GENTRIFICATION IN THE CONTEXT OF REVITALIZATION OF INNER CITY OF BRATISLAVA Inner city of Bratislava is currently experiencing the revitalization processes which share similarities with the process of gentrification witnessed in many other advanced capitalist cities as well as postsocialist cities. Aim of this study is to analyse situation in Bratislava in a complex way and to respond on a question, if there is gentrification happening in the Capital of Slovakia, what is its extent, character and a general influence in the context of revitalization of the inner city. For these purposes, more types of research methods are used, in which social, physical and functional image of the selected area with the biggest potential for gentrification is observed, views and motivations of the local actors are explored and signs of possible conflicts are analysed. By that study also aims to extend and deepen the knowledge about the mechanisms of transformation of postsocialist cities. Key words: Gentrification, postsocialist city, Bratislava

Charles University in Prague Faculty of Science Department of Social Geography and Regional Development URBANIZATION AND SUBURBANIZATION IN URBAN REGIONS OF PRAGUE AND VIENNA Summary of the PhD Thesis Mgr. Darina Posová Praha 2010 Supervisor: doc. RNDr. Luděk Sýkora, Ph.D. Supervisor - consultant: Ass.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Walter Matznetter, M.Sc. INTRODUCTION This PhD thesis is focused on study of urbanization and urbanization processes in urban regions of Prague and Vienna. The thesis has two major parts. In the first part, general approaches to urbanization and suburbanization research are introduced and results of an analysis of Prague and Vienna urban regions are summarized. The second part consists of six publisher or submitted papers analyzing spatial distribution of population, housing, new housing construction in Prague urban region as well as comparing urbanization in Prague and Vienna urban regions in 1980s and 1990s. In the introductory chapter, I focus of the thesis and development of my approach to research on suburbanization within the post-socialist urban development context. Chapter on general perspectives summarizes the state of art in the field and shows the application of such approaches on the case of Prague and Vienna. The last chapter focuses on comparison between Prague and Vienna,...

The dissertation thesis deals with economic consequences of established institutional environment in the post-socialist economies. The institutional environment is associated with political arrangement. The main aim was to investigate whether level of political environment affects economic performance in the post-socialist economies. The level of political arrangement is expressed by two groups of indicators. Firstly, a standard expression using the three indicators is employed (Freedom in World, Polity2, Liberal Democracy Index of the V-Dem Project). Secondly, the level is associated with the individual political regimes (democratic and authoritarian regimes; liberal democracies and non-liberal regimes). Based on received results of linear regression analysis, it can be argued that the higher level of political institution supports economic performance. Simultaneously the individual analyses indicate liberal democracies achieve the highest economic performance within the individual political regimes whereas democracies have similar economic outcomes to authoritarian regimes. The first partial aim was to verify opposite relation, it means whether factors of economic performance representing the Modernization theory have affected formation of political regimes in the post-socialist area. Probit regression analysis was used for attainment of the partial aim. The analysis identified the individual factors of the Modernization theory (level of economic development and schooling) have had impact on establishment of liberal democracies. According to the results of probit analysis the other two theories explaining establishment of political institutions were discussed, namely the Early Developed Institutions and the Natural Resources Curse. In the last part, the second partial aim was achieved by testing reciprocal causal link between level of political system and economic performance with using the test of Granger causality. The results indicate there is not reciprocal causal link in Granger approach between the observed variables. Simultaneously the reciprocal causal relation occurs only within liberal democracies.

Foreigners within Karlovy Vary urban region: spatial distribution and influences on local environment Due to exceptional migration characteristics of Czechia among CEE countries and entire EU, foreigners are becoming more and more important component of population of our cities. This fact implies the growing importance of foreign population as an agent in process of shaping the lived space. The aim of this diploma thesis is the presence of foreigners within the urban region and broader environs of Karlovy Vary - which currently is a city with one of the highest proportions of foreign population in entire Czechia. Migration characteristics and mobility of population of area are analysed with emphasis on foreigners. Subsequently patterns of spatial distribution of significant groups of foreigners are explained on various levels, based on unique unpublished data from Czech Foreign police office. Then the core section of empirical part is the analysis of influence of foreign inhabitants on the local environment, which stems from detailed field research carried out by the author. The work varies between urban and migration studies and theoretically is roofed by concepts of socio-spatial differentiation and residential mobility. From methodical point of view, the author claims and affiliation to the...

The subject of this thesis is the analysis of tax revenue of the post-socialist countries that are members of the European Union. In the theoretical part there are characterized tax systems of individual states. In the practical part I compare the tax revenues of the post-socialist countries. I analyze the tax quota, the tax mix and budgetary determination of taxes. Furthermore, I compare the tax revenues of the post-socialist member states and 15 original member states of the European Union. I focus on the tax quota, the tax mix and budgetary determination of taxes. From the analyses it is clear that the tax quota of the post-socialist countries is lower than in the older Member States of the European Union. Most of the tax revenue of the post-socialist countries stems from indirect taxation, particularly value added tax.

The main aim of this Master's thesis is to define the relationship between fertility rates and family policy in Central Europe, that experienced steep decline in fertility during the 1990s, and in Northern Europe, known for its stable and relatively high fertility. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, current models of family policy are defined and examples of policy measures that motivate people to start a family are found. The thesis also wants answer the question whether it is possible to implement a successful model of family policy in another region. The research focuses on two groups of countries, which went through similar development over the last decades: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary that share a similar socialist experience, while Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland attempted to find the third way between market economy and strong welfare state. Both regions also had to restructure their economy and reform their welfare states in the beginning of the 1990s. This development influenced today's beliefs about family support, childcare services or flexibility of the labour market, crucial in formulations of national family policy.