Development of national settlement systems in the industrial and post-industrial eras: a general discussion and the case of the Czech Republic
Abstract
The paper is concerned with major tendencies in the hierarchical development of settlement systems during the shift from the industrial stage towards the post-industrial stage of the societal development. The major tendencies can also be understood to a considerable extent as principal changes in in the urban development.
It is the development of city-region relationships and the key role of towns and cities in the changing geographical organization of society. These themes are considered in two levels.
At a general level the importance and development of cities in the spatial organization of society in the industrial period and in the post-industrial period. Using some outcomes of recent empirical studies of long-term Industrial era) there is considered current hierarchy of towns and metropolitan areas in the Czech Republic.