Dr. Zsuzsanna Zsibók (p), Dr. Ildikó Egyed

Persistent territorial inequalities in wealth, productivity and life chances remain one of the most pressing challenges in advanced economies. The case of the United Kingdom is particularly instructive: despite decades of regional policy interventions, substantial intra-national disparities endure, with several regions exhibiting socio-economic indicators comparable to lagging areas in parts of Central and Eastern Europe. These patterns reflect broader processes of social-spatial polarisation and peripheralisation, in which certain territories and their populations risk being structurally “left behind.”
This research examines the drivers and policy responses shaping the uneven distribution of prosperity in the UK, focusing on the evolution of its contemporary industrial strategy within a context marked by post-Brexit restructuring, technological change and renewed state activism. Particular attention is paid to the emergence and subsequent partial marginalization of the foundational economy approach, which foregrounds everyday essential services and infrastructures as pillars of inclusive, territorially embedded development. The analysis interprets recent “levelling up” initiatives against the tension between mission-oriented competitiveness strategies and the objective of reducing place-based deprivation.
Empirically, the research analyses spatial inequalities at the NUTS2 level after the global financial and economic crisis, drawing on regional productivity, income and employment indicators. The methodological framework focuses on exploratory analysis and a comparative approach. The preliminary findings suggest that the coexistence of growth-pole-oriented competitiveness agendas and rhetorically inclusive territorial development objectives reflect a structural incoherence in the UK’s current industrial policy model. In the absence of a consistent and institutionally embedded territorial framework, policy interventions risk reinforcing spatial concentration dynamics, thereby limiting their effectiveness in addressing deprivation and breaking entrenched cycles of regional inequality. The results contribute to broader debates on social justice, spatial polarisation and the capacity of place-based strategies to mitigate uneven development in advanced economies.

Dr. Emma Lappi (p)

For some time, crime, stretching from disturbing behavior, petty theft, to more grave encroachment, has been reported to have become one of the most severe problems for business activities. The annual costs for enterprises exceed 100 billion SEK, i.e., twice the cost of the Swedish armed forces (Swedish Federation of Industries 2023). Using novel, previously unexploited forensic survey data collected by the Swedish police between 2005 and 2023 (Polisen 2023), we examine how local disorder and criminal activity affect residents' entrepreneurial activity. The questionnaire has been directed towards a representative sample of approximately 75 000 individuals each year in 58 municipalities in southern Sweden. The data encompasses various levels of verbal and physical disturbances to which individuals have been exposed. We combine this data with population register data to evaluate whether the decline in trust, perceived insecurity, latent threats, and committed crimes are related to entrepreneurial activities. Our preliminary results show that unsafe neighborhoods push individuals to start poorly performing new firms. The results indicate a mechanism of how neighborhood culture and local institutions can hamper unproductive entrepreneurial outcomes.

Dr. Melinda Hajdu-Smahó (p), Prof. Dr. Tamás Hardi, Dr. Boglárka Barsi

The presentation draws on the results of a three-year Horizon 2020 international project, SPOT, implemented by a consortium of 14 European countries and Israel. The aim of the research project was to explore the potential for developing cultural tourism in touristically problematic (disadvantaged or suffering from over-tourism) areas in each partner country. The Hungarian research team examined the characteristics of cultural tourism development in the Komarom-Komarno cross-border area. The town of Komárom lies along the Hungarian-Slovakian border, 100 kilometres from the Hungarian capital, Budapest; it was divided by the Trianon Peace Treaty in 1920 and became "forgotten" during the decades of socialism, despite its significant cultural heritage dating back to ancient times.
Despite a shared history, language, and culture, the two towns have distinct identities due to their different historical development paths. Despite efforts, the area cannot be considered a single tourist destination. In the long term, there is little or no development cooperation; however, Hungary's and Slovakia's membership of the European Union enhanced both territorial and cross-border cooperation, which was used to foster connectivity and Europeanisation. Recently, considerable developments were achieved in the Komarom-Komarno area related to cultural tourism and transport, e.g., significant building reconstructions were undertaken for tourism purposes, bicycle routes and a cross-border public bicycle rental system were developed, and cultural playgrounds were constructed in a cross-border context. These main recent cultural tourism development projects were studied in depth through interviews and field trips; as a result, good practices were identified and described. According to our findings, the attractions of the two sides should be organised into a unified offer to transform the current national/regional attractiveness into a European-level offering.

Prof. Dr. Tamás Hardi, Dr. Ádám Páthy, Ms Petra Kézai (p)

The number and share of employees who commute daily are growing across Europe, and these mobility patterns are a sensitive indicator of the spatial restructuring of regions and states. Our study examines whether economic transformation and growth have led to a shift towards polycentric development in Hungary, a country characterised by an extremely monocentric spatial structure, over the past two decades. What is new about our approach is that we do not examine the medium-sized urban centres directly, but rather the structure and dynamics of the small centres surrounding them as a quantitative and qualitative imprint of the development of the given urban region. We consider small centres to be settlements that receive fewer than 5,000 commuters.
Our analysis is based on census data from 2001, 2011, and 2022, combining commuters' residence and workplace data with socio-economic indicators for workplace settlements and their labour catchment areas. Using cluster analysis, we identified nine types of small centres that differ markedly in terms of quality and regional location. The most important dividing line is between "agglomeration" and "rural" small centres. The spatial pattern of the types sensitively reflects the transformation of the country's spatial structure. It provides a more nuanced picture of the development of medium-sized cities than the examination of the cities themselves.
According to our results, the monocentric nature did not weaken but strengthened during the period under review: Budapest and its agglomeration are increasingly concentrating commuting. Only a few medium-sized cities have seen significant agglomeration development, mainly in the northwestern part of the country, where cross-border relations—especially the influence of the Vienna and Bratislava agglomerations—are also evident. In contrast, in the southern and southeastern parts of the country, the spatial structure is more rural, with medium-sized cities not standing out significantly from smaller centres. Overall, the results suggest that economic growth alone did not lead to a polycentric restructuring, but rather to a further strengthening of the capital's dominance.