of utilising relational analysis in economic geography. The question emerges in what ways and to what extent increasing economic integration may lead to a socio-economic convergence of places or the development of 'indigenous capacities', spatial peculiarities and legacies to establish themselves in capitalist networks of production. With empirical reference to the Polish conurbation of Upper Silesia and drawing on the analytical framework from Michael Storper's 'Holy Trinity' ("The Regional World", New York, 1997), this thesis analyses post socialist urban and regional transformations from three angles. 1. While Storper analysed mainly 'successful' regions in the West, the research tries to identify the main challenges that face any simple attempt to adapt western (theoretical) approaches within a post-socialist, Central East European context. 2. The thesis then identifies the fabric of political economic actors and the path dependent 'invention' of a region, here Upper Silesia, and analysis locally and regionally embedded and recombined informal institutions and their capacity for restructuring of an old industrial space. 3. While inter- and intra-regional competition is growing in an 'era of globalisation', the thesis finally investigates the scope for action and 'reflexive' interrelations between administrative, political and economic actors in an 'ordinary region' prior to the accession to the European Union.

Th e article aims to present the position of the Visegrad Group countries towards the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022 with the attack of the Russian Federation on this country. On the one hand, the aim is to show the motivation and actions of the authorities of the four Visegrad Group countries towards Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as the forms and types of assistance provided to Ukraine by each country separately. On the other hand, the aim is to answer the question: how did Hungary’s different position affect cooperation within the Visegrad Group? What are the reasons for Hungary’s different approach to the war in Ukraine and Russia’s policy? It can be observed that the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia presented a pro-Ukrainian position in their actions towards the war in Ukraine, while Hungary, unlike the other Visegrad countries, presented a pro-Russian position, which caused a crisis in cooperation within the Visegrad Group. Slovakia’s attitude changed to a more pro-Russian one after the Smer party, headed by Robert Fico, came to power at the end of 2023. Now we can observe the division of the Visegrad Group into two camps: Polish-Czech and Slovak-Hungarian.

Spatial distribution of lead and lead isotopes in soil B-horizon, forest-floor humus, grass (Avenella flexuosa) and spruce (Picea abies) needles across the Czech Republic