Discussion Papers 2009. No. 76. 
The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia
CENTRE FOR REGIONAL STUDIES 
OF HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
 
 

DISCUSSION PAPERS 
 
No. 76 
The Development of the 
Urban Network in Slovakia 
 
 
 
 
by 
István MEZEI 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Series editor 
Gábor LUX 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Pécs 
2009 

Discussion Papers 2009. No. 76. 
The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia
This research was supported by: 
 
 
OTKA  
Project Manager: Tamás Hardi, MTA RKK NYUTI 
Reference Number: 49065 
 
 
Pro Renovanda Cultura Hungariae Foundation 
„Research on the Peoples of the Danube Region” special foundation 
Reference Number: DN 2007/20 
 
 
Visegrád Fund, Bratislava 
Reference Number: 12703 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ISSN 0238–2008 
ISBN 978 963 9899 22 3 
 
 
 
© István Mezei 
© Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009 by Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. 
Technical editor: Ilona Csapó. 
Printed in Hungary by Sümegi Nyomdaipari, Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Ltd., Pécs. 
2
 

Discussion Papers 2009. No. 76. 
The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia
CONTENTS 
 
 
1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................   5 
2  The towns in Felvidék (Upper Hungary) before 1918 ..................................................   6 
2.1  The towns of Felvidék (Upper Hungary) according to their population ................  9 
2.2  Ethnic Composition of towns in Felvidék .............................................................  9 
2.3 Occupational composition of towns in Felvidék .................................................   13 
3  The settlement structure of Slovakia ...........................................................................  15 
4  The most important steps in the (Czecho)Slovak conquest .........................................   24 
4.1  Census as a means of statistical Slovakisation ....................................................   24 
4.2  Towns as the centres of Slovakisation .................................................................   26 
4.3 Choosing the capital ............................................................................................  29 
5  Town planning in (Czecho)Slovakia ...........................................................................  32 
5.1  Towns as industrial centres ..................................................................................   32 
5.2  Towns as the symbols of Slovak grandeur ..........................................................  34 
6 Towns 
in 
Slovakia after 1993 ......................................................................................  37 
6.1  Administration as a means of organizing the town network ................................  41 
6.2  The connection between transportation and the town system..............................   43 
6.3  The urban development role of the economy ......................................................  45 
6.4  Education as a factor of urban development ........................................................   46 
7  Towns along the Hungarian and Slovak border ..........................................................  48 
References ........................................................................................................................   53 
 
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Discussion Papers 2009. No. 76. 
The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia
List of figures 
Figure 1  Important towns of Slovak national consciousness in historical Hungary .......   8 
Figure 2  Changes in the population in the three most typical settlement groups .........   22 
Figure 3  Towns of Slovakia in 1930 ............................................................................   23 
Figure 4  The five cities that produced the highest industrial value in 1980 in the 
different economic sectors .............................................................................   35 
Figure 5  The towns in Slovakia in 2001 .......................................................................   38 
Figure 6  Degree of urbanisation in individual districts (Level NUTS 4) .....................   40 
Figure 7  The regional and district (obvod) division of 2004 ........................................   43 
Figure 8  The road network of the Slovak and Hungarian counties along the 
Slovak border .................................................................................................   44 
Figure 9  The geographical location of the 180 most important urban companies, 
2005 ...............................................................................................................   47 
Figure 10  Developed urban grativation zones and backward districts in Slovakia ........   51 
List of tables 
Table 1 
Classification of the towns in Hungary according to their population 
in 1910 ...........................................................................................................   10 
Table 2 
The population and ethnicity composition of the towns in Felvidék 
(Upper Hungary) and present-day Slovakia in 1910 and in 2001, 
following the classification used in the Slovak memorandum of 1861 ..........   11 
Table 3 
Proportions of people employed in mining and industry, transportation 
and trade out of all workers in the towns of Hungary in 1910 .......................   15 
Table 4 
The main characteristic features of the Slovak settlement system .................   17 
Table 5 
The number of settlements in Slovakia, according to settlement groups .......   18 
Table 6 
Population of settlements in Slovakia according to settlement size, 
with change rates ............................................................................................   19 
Table 7 
Settlements in Slovakia with population below and above the thresholds 
of 1,000 and 10,000 in Slovakia .....................................................................   21 
Table 8 
Changes in the number and population of towns between 1910 and 
2001 ...............................................................................................................   22 
Table 9 
Number and proportion of the three main ethnicities according to 
censuses in the area of present-day Slovakia .................................................   25 
Table 10  Changes in the proportion of ethnicities in Slovakia between 1910 
and 2001 ........................................................................................................    27 
Table 11  Towns with over 10% of inhabitants of Hungarian ethnicity, 2001 ...............   28 
Table 12  Towns with decreasing and increasing numbers of population, 
1991–2001......................................................................................................   38 
Table 13  The administrative system of present-day Slovakia .......................................   42 
Table 14  The 200 most important companies in the geographical space, 2005 ............   46 
4
 




Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
1 Introduction 
The settlement structure of Slovakia is the result of long historical development. 
The present-day settlement network and the emergence of the most important 
towns can be traced back to the Hungarian Middle Ages, especially to the 13th 
and 14th centuries. The development of the settlement network has been influ-
enced by geographical location, the configurations of the terrain (the mountain 
range of the Carpathians), the raw materials deep in the earth (minerals, metals), 
the military and political situation (since this was an area sheltered from the con-
quering Tartars and Turks) and the changes in the administrative system (settle-
ments gaining town status). The privileges granted by monarchs had a strong ef-
fect on the town network. The great migrations (the conquering Hungarians, Pol-
ish/Goral shepherds), organized settlements (Germans/Saxons), voluntary or less 
voluntary settlements (the Hussite Czechs and Habans fleeing from the Catholic 
monarchs and the Hungarians fleeing from the Turks) and the development and 
changes in the economy (the significance of mines changing with time) all deter-
mined the changes.  
The development of the contemporary Slovak town network can be divided 
into two large eras and several small periods. The first main period took place in 
the age of historical Hungary. During this time several peoples with different 
languages, religions and attitudes to work (Hungarians, Germans, Ruthenians, 
Poles, Jews, Serbs, Croatians, Czechs, Bulgarians, Romanians, Italians, French, 
English etc.) coexisted there with an increasing number of Slavic peoples, who 
spoke a mixture of languages and dialects which were very different from each 
other. From the 17th and 18th centuries on, these peoples gradually started to be-
come Slovaks. However, it was only after the foundation of Czechoslovakia that 
Slovak identity started to strengthen. Subsequent analyses underline the fact that, 
in the course of history, differences in language have caused fewer conflicts, and 
less destructive ones, than differences in religion. The peoples living in Hungary 
did not wage war against each other because of linguistic or ethnic differences; 
rather, religious conflicts were the main reasons for wars, e.g. the Hussite wars or 
the battles fought between reformation and counter-reformation. One of the main 
reasons why Hungarians and Slovaks (and all the other peoples living in that area) 
could coexist peacefully was the division of labour, which had been developed 
over centuries. The order of labour division was reflected by the society of the 
towns in Felvidék (earlier, Upper Hungary; since 1920, Slovakia) and also by the 
relations these towns had with the settlements in their environs, in other parts of 
the country and in other countries. The coexistence of Hungarians, Slovaks, Ger-
mans, and others was replaced by isolation, exclusion and expulsion in the 20th 
century, but this was not because of the ethnic composition of the towns. 
 
5

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
The area of contemporary Slovakia was not a regional, social, economic, ad-
ministrative or linguistic unit; and therefore the different characters and separa-
tion of the areas populated by Slovaks were not reflected in the names of the age, 
either. In the old-Hungarian language the northern mountainous area of Hungary 
was called Felföld (Upland). The name Felvidék (Upper Hungary) appeared in the 
19th century, denoting the high mountains mostly inhabited by ethnic minorities 
close to the Polish border. After that part of the country had been torn off in 1920, 
the name Felvidék took on a political and administrative meaning. Since then it 
has been used to mean the whole area of Slovakia, also including the part of the 
Small Hungarian Plain to the north of the Danube (Paládi – Kovács, 2003). 
Henceforth I will use the term Felvidék (Upper Hungary) as a synonym for 
Slovakia, especially regarding the historical past, since the standpoint of present-
day Slovak public opinion and (unfortunately) also that of Slovak researchers 
referring to present-day Slovakia (together with its borders and geographical and 
administrative names) as a thousand-year-old province, is untenable. 
2  The towns in Felvidék (Upper Hungary) before 1918 
The process of the Slovak people becoming a nation started rather late. In the case 
of the Germans in Bohemia and Moravia or the majority Czechs and Moravians, 
the separation into nations was accepted by those living there. However, in pre-
sent-day Slovakia this process could not reach a political level which could also 
have made it possible for Hungarians to accept the separation of the areas mostly 
populated by the Slovak ethnic group. Since the slow development of the Slovak 
nation focused first of all on creating a unified Slovak language, it is only the 
towns that were mentioned during the linguistic disputes that make it possible for 
us to find out which towns were of utmost importance for them. 
Slovak historical mythology first mentions Nyitra [Nitra] as the second most 
important centre in the east of the Great Moravian Empire. In the golden age of 
Hungarian history until 1526, Pozsony [Bratislava], Nagyszombat [Trnava], 
Kassa [Košice], Eperjes [Prešov], Bártfa [Bardejov] and the mining towns: 
Selmecbánya [Banská Štiavnica], Besztercebánya [Banská Bystrica] and Kör-
möcbánya [Kremnica] were regarded as towns in the area of contemporary 
Felvidék (Upper Hungary). Besides, we know that the privilege granted by King 
Louis (1381) made it possible for the Slavic people (according to present-day 
Slovak historiography: Slovak people) living in Zsolna [Žilina] to have the same 
rights as the Germans. The charter also granted them proportional representation 
in the town council. According to the Slovak historical tradition, not only Zsolna 
[Žilina], but also Rózsahegy [Ružomberok], Trencsén [Trenčín], Vágújhegy 
[Nové Mesto nad Váhom], Szakolca [Skalica] and Tapolcsány [Tepličany] had 
6
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
become ethnically Slovak by the 15th century (Kováč, 2001, 45). In 1541 Hun-
garians fleeing northwards from the advancing Turks moved into the Northern 
Hungarian towns, which resulted in disturbances in town administration. One 
piece of evidence for this is the decree of Ferdinand I, which ordained that the 
leader of the town should be changed every year and should always be of differ-
ent ethnicity, rotating among German, Slavic (Slovak) and Hungarian. In the east-
ern part of Felvidék the centre of the Protestant church became Szepesváralja 
[Spišské Podhradie] with Slavic (Slovak) leaders. From the mid-17th century, 
besides the German language, the western Slovak dialect started to appear in the 
administration records of certain towns. 
At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, at the time of the renewal of the Hun-
garian national movement, the language movement of the Slovak nation also 
started. Since the Slovak language movement was organized in theological col-
leges, Pozsony [Bratislava] and Nagyszombat [Trnava] became the centres of 
both the Catholic and the Lutheran Slovak ecclesiastical intelligentsia. For similar 
reasons, the Slovak Reading Society was established in Pest in 1826, and the first 
Slovak-Czech-Latin-German-Hungarian dictionary was also published. Church 
schools were starting to gain importance. Apart from Pozsony [Bratislava], Lőcse 
[Levoča], Késmárk [Kežmarok], Selmecbánya [Banská Štiavnica] and Eperjes 
[Prešov] became such secular centres. The regional centre of the Slovak national 
movement did not emerge until the second half of the 19th century, which can also 
be seen in the fact that, according to the Slovak Royal Memorandum written in 
1842 by some Lutheran priests, who wanted to set up the first Slovak linguistic 
department in Pest.  
It was the leader of the Slovak national movement, Ľudovít Štúr (1815–1856), 
who had the central Slovak dialect accepted as the standard Slovak literary (and, 
on this basis, later the official) language. This was the first step to national unifi-
cation. Štúr became the representative of the town Zólyom [Zvolen] in the Hun-
garian national assembly. On May 11th 1848 the 14 points called The Wishes of 
the Slovak Nation
 were accepted in Liptószentmiklós [Liptovský Mikuláš]. 
Among other things they demanded equality. The next scene was set in Turóc-
szentmárton [Martin], where the memorandum entitled The Wishes of the Na-
tional Assembly of the Slavic (Slovak) People in Upper Hungary
 (1861) was the 
first to mark out the Slovak national territory. It listed the counties in which they 
wanted to achieve the exclusive usage of the Slovak language (Figure 1). 
This was the first document to lay down the Slovak demands and give the 
word Felvidék (Upper Hungary) a meaning from a Slovak point of view. Hence-
forth we will use the word Felvidék (Upper Hungary) with this meaning. Before 
the Peace Treaty of 1920, there were no signs of present-day Slovakia in Hun-
garian history, but there were regions which were populated to different extents 
by various ethnicities. 
 
7

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
The areas mostly populated by the Slovak people were really the 16 counties 
of the 19th century Felvidék (Upper Hungary) (15 after the fusion of Abaúj and 
Torna). However, mainly during the period after the Turks had been expelled, 
they were present in the whole of historical Hungary. According to the census of 
1880 there were 1,864,529 inhabitants with Slovak mother tongue registered in 
the whole of the Hungarian empire. Their number had increased to 2,008,744 by 
1900, but then it started to decrease slightly: 1,967,970 people were registered in 
1910. Of those registered, 83.62%, i.e. 1,672,228 people lived in the counties 
mentioned in the memorandum, with the population of the three municipal bor-
oughs (Pozsony [Bratislava], Kassa [Košice] and Selmecbánya [Banská Štiav-
nica]) included. 
Figure 1 
Important towns of Slovak national consciousness in historical Hungary 
1
2
Szepesbéla
Bártfa
Zsolna
Késmárk
Liptószentmiklós
Leibic
Kisszeben
Szepesváralja
Rózsahegy
Eperjes
Túrócszentmárton
Poprád Lőcse
Szepesolaszi
Trencsén
Igló
Breznóbánya
Gölnicbánya
Dobsina
Szakolca
Besztercebánya
Kassa
Nagyrőce
Körmöcbánya
Rozsnyó
Zólyom
Jolsva
Nagyszombat
Rimaszombat
Selmecbánya
Modor
Újbánya
Losonc
Bazin
Korpona
Sátoraljaújhely
Szentgyörgy
Nyitra
Léva
Pozsony
Érsekújvár
3
4
Pest
Buda
5
 
Legend: 1 – Trianon border; 2 – Morandum country border; 3 – Iportant towns of the Slovak nation 
before 1918; 4 – Towns of the counties delineated in the memorandum of 1861; 5 – Towns be-
yond the border delineated in the memorandum of 1861. 
Source: Author’s construction. 
8
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
2.1  The towns of Felvidék (Upper Hungary) according to their population 
At the time of the census of 1910, 35.13% of the more than three million people 
living in the 15 counties were Hungarians and 54.34% had Slovak as their mother 
tongue. To the north of the language boundary, however, the difference was even 
larger: the proportion of the Slovaks was far above 50% there. In the seven coun-
ties belonging there, the 772,000 Slovak people accounted for 76.28% of the 
population compared to the 78,000 Hungarians, which amounted to 7.74%. In the 
eight counties to the south of the Slovak language boundary in Nyitra [Nitra] the 
Slovak people represented a proportion of 70.97%, but in Bars [Tekov] County it 
was higher than 50% and in Pozsony [Bratislava] County it was just half a per 
cent lower than 50%. Meanwhile, this was a region with several ethnicities, be-
cause apart from the two large ethnic groups there was also a high number of 
Germans, Ruthenians, Polish (Gorals), Czech Moravians, Romanians, Serbs, 
Croatians and Gypsies, as well as English, Italians, French, Russians etc. in low 
numbers. 
The town stock of this area, which was marked out in 1861, had some specific 
characteristic features. The 39 towns that can be found there accounted for 31.2% 
of the 138 towns of the Hungarian Empire. However, only a smaller percentage of 
the urban population lived in these small towns: in 1890, 13.5% of the population 
of all of the towns, whereas in 1910, only 12.7%. 
The classification of towns according to the number of their population (Fig-
ure 1) indicates that the typical town of the Felvidék (Upper Hungary) was a town 
with a low number of inhabitants. The municipal boroughs (Pozsony [Bratislava], 
Kassa [Košice] and Selmecbánya [Banská Štiavnica]) were evenly distributed 
among the different population categories, but nine other towns had as few as 20 
thousand inhabitants and 27 of them had fewer than 10 thousand. 
2.2  Ethnic Composition of towns in Felvidék 
The 1861 memorandum was intended to establish the Slovak language region. 
However, in the listed counties there was a rather complex society composed of 
several ethnic groups, as was also true of the towns in these counties. As can be 
seen in Table 2, of the urban population of 403,778 living in this area in 1910, 
49.6% were of Hungarian, 31.1% of Slovak and 17.2% of German ethnicity, but 
in addition to these groups, censuses also registered several other ethnicities. 
On the basis of the classification of the memorandum we can point out further 
peculiarities. In the towns of the counties considered as counties with mixed 
populations from an ethnic point of view, there were more Slovak inhabitants 
(69,053) than in the towns of the purely Slavic counties (56,396). Still, this meant 
 
9

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
that there was a higher percentage of Slovak inhabitants in northern towns, at 
46.7%, compared with 24.2% for the towns in the south.  
Mention must be made of the fact that there were five towns in the north where 
over 50% of the population was Slovak, adding up to 19,820 people, and there 
was only one town with a considerable majority at 73.7% (Breznóbánya [Brezno] 
with 3,081 people), whereas in the southern counties, which were considered 
‘mixed’, there were eight towns with a percentage of Slovaks higher than 50%, in 
four of which the rate was over 80%. In these towns there were 36,907 people. 
In the north, due to the lower population of the towns, there was an actual Slo-
vak majority. Compared to the 32.8% of Hungarian inhabitants, the percentage of 
the Slovaks was 46.7%, which meant an average of 3,33 people, i.e. a Slovak 
population of 47% in these small towns. This can be compared to the counties in 
the south, with a Hungarian majority, where the number of the Slovak inhabitants 
was 3.288 people on average, representing 37.3%. It is a fact that in the north, in 
every town, the percentage of Slovak inhabitants was over 25%, while in the more 
southern counties nine towns had a percentage of lower than 16%. 
After long decades of continuous increase in the Slovak population, the 1910 
census was the first to indicate an increase in the number of the Hungarian popu-
lation. The reason for this was the considerable development of the economy, 
culture, health care etc. in the Hungarian bourgeois era (1867–1914), which re-
sulted partly in an increase in the population and partly in a change in the direc-
tion of the assimilation processes. Apart from natural assimilation, the magyari-
sation policy enforced by the Hungarian government was not really effective 
(Kocsis, 1998). 
Table 1 
Classification of the towns in Hungary according to their population in 1910 
Number of municipality boroughs: 
In the county included in the memoran-
27  
dum of 1861 
Over 70,000 people, Budapest included: 

1 (Pozsony [Bratislava]) 
50–70,000 people 

– 
30–50,000 people 

1 (Kassa [Košice]) 
15–30,000 people 

1 (Selmecbánya [Banská Štiavnica]) 
Number of towns: 
111  
 
Between 30–60 thousand people 

– 
Between 20–30 thousand people 
16 
– 
Between 10–20 thousand people 
33 
9 (including Sátoraljaújhely) 
Between 01–10 thousand people 
53 
27  
Source: Hungarian Statistical Publications. Budapest, 1910. 
10
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Table 2 
The population and ethnicity composition of the towns in Felvidék (Upper Hungary) and present-day Slovakia 
 in 1910 and in 2001, following the classification used in the Slovak memorandum of 1861 
Towns 1910 
2001 
population Hungarian
Slovak German  other population Hungarian
Slovak German  other 
The ‘northern’ towns of Felvidék 
(Upper Hungary) (18) 
Eperjes 
[Prešov] 
16,323 7,976 6,494 1,404  449 92,786
208 86,910
42  5,626 
Rózsahegy 
[Ružomberok] 
12,249 1,735 8,340 1,031 1,143 30,417
41 29,394

976 
Besztercebánya [Banská Bystrica] 
10,776 
5,261 
4,388 
879 
248 
83,056
446 
78,690
53 
3,867 
Igló [Spišská Nová Ves] 
10,525 
3,494 
5,103 
1,786 
142 
39,193
65 
36,924
74 
2,130 
Zsolna [Žilina] 
9,179 
2,336 4,954 1,463 426 
85,400
106 82,750
57 2,487 
Zólyom 
[Zvolen] 
8,799 4,973 3,579  209 
38 43,789
218 41,980
14  1,577 
Trencsén [Trenčín] 
7,805 2,997 3,676  925  207 57,854
164 55,131
25  2,534 
Lőcse [Levoča] 
7,528 2,410 3,094 1,377  647 14,366
15 12,509
8  1,834 
Bártfa 
[Bardejov] 
6,578 2,179 2,571 1,617  211 33,247
48 30,346
3  2,850 
Késmárk 
[Kežmarok] 
6,317 1,314 1,606 3,242  155 17,383
26 16,550
74 
733 
Breznóbánya 
[Brezno] 
4,179 1,010 3,081 
73 
15 22,875
50 21,239
7  1,579 
Gölnicbánya 
[Gelnica] 
3,833  606 1,098 2,095  34 6,404
6 6,143
52  203 
Kisszeben 
[Sabinov] 
3,288 1,168 1,640  341  139 12,290
7 11,137
1  1,145 
Szepesváralja [Spišské Podhradie] 
3,129 
566 
1,832 
713 
18 
3,780

3,490

288 
Szepesbéla [Spišská Belá] 
2,894 
355 
1,258 1,247  34 6,136
4 5,818
16  298 
Leibic [Ľubica] 
2,782  213 1,311 1,135  123 3,677
1 3,443
2  231 
Szepesolaszi [Spišské Vlachy] 
2,413 
340 
1,613 
440 
20 
3,518

3,441

75 
Poprád 
[Poprad] 
2,283 689 758 818  18 
56,157
131 
52,868
119 3,039 
Total 
120,880 39,622 56,396 20,795  4,067 612,328
1,539 578,763
554  31,472 

 32.8 46.7 17.2  3.4 
0.3  94.5
0.1  5.1 
Changes compared with 1910, % 
 
 
 
 
 
506.6
3.9 1,026.2
2.7  773.8 
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
This historical situation would have made it possible for a new state, one 
breaking away from Hungary, to accept the fact that many languages are spoken 
and to not set the goal of homogeneity when organizing the state. However, it can 
already be seen in the text of the memorandum that the most important political 
actors were those that, while seeking political solutions, had language homogene-
ity in mind. They wrote about the purest Slavic counties and called the counties 
with a Hungarian majority ‘mixed’ ethnicity counties. The question of the indi-
vidual and collective protection of the language and cultural rights of all the Slo-
vaks living in the territory of historical Hungary did not arise later, either, because 
their ambition was to establish a monolingual state in an acquirable area, which 
eventually was ensured by the Trianon Peace Treaty of 1920. 
Table 2, which includes both the 1910 data and the figures of the 2001 census 
regarding the same towns, proves that the Slovaks managed to achieve their goal 
and established a state which, from the point of view of ethnic composition, 
represents a new quality. The first remarkable factor to be seen is the considerable 
increase in the population during the 1910–2001 period. 
The population of the towns formerly called ‘northern’ increased by over five 
times (there was an increase of 506.6%), whereas that of the towns in the south 
rose by nearly four times. However, the targeted and artificial results of changes 
enforced by political means are even more striking. In the north, the percentage of 
the population of Hungarian ethnicity decreased to only 0.3% and that of the 
Germans to 0.1%, while that of the Slovak ethnicity increased to 94.5%. 
In the south, not only was the increase in the population more modest 
(387.1%), but also the proportion of Hungarians (7.2%) and Germans (0.2%) 
remained higher than in the north, leading to a Slovak proportion of ‘only’ 88.0%, 
although the proportion of the Slovak ethnicity grew more than twelve times 
(1229.2%). 
Apart from the dominance of the Slovak nation, the increase in the proportion 
of the ethnicities listed in the ‘others’ category by seven times in the north and by 
ten times in the south (773.8% and 1064.4%, respectively) indicates that this is a 
version of multiculturalism which gives up a thousand-year-old tradition and de-
nies both Hungarians and Germans a country where the new state has formed its 
ethnic composition in a way that would be favourable for these minorities. 
2.3  Occupational composition of towns in Felvidék  
The special features of the towns of Felvidék, i.e. the short distances between 
them, their ‘density’ per one unit of area and their small size, are all in close con-
nection with the opportunities for employment and subsistence. The utilisation of 
the resources provided by the mountains made it possible for mining, industry and 
 
13 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
wood cutting (forestry) to boost and, in close connection with it, transport and 
trade to strengthen. 
It is a well-known fact that the Hungarian bourgeois period was the period of 
economic prosperity in Hungary, and especially the degree of industrialisation 
increased at a very quick pace year by year. By county, there was an unbroken 
area around Zólyom County, where industry played an important role at a national 
level, too. In Zólyom County 38.4% of the population was employed in industry, 
and in Szepes, Liptó, Gömör-Kishont, Turóc and Nógrád Counties, which sur-
round Zólyom County, this proportion was also higher than 30%. 
The changes in industry were indicated by the increase in the proportion of 
large-scale industrial works, which meant factories with more than 20 employees. 
Liptó County, where 1.4% of all factories were large-scale works belonging to 
this group, was outstanding from this point of view in the whole country. The 
counties following it were also in Felvidék: Zólyom (1.4%) and Szepes (1.3%). 
There were such factories in the textile and paper industries. We can also find 
examples of factories employing more than a thousand people in Felvidék, in-
cluding the counties Zólyom (1.4%) and Szepes (1.3%), but, for the sake of com-
pleteness, we also have to mention the villages that had such large-scale factories: 
Ruttka [Vrútky]), Lopér [Podbrezová], Nagysurány [Šurany] and Korompa 
[Krompachy]. 
The transformation of the economic structure is indicated by the fact that the 
number of those employed in mining decreased in the whole country. An example 
for this is Selmecbánya [Banská Štiavnica] where the percentage of the people 
working in mining decreased from 35.5% to 25.8%, i.e. from 5,808 to 3,919 peo-
ple between 1900 and 1910. Miners either moved away or found jobs in industry. 
One reason for the increase in the population of Selmecbánya [Banská Štiavnica] 
was this process. 
The important role that towns in Felvidék played in industry and trade can be 
seen in Table 3, which shows that, with their higher proportions, these towns are 
different from the national average for Hungary at that time.  
Granting credit was also a typical feature of these five counties. It indicated 
the liberalism of Hungary of the time that the individual ethnic groups could es-
tablish their own banks, in order to be able to support their own people with cheap 
credit. Such banks in Slovak ownership could also be found in the small towns in 
Felvidék. 
Mention must be made of the fact that the nationwide strengthening of indus-
try was also based on a significant transformation of the economic structure, 
which also had some regional consequences, affecting Felvidék seriously. On the 
one hand, the importance of mining decreased and, instead of the former mining 
of rare ores, the mining of iron ore and coal increased. On the other hand, the 
processing industry started to produce consumption goods (textile industry, food 
14
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
processing industry). As a result of the introduction of new technologies, heavy 
industry also appeared. However, these new processes were typical of other re-
gions. Light industry and the food processing industry were present with their 
quality goods in the northern towns, but they mostly satisfied internal demands. 
Heavy industry, the important sector of the era, could be found first of all in the 
zone of the towns Salgótarján, Ózd and Diósgyőr (Vuics, 1998). As a result of the 
same processes, and due to Vienna and Budapest gaining more prominence, 
Pozsony [Bratislava] started to lose its central role. Compared to Kassa [Košice], 
Miskolc was becoming increasingly important as a commercial and financial 
centre (Gál, 1998). 
Consequently, the large-scale changes of the dualistic era affected Felvidék 
disadvantageously, but discovering and taking opportunities and adjusting to the 
new conditions were already tasks for the new state to solve after the collapse of 
historical Hungary. 
Table 3 
Proportions of people employed in mining and industry, transportation and trade 
out of all workers in the towns of Hungary in 1910, % 
 
Mining and 
Transportation and 
 
industry 
trade 
Municipal boroughs  
37.7 
16.3 
54.0 
Without Budapest 
3.6 
13.6 
45.2 
Towns  
29.2 
10.2 
39.4 
‘Northern’ Felvidék (Upper Hungary) towns
38.2 
12.2 
50.4 
‘Southern’ Felvidék (Upper Hungary) towns
37.9 
12.9 
50.8 
Source: Hungarian Statistical Publications. New series. Volume 27. (1909), pp. 102–103, and Vol-
ume 64. (1910), pp. 130–133. 
3  The settlement structure of Slovakia 
The settlement structure of a country depends on several factors, some of the most 
important being its geographical location, natural conditions, historical develop-
ment and demographic conditions. In Slovakia, due to the special features of the 
terrain, the natural conditions and geographical location exert a profound influ-
ence on the settlement structure of the country. Modern-day Slovakia is located at 
the watershed of continental Europe in the Northwestern Carpathians, in the 
northern part of the Carpathian Basin. 
 
15 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
The terrain of Slovakia is very indented. Its lowest-lying region is Medzi-
bodrocké plánavy, which is located at a height of 94 m above sea level; while the 
highest is the High Tatras with the Gerlachov peak standing as high as 2,655 m. 
Since 71.7% of the area of the country is occupied by the Carpathians and the 
rest, i.e., 28.3%, is covered by plains, it can be stated that the most characteristic 
element of the terrain is its mountains. This determines the location of the differ-
ent settlements, their size, internal structure, ways of construction and the means 
of subsistence of the population. The large and deep valleys fulfill the function of 
plains and are therefore of the utmost importance. Economic activities, including 
agriculture, industry and transport, are concentrated in large valleys of the moun-
tains and in plain areas. Residential areas can also be found there. The most im-
portant communication channels and town zones are in the valleys of the rivers 
Váh and Hornad and in other valleys of Southern Slovakia. These towns, together 
with the branch of the Hron area, connect the two big cities Bratislava and 
Košice. 
According to the calculations of Slovak researchers  (Očovský – Bezák – Po-
dolák, 1996), 33.2% (i.e. 3,080) of all the settlements (1,022) of the country can 
be found in the plains. In the plains there is an overwhelming majority of settle-
ments with a high population, which also means that settlement density is rather 
low (17.4/100 km2). This can also be seen in the areas to the east of the Little 
Carpathians, in the valley of the lower reaches of the rivers Váh and Nitra, in 
Žitný ostrov and in Szigetköz. 
As mentioned before, the Carpathians cover 71.7% of the area of the country, 
concentrating the overwhelming majority (2,058, or 66.8%) of settlements and 
58% of the population. All this indicates the importance of small settlements. All 
settlements in the region had to adjust to the geographic structure of the region. 
The region of the Carpathians can be divided into two geographical and settle-
ment units. One of them is the area of large valleys, which accounts for 16.5% of 
the area of the country. Thirty per cent, i.e. 924, of all the settlements can be 
found there. The density of typical small settlements is higher (11.4/100 km2). 
The number of towns is also high in these valleys: 38% of all towns, with 41% of 
the urban population. The large valley of the river Váh, at medium height, is the 
most densely populated. The other geographical unit is the mountainous area, 
which covers the largest area of the Carpathians (55.1%), but, compared with the 
size of the area, the high number of settlements (1,134 or 36.8% of all settle-
ments) gives an extremely low population density (4.2/100 km2) in the high-lying 
valleys (Očovský – Bezák – Podolák, 1996). 
The main characteristic feature of the settlement system of Slovakia is that 
there are a many settlements and an especially high number of small villages (Ta-
ble 4
), which is mostly due to the geographical surface, because the indented ter-
rain is favourable for the emergence of a high number of small villages. Besides 
16
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
the villages with a low number of population, there are also sporadic settlements. 
According to researchers of the settlement geography of Slovakia, a settlement 
can be defined as a dwelling community which consists of a group of houses, is at 
least 200 metres from the neighbouring community, and where there is open 
space dividing them from each other (Očovský – Bezák – Podolák, 1996). 
Table 4  
The main characteristic features of the Slovak settlement system 
 
Geographical 
Number of 
Proportion of 
Settlement 
Proportion of 
composition of  settlements 
settlements
density settle- the population 
the area of the 
(%) 
ment/100 km2 
(%) 
country (%) 
Lowlands 28.3 
1022 
33.2 
7.4 
42 
The Carpathians 
71.7 
2058 
66.8 
5.9 
58 
large valleys 
16.5 
924 
30.0 
11.4 
35 
mountains 55.1 
1134 36.8  4.2  23 
Source: Očovský – Bezák – Podolák, 1996. 
Compared to the figures of 1950, the number of the settlements decreased for 
40 years. In the 1950 census 3,344 independent settlements were registered. This 
number had dropped to 2,725 by 1980. The proportions show that the population 
became concentrated in settlements with an increasing number of inhabitants (Ta-
ble 5
). Simultaneously, due to small villages becoming independent again, their 
number began to rise from the 1980s. 
During the decades of socialism the number of settlements with fewer than 
1000 inhabitants decreased at an extremely quick pace, which was first of all due 
to the fact that settlements merged and small settlements were attached to larger 
ones. Their proportion decreased from 74.9% in 1950 to 64.6% in 1980, and their 
number from 2,506 to 1,759. It was in the 1970s that the settlement structure was 
subject to the largest intervention, because in this decade the number of settle-
ments fell by 366. According to the figures shown in Table 5, this change may 
have been due to the fact that the population had moved from small to large set-
tlements, because the number of towns with more than 10 thousand inhabitants 
rose by 20. 
When the political practice of centralisation and the fusion of settlements lost 
its dominating role, a high number of formerly independent settlements separated 
from central settlements, leading to an increase by 98 settlements. This was en-
couraged by the first administrative measure of the new democratic era to restore 
the independence of settlements (Table 6). 
 
17 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Table 5  
 
The number of settlements in Slovakia, according 
to settlement groups 
 
18
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
 
 
Table 6 
 
Population of settlements in Slovakia according to settlement 
size, with change rates 
 
19 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
The reasons for the changes in the number of the inhabitants of settlements 
were different in each era. Due to the settlement policy of the 1950s, there was a 
decrease in the number of inhabitants of villages with a population of fewer than 
500, but in all the other types of settlement a considerable increase can be seen. 
According to the 1961 census, the number of inhabitants of towns with a popula-
tion of 20–50,000 increased by 174.6% and, according to that of 1970, it in-
creased by 209.5%. There was a decrease in the population of settlements with 
between 200 and 10,000 people in the 1970s, whereas in those with more than 
10,000 inhabitants the population increased. As a matter of fact, this trend contin-
ues as the 1991 figures indicate that the number of inhabitants in settlements with 
more than 20,000 people increased considerably, while the population of small 
villages with fewer than 500 inhabitants also showed signs of revival. The figures 
for 2001 actually refer to the new phenomenon, because they show that in all but 
two settlement types there was an increase in the population. The fact that it was 
the number of the inhabitants of the settlements with a population of between 
2,000 and 5,000 people that increased to the largest extent shows that people had 
started to move out of big cities, perhaps searching for a better quality of life.   
Table 7 shows two processes that have the same trend. One of them is the in-
crease of the population from 2,998,239 people at the time of the 1921 census to 
5,379,455 people according to the 2001 census. At 179.4% this increase is con-
siderable. The other process is that an increasing proportion of the population 
lives in ever bigger settlements. It is an obvious sign of urbanisation that the 
number of inhabitants of settlements with fewer than 1,000 people decreased from 
more than one million (1,155,022 people) to much fewer than one million 
(878,377) between 1950 and 2001. This is a decrease of 76.0%.  
As can be seen in Figure 2, the population of settlements with fewer than 
2,000 inhabitants had been around 2 million until the 1970s, and then it started to 
decrease dramatically. The population of settlements with more than 2,000 but 
fewer than 10,000 inhabitants increased slowly till their total population became 
more than one million. Meanwhile, in the settlements with more than 10,000 peo-
ple (all of them towns) there was steady and later accelerating growth.  
The 20th century was the most decisive period of the history of Slovakia also 
from the point of view of the settlement structure. The settlement structure of 
small settlements, which had been typical for centuries, was replaced by an urban 
settlement structure complemented by the surviving small village environment. 
The urban structure of present-day Slovakia emerged between the two World 
Wars. Compared with 1910, the number of towns had almost doubled by 1930 
(Table 8Figure 3). However, this change did not take place over twenty years, 
since it was the result of a quick decision of the new state, rather than a process of 
gradual development. The new state power wanted to express its own power by 
changing the administrative system. The number of the towns determined in this  
20
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
 
 
 
Table7 
 
Settlements in Slovakia with population below and above 
the thresholds of 1,000 and 10,000 in Slovakia 
 
 
 
21 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
way continued to grow, although at a slower pace. It had not doubled by 2001, 
either, compared with the 77 towns in 1930. 
The dramatic changes made in the number and population of towns reflected 
the state-creating aims of the new political power. The new state intended to set 
up new central places based on its own ideas rather than on traditions. 
Figure 2 
Changes in the population in the three most typical settlement groups  
3000000
-1999
2500000
2000-9999
10000-
2000000
1500000
1000000
500000
0
1921
1930
1950
1961
1970
1980
1991
2001
 
Source: Štatisticky úrad SR, Bratislava. 
Table 8 
Changes in the number and population of towns between 1910 and 2001 
 
1910 1930 1950* 1980 1991 2001 
Number of towns 
39
77
91
84
136 
136 
Population of towns 
481,184
902,953 1,048,219 2,205,711 2,933,088 3,010,162 
Rate of population increase, % 

187.6
116.1
210.4
133.0 
102.6 
Average population of towns 
12,713
13,506
13,464
25,671
22,008 21,987 
* The source of the 1950 figure: Statistický lexikon obcí ČSSR 1982. The legal definition of the 
town concept has only been in use since 1991, so the town is used below as a statistical unit, rather 
than a legal and administrative concept (Slavik, 2000). 
Source: Štatisticky úrad SR, Bratislava. 
22
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Figure 3  
Towns of Slovakia in 1930 
Čadca
Námestovo
stovo
Kysucké Nové Mesto
Spišská Star
ará Ves
Bytča
Trstená
Spišská Belá
Púchov
Stará Ľubovňa
Stropkov Medzilaborce
ce
Dolný Kubín
Spišské
Považská Bystrica
Ľubica
Giraltovce
Podhradie
Liptovský Mikuláš
Ilava
Martin
Snina
Spišské Vlachy
Humenné
Nové Mesto
Prievidza
Vranov n.T.
Senica
Dobšiná
n. V.
Sobrance
Myjava
Bánovce n. B.
Michalovce
Moldava n. B.
Trebišov
Topoľčany
Malacky
Piešťany
Jelšava
Zlaté Moravce
Veľké Kapušany
Tornaľa
Kráľovský Chlmec
Hlohovec
Pezinok
Jesenské
Svätý Jur
Vráble
Šaľa
Modrý Kameň
Galanta
1
Šamorín
Želiezovce
Dunajská Streda
Hurbanovo
2
Štúro
r vo
ovo
3
 
Legend: 1 – Towns in 1910; 2 – Town status gained by 1930; 3 – Town status lost by 1930. 
Source: Statistisches Handbuch (1932). 
Most settlements that have been declared towns can be found along an imagi-
nary axis to the northeast of Bratislava. Twenty settlements were declared towns 
in this zone. This region had been rather short of towns. On the other hand, most 
new towns were originally ‘ancient’ Slovak towns: Liptovský Mikuláš, Martin, 
Považská Bystrica, Piešťany, just to mention the most famous members of some 
town groups. Besides, there were the towns created from agricultural villages with 
a high number of inhabitants in the Žitný ostrov region, like Dunajská Streda, 
Galanta, Šaľa, Šamorín etc. One important aspect of planning the town network 
was that there should be towns along the borders. This can be seen from Senica to 
Čadca (Czech language border), from Námestovo to the far-away Medzilaborce 
(Polish border), and from Šamorín through Štúrovo and Modrý Kameň to 
Kráľovský Chlmec (Hungarian border).  
By setting up the administrative units of the new state power and with this new 
network of towns, the Czecho(slovak) power showed explicitly that then and 
there a 20th century conquest had taken place. It was a part of the conquest when, 
 
23 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
after marking out the state borders, the administrative districts were set up. Con-
quest was also the political content of the following decades from the point of 
view of the changes affecting towns and villages. However, both the number of 
towns and, mainly, their functions, underwent severe changes. 
4 The most important steps in the (Czecho)Slovak conquest 
4.1  Census as a means of statistical Slovakisation  
The state’s most important objective between the two World Wars was the Slova-
kisation of towns. In the northern part of contemporary Hungary, multilingualism 
meant that Hungarian, German and Slovak languages were used to different ex-
tents in the individual regions. Besides, further ethnicities and language commu-
nities also had their own locales (Czechs, Polish, Ukrainians, Ruthenians, Rus-
sians, Jews etc.). In modern terms, towns were really multicultural. It was a result 
of multilingualism that the national identity of the people living there was rather 
uncertain. Due to their dual (sometimes even multiple) identity, most people 
could not even decide what ethnicity they really were. What is more, they could 
not even name their actual mother tongue. This was what the new Czech, or in a 
wider sense the new Czechoslovak power, wanted to change in order to establish 
a homogeneous, monolingual and one-ethnicity state as well as monolingual 
towns with means of state administration. 
The state power introduced laws that resulted in the deprivation of civil rights. 
According to the 1920 language act, the population proportion under which the 
language of the ethnicity could not be used in settlements officially was 20%. 
After that each census became decisive for ethnic minorities, because this was 
what determined what the official language of a village or a town would be. In 
this way, the census changed from an impartial means of demographic data col-
lection into a political manoeuvre serving political purposes, i.e. it became a 
means of ‘statistical Slovakisation’ between the two World Wars. The Czechoslo-
vak state power wanted to prove the majority presence of the ‘Czechoslovak na-
tional ethnicity’ in the new state at all costs (Table 9). 
During the war the ethnic composition continued changing. As a result of the 
1938 Vienna Award, Hungary got back the southern areas populated by an over-
whelming majority of Hungarian people. The Czech and Slovak people who had 
moved there and occupied the leading positions in the towns or worked as farmers 
in the fields confiscated from Hungarians started to move back to Czechia and 
Slovakia. In the remaining Slovak area, the new Slovak Republic was declared. 
The new state started Slovakisation immediately. They resettled the people with 
Czech citizenship from Bratislava to Czechia and the Jews to concentration 
camps. Within the German alliance system, they could not take hostile steps 
24
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
against the Hungarians, although the removal of the Hungarian population was 
the subject of political common talk and opinions published in newspapers. 
Table 9  
Number and proportion of the three main ethnicities according to censuses 
in the area of present-day Slovakia 
Year Total 
Slovak 
Hungarian 
German 
Other 
people 

people 

people 

people 

1910 2,926,824 1,686,712 57.6 896,271 30.6
196,958  6.7  146,883  5.0 
1921 2,998,244 1,941,942 64.8 634,827 21.2
139,800  4.7  281,675  9.4 
1930 3,329,793 2,224,983 66.8 571,988 17.2
147,507 4.4 385,315 11.6 
1950 3,442,317 2,982,524 86.6 354,532 10.3
5,179  0.2  100,082  2.9 
1961 4,174,046 3,560,216 85.3 518,782 12.4
6,259  0.1  88,789  2.1 
1970 4,537,290 3,878,904 85.5 552,006 12.2
4,760  0.1  101,620  2.2 
1980 4,987,853 4,321,139 86.6 559,801 11.2
5,121  0.1  101,792  2.0 
1991 5,274,335 4,519,328 85.7 567,296 10.8
nd.  nd.  187,711  3.6 
2001 5,379,455 4,614,854 85.8 520,528 9.7
5,405 0.1 238,668  4.4 
Source: Author’s calculations and construction on the basis of Popély (1991) and Štatisticky úrad 
SR, Bratislava. 
After the war the Czechoslovak state interfered with the ethnic composition in 
a most aggressive way. The new Czechoslovak government had sided with the 
winners and thought it was time to create an ethnically homogeneous national 
state. This was included in the infamous 1945 government programme of Košice. 
Giving the false arguments of Hungarian and German people having been the 
reason for the collapse of Czechoslovakia, they did all in their power to expel 
Germans and Hungarians from the country. Since the victorious powers did not 
allow the method of mass removal of the population, they tried to achieve their 
goal by population exchange, deportation and different means of intimidation. 
How ‘successful’ this was, was proved by the census figures. While the propor-
tion of the population of Slovak ethnicity increased from 57.6% in 1910 to 66.8% 
in 1930, and to 86.6% in 1950, the proportion of citizens of Hungarian ethnicity 
fell from 30.6% to 10.3%. The personal tragedies behind these changes have not 
been spoken about openly up to the present day.  
During the decades between the censuses the population of Czechoslovakia, 
and, since 1993 that of Slovakia, has been increasing steadily. The proportion of 
people with Hungarian ethnicity fell dramatically until the 1950 census. It was 
only in 1961 that it seemed to level off, but by 2001 this proportion had further 
decreased. 
 
25 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
4.2  Towns as the centres of Slovakisation 
The new state regarded it as its major task to change the urban Hungarian major-
ity to a Slovak majority. That was the reason why so many settlements were de-
clared towns. Both in existing and new towns it was the state’s ambition to 
achieve the dominance and exclusive majority of employees with Slovak national 
ethnicity in administration, the state institutional system and public institutions, as 
soon as possible. They were therefore eager to prove Slovak predominance by 
censuses, which produced numerous abuses as a consequence. 
As the figures of Table 10 show, both in 1910 and in 2001 there were about 
200,000 people of Hungarian ethnicity in the towns of Felvidék, i.e. of present-
day Slovakia. However, there was a huge difference between the two figures, 
since in 1910 the 200,000 Hungarians lived in 39 towns, whereas in 2001 they 
lived in as many as 136 towns! This figure refers to a high number of tragic 
events, because the number of the people of Hungarian ethnicity living in the 
nation decreased from 935,000 to 319,000. If we also take into consideration that 
the rural population was moved into towns (after their lands and houses had been 
confiscated), which was typical of all the socialist countries in the 1950s, then we 
can see that the figures regarding deportation, removal and exchange of the 
population, executions and expatriations represent a case of ethnic cleansing. 
The 31.1% proportion of the urban Slovak population in 1910 rose to 88.5% in 
2001. During those 90 years the number and population of towns increased con-
siderably. In 1910 there were altogether 403,000 town-dwellers in contemporary 
Felvidék, and in 2001 there were more than 3 million of them in Slovakia. Re-
garding ethnicity proportions, the urban population with almost 50% Hungarian 
majority, which actually meant the coexistence of several ethnicities, had become 
a population of almost 90% Slovak ethnicity by 2001. All in all, the earlier figure 
of over 50% of different ethnicities fell to hardly 10% in towns. More exactly, the 
Hungarian-dominated population, which was willing to accept other ethnicities, 
was replaced by a discriminative Slovak hegemony, which demanded assimila-
tion. 
The first results of the struggle for language and national ethnicity could be 
seen as early as the decades of communism. The proportion of people of Hungar-
ian ethnicity fell to about 10% within the whole of the population. At the time of 
the 2001 census, only 9.7% of the population of Slovakia declared themselves 
Hungarian. Their proportion in towns was even lower, 6.6%. 
Table 11 indicates the connection between geographical location and the size 
and ethnic composition of the urban population. This table includes all of the 
towns in the population of which the proportion of Hungarian people exceeds 
10%. These towns can all be found in the south of Slovakia. All of them are close 
to or within the Hungarian language border and most of them are parts of the  
26
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
 
 
Table 10 
 
Changes in the proportion of ethnicities in Slovakia between 
1910 and 2001 
 
 
 
 
27 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Hungarian–Slovak borderland. While the most populous settlement groups of 
Slovakia include the towns with a population of 20–50,000 people, only seven out 
of the towns with a Hungarian population of more than 10 % belong to this cate-
gory; 17 belong to the category of much less significant towns with fewer than 
20,000 inhabitants. Although these are the towns in which most urban Hungarians 
live, and besides, they are the towns of the southern zone, which is mostly popu-
lated by the Hungarian ethnic minority, the proportion of the Slovak ethnicity 
there is 53.46%, compared with the 42.59% proportion of the Hungarian ethnic-
ity. 
Table 11 
Towns with over 10% of inhabitants of Hungarian ethnicity, 2001 
Slovak 
Hungarian
Total 
Hungarian, 
Other, 
 
people 
people 
people 


Veľký Meder  
1,226 
7,705 
9,113 
84.55 
2.00 
Kolárovo 1,890 
8,742 
10,823 
80.77 
1.76 
Dunajská Streda 
3,588 
18,756 23,519  79.75  5.00 
Kráľovský Chlmec  
1,515 
6,179 
8,031 
76.94 
4.20 
Štúrovo 3,294 
8,048 
11,708 
68.74 
3.13 
Šamorín 3,760 
8,091 
12,143 
66.63 
2.40 
Fiľakovo 3,079 
6,568 
10,198 
64.40 
5.40 
Šahy 2,787 
5,015 
8,061 
62.21 
3.21 
Tornaľa  
2,432 
5,076 
8,169 
62.14 
8.09 
Čierna nad Tisou  
1,554 
2,792 4,645 60.11  6.44 
Komárno 12,960 
22,452 
37,366 
60.09 
5.23 
Veľké Kapušany 
3,506 
5,561 
9,760 
56.98 
7.10 
Želiezovce  
3,543 
3,855 
7,522 
51.25 
1.65 
Hurbanovo 3,711 
4,092 
8,153 
50.19 
4.29 
Moldava nad Bodvou  
4,847 
4,158 
9,525 
43.65 
5.46 
Sládkovičovo  
3,614 
2,340 
6,078 
38.50 
2.04 
Galanta  
9,877 
6,022 
16,365 
36.80 
2.85 
Rimavská Sobota  
14,873 
8,846 25,088  35.26  5.46 
Nové Zámky 
29,446 
11,632 
42,262 
27.52 
2.80 
Rožnava 13,343 
5,162 
19,261 
26.80 
3.93 
Senec  
10,970 
3,246 
14,673 
22.12 
3.11 
Šaľa  
19,583 
4,392 
24,564 
17.88 
2.40 
Lučenec 23,127 
3,713 
28,332 
13.11 
5.27 
Levice  
30,997 
4,469 
36,538 
12.23 
2.93 
Total 209,522 
166,912 
391,897 
42.59 
3.95 
Average: 8,730 
6,955 
16,329 
49.94 
4.01 
Source: Štatisticky úrad SR, Bratislava. 
28
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Table 11 is of utmost importance because it proves that the Slovak conquest 
has been accomplished. The most significant towns of the new country and those 
of Felvidék in the Hungary of former times show a completely different pattern. 
The geographical deviation covers deviation of content. The towns that play a 
central role in the new state can be found in the middle and northern valleys of the 
rivers flowing southwards. The towns intended to be developed after 1918 make 
up the new town structure of the new country. In the first period (1918–1945), the 
towns to be developed were selected according to political points of view. In the 
second period (1945–1989), the number of the inhabitants of the towns was in-
creased at a quick pace. In the third period up to the present day, (1989–), towns 
with a high number of professionals have been established by setting up service-
providing offices and plants representing modernisation, by intended develop-
ment. This new kind of town network exerts gravitation on the much less devel-
oped, more remote towns with much less important economic weight, mostly 
along the long southern border, and also on the settlements in the backward cen-
tral and eastern parts of the country. This geographical separation and this town 
structural separation prove regional separation. Developed and backward regions 
have appeared in the country, and these regional differences have already 
emerged in the new nation, on the basis of the new town structure. The most im-
portant towns of the present exert gravitation, and determine the direction of the 
migration of people, labour force and capital. Bratislava and Košice, the two larg-
est cities, can be found at either end of this new town-structural arch. They are not 
only the initiators, organizers and gravitation centres of the new town structure; 
they also have their own gravitation towards other countries.  
The country has successfully been developed into a region independent of 
Hungary.  
4.3 Choosing the capital 
After short hesitation and sharp debates, the capital city of the independent Slova-
kia became Bratislava. This had several reasons. 
Bratislava was an important town of historical Hungary in an economic sense, 
because it was built not far from Vienna, the capital city of the Hapsburg Empire. 
With the extending Turkish conquest, its significance was increasing, so, due to 
the threatened position of Buda, the capital city in the middle of the country, the 
Hungarian national assembly moved to Pozsony in 1536. It was the temporary 
capital city for 300 years, until 1848, which also meant that the administrative 
centres of national importance were also built there. The buildings and the quality 
of the services provided in the town were developed to such a high level in the 
 
29 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
course of centuries that it was an obvious choice for the capital city of the new 
Czechoslovak power.  
If the new power had really intended to develop a city with national Slovak 
traditions into a capital city, then it would have chosen another town. Considering 
Slovak historical memory, they could have found a more suitable town for this 
purpose among the settlements not far from the Tatras. Besides Nyitra [Nitra], the 
first princely seat, the towns Liptószentmiklós [Liptovský Mikuláš] and Turóc-
szentmárton [Martin] also came up, but Besztercebánya [Banská Bystrica] could 
have been suitable for the purpose, as well, especially if it had merged with 
Zólyom [Zvolen]. Apart from being important central towns of the Slovak na-
tional past, Slovak politics and culture, they were located in the geographical 
centre of the country (except for Nyitra [Nitra]), so these towns would have been 
much more suitable for playing the role of a centre for the whole country than 
Pozsony (Bratislava), which has an eccentric location on the western edge of the 
country, in the ‘corner’ close to the Austrian border. The new victorious power, 
however, wanted to grasp the opportunity to take over and occupy the former, 
though temporary, capital city of the enemy, with its royal castle and coronation 
church, for administrative purposes. 
In this way, since it was not a cultural or political centre of Slovakia, Brati-
slava became its capital city for political reasons. It did not even have an accepted 
Slovak name. They mostly used the word Prešporok derived from the German 
word Pressburg. After October 1918 the Slovak press proposed the name Wil-
sonovo mesto (Wilson town). In March 1919 the Czechoslovak power named it 
Bratislava.1 Though the largest town of the part of the country which had been 
torn off Hungary was indeed Bratislava, neither its size nor its political and ad-
ministrative role made it a real capital town. Compared with Vienna, Budapest 
and Prague or even with Brno, it could not be regarded as a large city, either (Mi-
háliková
, 2006). 
                                                           
1 The  9th century Slav earthwork on the Castle Hill of Bratislava became the property of Breslav 
[Braslav], the eastern Frankish vassal Pannonian Slav prince. The German name Pressburg (the 
composition of the Slav name Braslav and the German word burg [=castle]) and the Slovak name 
Prešporok, which was used until 1919, can be traced back to his name. The first Magyar settlers of 
Hungary occupied the town in about 902. In the battle of 907 under its castle called 
Braslavespruch
 or Brezalauspruch, they completely defeated the Bavarian army, which wanted to 
reoccupy Pannonia again. This is where Pozsony [Bratislava]) was first mentioned. It probably got 
its Hungarian and Latin name from its castle governor called Poson. Its present official name 
comes from the year 1837, when P. J. Šafárik, a Slovak historian and archaeologist, incorrectly 
reconstructed the old name of the town and thought that it had originated from the name Bratislav, 
instead of Braslav  [Kiss,  1980]). From 1536 it was the capital of Hapsburg-ruled Hungary. The 
national assemblies were held there until 1848. Between 1563 and 1830 the Hungarian kings were 
crowned in St. Martin Cathedral. Between 1552 and 1783 the Holy Crown was preserved in the 
south-western tower of the castle (Magyar Nagylexikon, 2002). 
30
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Apart from the symbols of supremacy expressed in the buildings of the royal 
town, the new Czechoslovak power did not take over the characteristic identity of 
the town; in fact, it rejected it. The towns in historical Felvidék were inhabited by 
people of many different ethnicities and languages. Most of them achieved their 
independence in the Middle Ages, which they had been developing and improv-
ing continuously. Consequently, they also had their own urban regulations and 
conventions. Local identity was of utmost importance in these towns. Being a 
Carpathian German of Szepesség [Zipser], a citizen of Kassa [Košice] or Pozsony 
[Bratislava] meant completely different things, because the rules of social coex-
istence were not constituted according to what language these people spoke. In 
other words, in the towns of Felvidék, social and political rights and duties did not 
depend on the proportions of the people speaking the same language until 1918. 
The fact that the name Pozsony was changed to Bratislava between the two World 
Wars was a symbolic occupation. 
The change in the ethnicities of Bratislava took place in two ways. On the one 
hand, the Czech officials and Slovak village people moving into the town in-
creased the number of Slavs, or with contemporary terminology, the Czechoslo-
vak people. On the other hand, the abuses of the censuses were intended to prove 
the decrease in the proportion of non-Slav people. That was how, according to the 
1930 census, the percentage of the Hungarian ethnicity in Bratislava fell to less 
than 20%, as a result of which the representative body of the town made the deci-
sion to abolish the right of Hungarian people to use their language with a majority 
vote at an extraordinary session in 1933.  
The Slovak State, which was established in 1939, started the aggressive 
changing of the linguistic and ethnicity proportions immediately. First they ex-
pelled the Czech inhabitants, then liquidated the large Jewish community of the 
town. It was between 1939 and 1945, during the first independent Slovak State, 
that Bratislava was the capital city of Slovakia with full sphere of authority for the 
first time. This was where they set up the headquarters of the president, the gov-
ernment, the parliament, the Slovak National Bank and the foreign representa-
tions. It was only during a ‘politically extremely problematic’ era (to put it in the 
correct Slovak term) that Slovak people became aware of the fact that Bratislava 
was their capital city, their actual centre. After the fall of the satellite regime the 
city preserved the imaginary role of a capital city, and only waited for the suitable 
historical moment for it to become its actual role again.  
After 1945 the Czechoslovak power, which had emerged on the victorious 
side, declared the principle of collective responsibility, making the German and 
the Hungarian people responsible for the collapse of Czechoslovakia. Referring to 
the Beneš decrees, they expelled them from the city, and, by deportation and ex-
change of the population, from the country, too. After the communists had taken 
over control in 1948, they expelled the people and families that they considered 
 
31 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
‘bourgeois’ from the city, after depriving them of their property. While they were 
ousting people of other ethnicities, there was a continuous inflow of Slovak peo-
ple, who settled down in the city and gradually took over the leading administra-
tive and managerial posts (from Hungarian people), and economic units, shops 
and plants (from the remaining Jewish and German people).  
The power of the city, its status of a capital city and its legal, administrative 
and political weight were rather ambiguous in Czechoslovakia, since the capital 
city was actually Prague. The establishment and organisation of the new state was 
carried out under Czech control, and centralisation was necessary to be able to 
plan and perform the tasks. This, however, meant pushing Bratislava into the 
background. Therefore, when the new state was established Bratislava was re-
garded as the capital of Slovakia where they set up the headquarters of the Slovak 
minister, as well as the headquarters of the Prague government commissioner; 
however, its authority was gradually reduced, as a result of which it had become a 
mere district centre by 1927. This did not change after the war, either. Although 
in the 1960s certain offices were set up in Bratislava, they did not have actual 
political influence or any decision-making power. The federation established in 
1968 also had Bratislava as its Slovak capital. The Slovak government, ministries 
and parliament were located there, but in the course of the next three years, which 
were called the years of ‘normalisation’, they were deprived of their actual au-
thority and Bratislava again became a simple mediator of Prague’s instructions.  
The 40 years of communism were from several aspects also disadvantageous 
for Bratislava’s urban development. Like the capital cities of all the other ex-
communist countries, Bratislava showed the signs of decline, both functionally 
and physically. Its traditional quarters, especially its historical city-centre, were 
neglected and doomed to decay. With industrialisation, its economic life became 
rather one-sided. By building huge, ‘socialist’ housing estates, which looked the 
same from Berlin to Vladivostok, they severely damaged the specific character of 
the city. Bratislava became a typical socialist city. 
5 Town planning in (Czecho)Slovakia 
5.1 Towns as industrial centres 
Like in all the other countries occupied by the Soviets or belonging to the Soviet 
sphere of interest, a new political system was introduced in Czechoslovakia from 
1948. From a Soviet point of view, the geopolitical role of these countries was to 
defend the Soviet Union from possible imperialist attacks, and to be the starting 
points of Soviet aspiration for world hegemony, concealed by the slogan ‘Prole-
tarians of the world unite!’. Therefore, every country under communist party 
32
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
control was forced to prepare for the Third World War; consequently, of all the 
sectors of economy industry was the focus of development. The enforced devel-
opment of the industry carried out by the means of state power changed the 
structure of economic sectors and had a fundamental influence on the role of set-
tlements, i.e. that of towns. Industry, industrial production and the setting-up of 
industrial plants became primary town building factors. 
First of all, the existing towns were industrialized, as the new ideology 
stressed their ability to provide employment to several people in the vicinity. In 
this way, industrialisation was determined by political goals, and the elimination 
of regional differences was also subject to political intentions. The propagated 
ideology always served the aim of strengthening the working class through the 
regional division of industrial plants. The development of towns was intertwined 
with the development of the working class and that of industry; infrastructure, 
housing and other central functions were subordinated to it. This ideology con-
cealed reality, i.e. actual development decisions were made in the centres of ad-
ministrative power. For the development of a town, power and competence had to 
be acquired and strengthened by the local elite. Only in this way could towns 
acquire industries, and then housing estates and supplementary establishments 
from the political and official centres above them.  
According to Mariot (1988), the percentage of industry in Slovakia’s eco-
nomic life increased from 39.9% to 68% between 1948 and 1985, whereas that of 
agriculture decreased from 32.3% to 6.6%. Going by the percentage of the em-
ployed workers, the leading industries were the machine industry (23.8%), elec-
trical industry (15.04%), food industry (8.4%), chemical and rubber industry 
(8%), steel industry (5.79%) and fuel industry (3.76%). These industries em-
ployed 64.8% of the industrial working class, produced 71.4% of all industrial 
products, and accounted for 59.95% of industrial assets. Naturally, this does not 
reduce the importance of the energy industry, building material industry, timber 
industry, textile industry etc., which employed the remaining 35.18% of the 
workers, accounted for 28.59% of industrial products and possessed 40.05% of 
the industrial assets. 
The most important change in the relationship between the individual indus-
tries was in the food industry, which lost its leading position of 1950. The pro-
portion of the value produced by it decreased from 37.5% to 13.90%. In spite of 
this it retained an important role because it had to produce the most essential food 
for the population of the country. It was the function of the southern, agricultural 
regions of Slovakia to supply the country with food. The largest centre of the food 
industry was Nové Zámky. 
There were some changes regarding the proportions between the industrial 
sectors, because, due to the development of information technology and computer 
industry from the mid-1970s, the electro-technical industry began to develop 
 
33 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
more rapidly than the other sectors. The oil processing industry was also ex-
tremely successful in the plants of Slovnaft based on Soviet crude oil imports. 
The number of the people employed in the industry increased from 219,000 in 
1948 to 778,000 in 1979, i.e. in thirty years. Most of this huge number of people 
were employed by the industrial plants of cities. Examining the year 1980, which 
was the most suitable year for making a summary, 30 out of 84 towns, i.e. 35.7%, 
were central towns supported by a high rate of industrialisation. Villages also had 
industrial establishments, because raw materials, transport routes or other existing 
advantages made it necessary to disregard the settlement form. However, only 29 
out of the several villages with some industrial plant achieved an important posi-
tion, which meant less than 1.09% of the 2639 villages. 
Regarding the geographical location of these centres (Figure 4), we may say 
that according to the contemporary administrative division, there was an ex-
tremely high number of industrial towns in the western and central parts of the 
country. There are 12-13 important industrial towns in the western and central 
regions, while in the eastern region there are no more than five, even if we do not 
take the production value, or the role they play in the economy, into considera-
tion. This means that starting from Bratislava, in the valleys of the rivers Váh and 
Hron a significant industrial area emerged, far away from which two isolated 
centres in the valley of the river Hornad, Košice and Prešov, have been developed 
as counterbalances. The gravitating effect that the two towns exert on their sur-
roundings is inevitable, but they could not become a driving force for further de-
velopment under the conditions given in the era. 
5.2  Towns as the symbols of Slovak grandeur 
Industrial development had an important specific feature. In socialist countries 
industrial development followed the Western European model of the 19th century, 
i.e. huge factories were built, first of all in heavy industry, employing a high 
number of workers. This had further advantages for contemporary Czechoslovak 
politics, because under the auspices of this kind of development setting up the 
network of big cities could be started in Slovakia.  
The builders of the Slovak state called the actors of the historical past to ac-
count for the missing large city network, one worthy of an independent and in-
dustrialized country. It is true that Slovakia lost its short-lived independence after 
1945, but under the conditions of the dictatorship they could claim that in the 
century before 1948 there was no industrial development that could have resulted 
in a town network of an appropriate size. This was the reason why the Slovak 
town network was disintegrated and almost exclusively made up of small towns 
(Očovský, 1979). For lack of a developed town economy, towns could not absorb 
34
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
the increase in the village population, so the surplus population migrated abroad, 
mostly to the United States. Later, during the era of the first Czechoslovak Re-
public, the dominant direction was Western Europe. During the era of the second 
Czechoslovak Republic, there was no way to leave the country; therefore, for 
decades the destination of migration was Czechia. In the 1950s the net number of 
people migrating from the Slovak part of the country to Czechia was over 10,000. 
Due to industrialisation, this number began to fall and in the 1970s it decreased to 
about 3,500 people (Kühnl, 1982, 21–23).  
Figure 4 
The five cities that produced the highest industrial value in 1980 in the different 
economic sectors 
Kysucké Nové Mesto
Žilina
Bardejov
Púchov
Liptovský Mikuláš
Považská Bystrica
Dubnica n.V.
Martin Ružomberok
Prešov
Trenčín
Banská Bystrica
Vranov
Bánovce n. B.
Košice
Partizánske
Žiar n. H.
Rožňava
Zvolen Detva
Topoľčany
Trnava
Zlaté Moravce
Banská Štiavnica
Sereď
Nová Baňa
Nitra
Šaľa
Levice
Bratislava
Nové Zámky
1
Štúrovo
2
 
Legend: 1 – Towns; 2 – Towns and cities with important industries. 
Source: Author’s construction on the basis of Mariot (1988). 
The political leaders of the time decided to make changes to the settlement 
structure of Slovakia. The decision-makers thought that the main direction of the 
transformation of the settlement structure should be towards concentration. While 
planning the population increase of the towns, they calculated with a population 
increasing from 4.3 to six million by the year 2000 and thought that towns should 
be able to absorb them. 
 
35 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
The Czechoslovak crisis of 1968 and the ‘correction’ following the crisis mo-
tivated planning; they started at last to partially satisfy the needs of the popula-
tion, e.g. by the construction of housing estates which started in the 1970s. Until 
that time, the crowds of people ‘liberated’ from agriculture and chased from their 
fields to industry had had to commute to their new places of work. The number of 
commuters started to decrease when new urban housing estates began to be built. 
Settlements were classified into different categories, forming sporadic settlements 
and small settlements into larger administrative units. It was determined where it 
was forbidden to build new houses and a list of the settlements was made to show 
where construction of housing estates could begin (Očovský, 1979).  
In accordance with the governmental decision, 13 regions of urban develop-
ment were marked out, and one town in each was given priority in development. 
Besides these, district centres were to have chances of development within the so-
called economic and residential zones, in the suburbs. The population of the 13 
town regions accounted for 50.2% of the population of the whole country in the 
1970s. According to the directive, by the year 2000, 72.2% of the population, i.e. 
4.3 million people, were expected to live there.  
The directive provided that the three Slovak district centres should distinguish 
themselves from the six towns belonging to the first category and develop into 
metropolises with over 300,000 inhabitants. Besides Bratislava and Košice, Ban-
ská Bystrica was to have played such a role.  
In fact, it is only since the 1960s that Košice has been regarded as a town for 
which Slovak national politics has had long-range plans. Before that it was one of 
the neglected Eastern Slovak towns. Its development declined in the 19th century 
when, as a result of a competition between the two towns, Miskolc took over the 
central role Košice had played in economy, trade and transport. When the deci-
sion was made that, in accordance with the general objectives of industrialisation, 
an ironworks was to be built there, decision-makers considered several aspects. 
With metallurgy developing rapidly, one aspect to be considered became the 
mining of high heat-value coking coal and crude iron ore. Košice, however, did 
not have deposits of either and nor did Slovakia. In the planned economy, the 
traditionally accepted criterion in metallurgy that the country should have at least 
one of the most important raw materials was disregarded: instead, it was decided 
to disregard costs and have coke supplied from Czech Ostrava and iron ore from 
the Soviet Union. The latter reason was the most decisive one for Košice in be-
coming the new metallurgical centre; besides, it had abundant labourers on hand. 
The metallurgical works were meant to improve the backward situation of the 
eastern part of the country. Construction was begun in 1961, the cold rolling mill 
came into use in 1964, and the first blast-furnace in 1965 (Benedekné, 1969). 
Očovský (1979) points out the absurdities that resulted from the directives ap-
proved by the government in 1977. The development of prioritised town axes 
36
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
involves the danger of the disadvantages of certain areas and regions and the lack 
of towns becoming permanent, which could also make the settlements in their 
gravitation area stagnate. He gives the environs of Senica, and the broad zones 
between Nitra and Lučenec and Lučenec and Košice as examples. In his opinion, 
the Šahy-Dudince region, in which there are no towns, is also a problem, because 
it proves that the drawbacks of the secondary axes have not been dealt with. 
Levice, Krupina and Veľký Krtíš will never be strong centres. Očovský empha-
sized the increasingly backward situation of borderland regions. 
The cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants were intended to act as symbols 
of socialist industrial development and Slovak grandeur, which could also have 
proved for the historical past the strength of Slovak people as opposed to their 
‘former tyrants’. 
6  Towns in Slovakia after 1993 
The situation of towns in Slovakia, which became independent again in 1993, is 
simultaneously influenced by several factors. Of the many factors, those of ad-
ministration and transportation have to be emphasized from the perspective of 
spatial restructuring. 
In 1991 there were 136 towns in Slovakia with 2,993,234 inhabitants, but in 
2001 Krásno nad Kysucou and Šaštín–Stráže were also declared towns and the 
former Ótátrafüred became a larger town called Vysoké Tatry after some settle-
ments in its environs had been attached to it. In this way, at the time of the 2001 
census there were 138 settlements of town rank in the country (Figure 5, Table 
12
). 
After 1990 the individual settlements, as independent local authorities, became 
able to make decisions about the issues within their competences rather than fol-
low party directives and party instructions regarding the settlement system. Con-
sequently, independence had a decisive influence on the future of individual set-
tlements.  
The two censuses of the new era provide figures that indicate some new phe-
nomena. 
While the number of urban inhabitants rose from 2,993,234 to 3,022,106, the 
population of 46 towns still decreased, which is a sign of considerable changes in 
just a decade. These towns belong to larger settlements, with an average of 27,183 
inhabitants, the capital city included. Of the towns with increasing population 40 
have a population of fewer than 10,000 people, 19 have 10–20,000 inhabitants, 
and 28 more than 20,000. 
 
37 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Figure 5 
The towns in Slovakia in 2001 
Turzovka
Trstená
Spišská Sta
St r
ará Ves
Podolínec
Spišská Bel
Belá
Rajecké Teplice
Lipany
Stropkov
Spišské
Vrútky
Vysoké Tatry
Giraltovce
Podhradie
Rajec
Veľký Šariš
Nemšová
Ilava
Hanušovce
Liptovský Hrádok
Svit
Spišské Vlachy
n.T.
Stará Turá
Trenčianske Teplice
Krompachy
Strážske
Holíč
Bojnice
Turčianske Teplice
Dobšiná
Gbely
Brezová p. B.
Tisovec
Vrbové
Nováky Kremnica Sliač
Medzev
Sečovce
Jelšava
Leopoldov
Žarnovica
Hriňová
Čierna n.T.
Stupava Modra
Poltár
Tlmače Modrý Kameň
Svätý Jur
Sládkovičovo Vráble
1
Dudince
2
Hurbanovo
3
4
5
 
Legend: 1 – Towns in 1980; 2 – Town status gained by 2001; 3 – Towns in 1910 that have regained 
their status by 2001; 4 – Towns in 1930 that have regained their status by 2001; 5 – Towns in 
1950 that have regained their status by 2001 
Source: Štatisticky úrad SR, Bratislava. 
Table 12 
Towns with decreasing and increasing numbers of population, 1991–2001 
 
Towns with decreasing 
Towns with increasing 
population 
population 
Number of towns: 
46 
92 
Average town population  
27,183 
19,258 
Population of the largest town 
428,672 
236,093 
 (Bratislava) 
(Košice) 
Population of the smallest town 
1,500 
1,434 
 (Dudince) 
(Modrý 
Kameň) 
Source: Štatisticky úrad SR, Bratislava. 
38
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
This movement of the population is due to several reasons. First of all, the 
villages that had been attached to the towns without their approval became inde-
pendent again. The increase in the number of people who moved to towns slowed 
down due to the termination of state flat construction, which had attracted people 
and made it possible for them to become inhabitants of towns in a short time. 
Some industrial sectors, such as arms manufacturing, were faced with a crisis due 
to the changed political and market conditions. The closure of such factories re-
sulted in a high rate of unemployment, and a portion of the people, looking for a 
solution to their own situation, moved out of town. However, the reasons for 
moving from towns have changed considerably. One of the most extreme reasons 
is that the families that have acquired better living conditions move out of the 
crowded towns to family houses in the green belt, a village or a small town in the 
vicinity where there is quiet and clean air, and from where they can commute to 
the nearby city. The other extreme is represented by those who, because of their 
limited means, cannot afford to cover their living costs in the city, and so try to 
find cheaper housing in the countryside. 
The movement of the population can also be influenced by the urban devel-
opment strategy of their new, elected leaders. In the towns where the leaders had 
spent time, money and energy on urban development and, by developing the in-
frastructure and business parks and by designating marketable lands and buildings 
etc., prepared the town for receiving economic investments, and the gradually 
increasing economic growth attracted families which were seeking jobs and 
wanted to make a living. A town that had adjusted itself to post-industrial condi-
tions had a better chance to participate in the increasing competition of towns. 
The degree of urbanisation of the individual administrative districts can be 
seen in Figure 6. The 100% urbanisation of Bratislava and Košice is easy to un-
derstand; what is more, in Slovak administration these two towns are subdivided 
into further districts.  
In the country there are 11 districts where the proportion of the urban popula-
tion within the district is over 60%. Banská Bystrica, Poprad and Martin are 
towns with more than 60,000 inhabitants, so they are actually the leading towns of 
their district, but Myjava, with its 18,160 inhabitants, or Banská Štiavnica, with 
its 10,662 inhabitants, belong to this category only because of the internal popu-
lation proportions of their small district. 
In 24 districts the proportion of the urban population is higher than 50%. This 
category includes large towns like Prešov, Žilina, Nitra, Trnava, Prievidza and 
Trenčín. However, this category also includes a contradictory example, because 
Medzilaborce, with its 6,616 inhabitants, belongs here only because its district has 
a low population. 
 
39 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Figure 6  
Degree of urbanisation in individual districts (Level NUTS 4) 
1
2
3
4
5
 
Legend: 1 – 100%;  2 – 60–99%; 3 – 50–59%; 4 – 40–49%; 5 – under 40%. 
Source: Štatisticky úrad SR, Bratislava. 
The proportion of town-dwellers is higher than 40% in 17 districts. They also 
include both big towns like Nové Zámky (62,641), Levice (55,525) or 
Michalovce (53,970) and small towns, like Krupina with its 9,354 inhabitants. 
In 18 districts the proportion of the urban population is between 12% and 40%. 
This category includes the Dunajská Streda district with its large area and 44,894 
town people. Besides the district seat of Dunajská Streda, Šamorín and Veľký 
Meder also belong to this category increasing the urban population. The districts 
that can be regarded as internal peripheries and where the small size of the town 
also makes it difficult for the district to strengthen its economy, like the Brezno, 
Zlaté Moravce and Gelnica districts, also belong to this group. At some other 
places, the oversized district worsens the problems of the small town, like in 
Rožnava or the above-mentioned Dunajská Streda. For Veľký Krtíš and Rožnava, 
their borderland location was also a limiting factor. The districts along the Polish 
border also have to cope with the same difficulties, e.g. Námestovo, Kežmarok, 
Stará  Ľubovňa, Sabinov, or Sobrance district along the Ukrainian border. The 
40
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
sparse distribution of towns in the district in the environs of Košice is surely 
compensated for by the presence of the large city nearby. 
6.1  Administration as a means of organizing the town network 
When analysing administration, we should first emphasize that, at the time of the 
establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the Slovak section of the country did 
not have an outstanding and obvious centre, nor a capital town or a town orga-
nizing the life of the Slovaks. After 1918, it was the aim of urban policy to desig-
nate new administrative centres.  
The first decisive step to state independence was to set up the 16 counties from 
the 8 complete and 12 fragmentary counties, which happened in 1920. The 6 large 
counties formed in 1923 already indicated that the new power was seeking cen-
tralisation, because in this way they could create a means of homogenisation and 
Czechoslovakisation. With the provincial system created in 1928, the eastern part 
of contemporary Czechoslovakia, i.e. the Slovak province, was converted into a 
subordinated part of the country 
The administration between 1939 and 1945 was an important period in Slovak 
history, because it was at that time that the first independent Slovak state was 
established. The division into six counties served the interests of those employed 
in administration, i.e. those of the Slovak middle classes, because in this way 
many loyal Slovak people could obtain genteel office jobs with regular salaries.  
After 1945 administration once more became a means of centralisation, the 
state machinery and administration controlled by a single party. In 1960, in ac-
cordance with the administrative reform, the number of regions was reduced to 3, 
and that of the districts to 32. This extremely simplified system, which was cre-
ated for the sole aim of carrying out the central will, operated up until 1991. In 
1969 the only change made was that Bratislava itself also became an independent 
region, so the number of regions increased to 4, and within the administrative 
boundaries of Bratislava and Košice, the two large cities, several districts were 
designated, which increased the number of the districts. 
In 1991 the former, strictly hierarchical council system based on central direc-
tives was replaced by the municipality system; administration and self-govern-
ance were separated again. After the decades of communism, the settlements 
could once again become independent. Smaller districts, 121 in all, were set up 
for carrying out administrative tasks. 
The new district division of 1996 is all the more important because, after a 
long debate, the eight administrative regions remained, but the county municipal-
ity organs were not set up simultaneously. Instead of the 79 districts (okres) 
marked out in 1996, 50 small districts (obvod) have been responsible for carrying 
out administrative tasks since 2004. 
 
41 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
The confirmation of the regional boundaries of 1996 excluded the resources 
that could have led to the self-governance of the Hungarian population. The ‘dis-
tribution’ of the Hungarian ethnicity among the Bratislava, Trnava and Nitra dis-
tricts, as well as the decision to ignore Lučenec, Rimavská Sobota, Rožnava, 
Kráľovský Chlmec and their districts and their attachment to the regions and dis-
tricts with a Slovak majority to the north are new signs of the conquerors being 
unfair. In legal terms, this could be considered refusal of the right to self-determi-
nation, or in political terms, the survival of national oppression. This was how the 
interests of the governing parties in keeping their own positions were interwoven 
with the interests of (governing and opposition) nationalist Slovak political forces 
in keeping the nation-state aim in mind continuously. 
The eight administrative regions established in 1996 gave a further five towns 
the opportunity to benefit from the advantages of belonging to the privileged. The 
role of an administrative centre grants considerable advantages over other towns 
concerning development. On the other hand, granting authority to these towns 
also means the enlargement of the existing Bratislava – Banská Bystrica – Košice 
axis. As a result of the enlargement, the developing new town system shows a 
new feature, i.e. the strengthening of the Váh Valley as an industrial and service-
providing urban zone (Trnava, Trenčín and Žilina), and that of Nitra as the gravi-
tation pole of the plains to the south. Prešov, as the equivalent of Košice, is 
granted similar opportunities. The task of these two towns is the development of 
the backward eastern region, which has been lagging behind the other regions. 
Table 13  
The administrative system of present-day Slovakia 
Year 
Large territorial unit 
Small territorial unit (district) 
1918 
18 counties + 12 fragmentary counties 
197  
1920 16 
counties 
195 
1923 
16 large counties 
177 + Bratislava and Košice 
1928 
11 province 
177 + Bratislava and Košice 
1939 
16 counties 
158 + Bratislava 
1945 
1– 
177 + Bratislava and Košice 
1949 
16 regions 
190 + Bratislava and Košice 
1960 
13 regions 
132  
1969 
14 regions (Bratislava included) 
136 + Bratislava and Košice 
1991 
1– 
121 small districts (obvod) 
1996 
18 regions (kraj) 
179 districts (okres) 
2004 
18 regions (kraj) 
150 small districts (obvod) 
Source: Compiled from Kűhnl (1982), Petőcz (1998) and Kocsis (2002). 
42
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Figure 7  
The regional and district (obvod) division of 2004 
Námestovo
Čadca
Turzovka
Svidnik
Kysucké
Tvrdošín Trstená
Spišská
Nové Mesto
Stará Ves
Bytča
Stará Ľubovňa
Bardejov
Medzilaborce
Dolný Kubín
Žilina
Stropkov
Púchov
Sabinov
LiptovskýMikuláš
Kežmarok
Lipany
Vysoké Tatry
Rajec
Giraltovce
Považská
Svit
Ilava Bystrica
Martin
Ružomberok
Poprad
Levoča
Snina
LiptovskýHrádok
Hanušovce
Dubnica
Krompachy
Prešov
n.T.
n.V.
Humenné
Skalica
Spišská
Nová Ves
Vranov
Stará Turá Trenčín
Prievidza Turčianske
Gelnica
n. T. Michalovce
Holíč
Bánovce
Brezno
Teplice
n. B.
Banská
Bidovce
Dobšiná
Sečovce
Sobrance
Senica Myjava Nové Mesto
Bystrica
Košice
n. V.
Rožňava
Nováky Ha
H nd
n lová Kremnica
Revúca
Veľké
Žiar n. H.
Čaňa
Partizánske
Detva
Plešivec
Trebišov
Kapušany
Moldavan. B.
Piešťany Topoľčany
Zvolen
Hnúšťa
Malacky
Žarnovica
Hlohovec
Banská
Poltár
KráľovskýChlmec
Trnava
Zlaté
Moravce NováBaňa
Stiavnica
Tornaľa
Modra
Nitra
Stupava
RimavskáSobota
Sered
Krupina
Pezinok
Lučenec
Vráble
Sládkovičovo
Senec
Fiľakovo
Galanta
Levice
Veľký Krtíš
Bratislava
Šaľa
Šahy
Šurany
1
Šamorín
Nové Zámky
Želiezovce
Dunajská Streda
VeľkýMeder
Kolárovo
2
Hurbanovo
Štúrovo
Komarno
3
4
 
Legend: 1 – Headquarters of the regional office (8 kraj);  2 – Headquarters of the district office (50 
obvod); 3 – Permanent office branch (33); 4 – Temporary office branch (31). 
Source: Návrh samosprávnych krajov. ErasData-Pro, spol. S.r.o., Odbor informatiky SVS MV SR. 
2003. 
6.2  The connection between transportation and the town system 
The position a country takes in the area-wide transportation network is decisive 
from the point of view of its geopolitical situation.  Realizing the importance of 
the east-west communication axes that cross the Polish and Hungarian plains, 
Slovakia intends to stand its ground in this competition by marking out its route 
between them, i.e. building its motorways from Ostrava through Žilina and 
Košice to Lvov. This means that the road from Žilina will not run southwards at 
Košice, but it will take a sharp bend to Uzhhorod – Lvov. In comparison with this 
axis, and regarding also the international relations, the corridors from the north to 
the south are of minor importance. Two corridors are in use. One of them is the 
Katowice–Žilina–Bratislava route in the valley of the river Váh, which corre-
sponds to the road of the central region that is to be built to the northeast. This 
 
43 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
route is of utmost importance mainly within the country, and has minor interna-
tional importance. The other is the corridor from the north to the south, from Cra-
cow through Košice to Miskolc, which is much less busy. It is the Slovak section 
of the road that is important for Slovakia. At the same time, the road Orava–Ban-
ská Bystrica–Budapest, which was essential for centuries, is completely missing. 
The map in Figure 8 shows the route of the Slovak motorways that are to be 
built and the route of existing Hungarian motorways. Between the two road net-
works there are borderland settlements. It may be stated that the Hungarian mo-
torway network serves the traffic of the dynamic growth axis between the Aus-
trian border and Budapest, while in the eastern part of the country it connects the 
towns of the North Hungarian range of mountains. 
Figure 8 
The road network of the Slovak and Hungarian counties along the Slovak border 
SR
H
1
2
 
Legend: 1 – Motorway;  2 – E-roads. 
Source: Author’s construction 
44
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
On the Slovak side, however, the long southern area of the country is not 
crossed by a freeway, but, starting from Bratislava it runs to the north. This is 
indicative of the fact that the chances of development in Southern Slovakia have 
been disregarded and pushed into the background since road construction, just 
like any other state-controlled development, is carried out on the basis of intended 
plans. 
6.3  The urban development role of the economy 
The development of the economy is motivated in different ways in particular ages 
and regions. In the 20th century industry, especially heavy industry was the most 
prosperous sector in the eastern part of Europe. However, new processes emerged 
in the world economy, and services began to play the leading role. The ex-com-
munist countries could only adapt to these changes after leaving the Soviet sphere 
of interest. The leading role of services means that it was no longer the available 
raw materials, the industrial factories planned and built by the central will, or the 
state logic of planned economy that initiated the establishment and development 
of settlements, but individuals who could utilize their expertise and qualifications 
on the market. Qualifications mean a high level of education, which is provided 
by towns; towns have the establishments of finance, management and communi-
cations that are necessary for the profitable operation of market conditions.  
According to European practise, the statistical offices of the individual coun-
tries publish regional data. This conceals the economic performance of the indi-
vidual settlements, especially that of towns, although it is a well-known fact that 
the major part of the results of both industries and services are provided by towns. 
The data of settlements provided by the Bratislava-based TREND analysis centre 
enabled us to clarify the role of towns in economic competition. The drawback of 
its method is that it does not mean a full-range data provision, because only fig-
ures regarding certain sectors are published and data on other sectors are not pro-
vided.  
The TREND analyzing centre lists 200 companies that, according to their in-
comes, basically affect the economic life in Slovakia. On the basis of the location 
of their headquarters (Table 14), it can be stated that the 200 companies can be 
found in 69 settlements, 52 of which are towns and 17 are villages. The shift in 
proportions, however, cannot only be seen in settlement types, but also in the 
number of companies, because 90% of the listed companies can be found in 
towns, as can 94.8% of their income. 
 
45 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Table 14 
The 200 most important companies in the geographical space, 2005 
Number of  

Number of  

Total incomest-

 
settlements 
companies 
housand SK 
Town 
  52 75.4 180 
90.0 
1,309,457,241 
94.8 
Village  
17 
24.6 
20 
10.0 
71,360,623 
5.2 
∑ 69 
100.0 
200 
100.0 
13,80,817,864 
100,0 
Source: www.etrend.sk. 
The data prove the priority of towns over villages, but we must also add to the 
analysis the fact that the significance of Bratislava is also extremely large com-
pared to the other towns. Of the 200 most important companies, 78 are based in 
Bratislava. All the other towns are much less significant, because there are only 
eight companies in Košice, six in Žilina, six in Trnava, and four in Nitra, Banská 
Bystrica, Považská Bystrica and in Prievidza.There are 28 towns where only one 
company can be found.  
The geographical location of the towns shows that the country is divided into 
two parts (Figure 9). The most important companies can be found in the western 
part of Slovakia. To the east of the Liptovský Mikuláš – Krupina line, there are 
only very few such important companies. Especially in the borderland region 
along the Polish border and in the broad area between Banská Bystrica and 
Košice, more exactly, between Banská Bystrica and the Ukrainian border, impor-
tant, large companies are completely missing.  
6.4  Education as a factor of urban development 
In recent years the most obvious sign of adjustment to the new conditions was if a 
town or city provided higher education. In the party-state era there were two 
towns, Bratislava and Košice, which had independent multi-disciplinary higher 
educational institutions that trained students for several professions. Besides 
these, there were two in Nitra (pedagogy and agricultural engineering) and a fac-
ulty (of forestry) in Zvolen, but after 1990 new universities were established in 
several towns. All in all, there are 20 higher educational institutions in Slovakia: 
apart from the two above mentioned cities, they are locvated in Banská Bystrica, 
Nitra, Prešov, Ružomberok, Trnava, Trenčín, Komárno, Zvolen and Žilina. The 
nine private universities have the most peculiar list of settlement names, because 
besides the big cities, like Bratislava, Prešov and Trenčín, there are small towns, 
like Skalica and Sládkovičovo, which have such institutions. 
46
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Figure 9 
The geographical location of the 180 most important urban companies, 2005 
Kysucké
Nové Mesto
Námestovo
Trstená
Žilina
Púchov Považská
Ružomberok
Bystrica
Poprad
Liptovský Mikuláš
Veľký Šariš
Nemšová Nová Dubnica Martin
Svit
Prešov
Humenné
Trenčianske Teplice
Spišská
Trenčín
Bojnice
Nová Ves
Strážske
Skalica
Prievidza
Nové Mesto
Banská Bystrica
Senica
n. V.
Bánovce Nováky
Michalovce
n. B. Topoľčany
Žiar n. H.
Jelšava
Košice
Trnava
Banská
Malacky
Zlaté Moravce
Hlohovec
Štiavnica
Rimavská Sobota
Nová Baňa
Sereď
Krupina
Nitra
Tlmače
Lučenec
Galanta
Šaľa
Bratislava
Nové Zámky
Dunajská Streda
1
4
Štúrovo
2
5
Komarno
3
6
7
 
Legend: 1 – 78 companies;  2 – 8 companies; 3 – 6 companies; 4 – 4 companies; 5 – 3 companies; 
6 – 2 companies; 7 – 1 company. 
Source: www.etrend.sk. 
The appearance of private universities does not mean sharp competition with 
state institutions, because they only make up 10.3% of all the departments, 2.6% 
of full-time students and 6.3% of lecturers. The 22.8% proportion of part-time 
students indicate that private universities have discovered and are trying to meet 
the special needs of the people who are employed.  
The outstanding role of Bratislava is obvious but higher education in Slovakia 
is not really concentrated in one town. Only 25.9% of all the departments, 34.9% 
of all full-time students and 37.9% of lecturers can be found in Bratislava. The 
higher rate of lecturers indicates the outstanding importance of Bratislava in edu-
cation and research. The high rate of foreign students (43.8%) is a sign of the 
good reputation of the universities in the city. 
 
47 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
7  Towns along the Hungarian and Slovak border 
In spite of all the well-grounded criticism, Bratislava has become an increasingly 
important regional centre since the country was declared independent in 1993, but 
especially since Slovakia joined the European Union in 2004. With the iron cur-
tain pulled down and the checked border (the external border of the EU) shifted to 
the east, i.e. with the Schengen system set up, the capital city has become an im-
portant development area of the European Union. Its geographical location is 
unique, because it can be found on the western edge of the country. According to 
the interpretation of Slovak analysts, this eastern capital city is the closest to the 
Western European countries, to the culture of the west, so Bratislava can be re-
garded as the gateway between the east and the west.  
Developers, who can foresee future processes, first became conscious of the 
Vienna-Bratislava relation. They pointed out that, with the iron curtain pulled 
down, this region would be the laboratory of integration, because there were 
striking differences between the two capital towns, which would lead to the rise 
of Bratislava, the weaker party (Mastilak, 2004). For centuries there were no in-
stitutionalized relations between the two towns, and what is more, during the dec-
ades of the cold war both of them lost importance both within their own countries 
and in the two world systems. Now this region may become the centre for Central 
Europe. Its administrative role, rapidly growing economic weight and the impor-
tance of education and research concentrated there may contribute to its stepping 
on a growth trajectory. 
Concerning transportation, the town is in an outstanding position, because it 
lies at the crossing point of several important roads. Both the road Prague–Brati-
slava–Budapest and that of Cracow–Žilina–Bratislava–Vienna increase its signifi-
cance. However, setting up a hierarchy regarding traffic, it can be stated that 
Brno, Prague and Vienna are the busiest compared to other, more remote centres. 
Owing to the cold war conflicts, there are still no motorways to Vienna, but there 
is a scheduled hydrofoil service, and a direct tram-line, which started to operate in 
1914, is once again being built between Vienna and Bratislava. This is necessary 
first of all because of the economic gravitation of Vienna, since thousands of peo-
ple commute to work to the Austrian capital every day (ODPM, 2006). 
In the town there are companies of utmost importance representing each in-
dustrial sector. Financial service provision also contributes to the significance of 
the town. Except for the Žilina-based Dexia Bank, the centre of each bank can be 
found in Bratislava, but the headquarters of the large insurance companies and 
financial investors are also located there. The three most important universities of 
the town (Comenius University, the University of Economics and the Slovak 
University of Technology) train the most eminent professionals and this is where 
most researchers work. 
48
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
The capital city was the first to plan a way out of the economic crisis of the 
1990s. The dominance of the machine industry, the manufacture of arms, and the 
wave of bankruptcies resulting from this monocentric structure led to a difficult 
situation. By locating Volkswagen there in 1991, the town made the first model 
decision. A few years after launching car manufacturing of international signifi-
cance there, the value produced there accounted for 10% of the GDP and 25% of 
exports in Slovakia. The appearance and prosperity of Volkswagen attracted fur-
ther companies and suppliers to the country.  
In Csallóköz, along the border, people are involved primarily in agricultural 
activities and the food industry. Consequently, this region is much poorer than the 
more industrialized northern regions. A famous sugar factory was located in Du-
najská Streda
 under French ownership until 2007. At present only Tauris Danu-
bia, a meat processing company, represents the food industry. Industrial activities 
can only be found in spots. The foundation of the South Korean Samsung factory 
in  Galanta, which employs about two thousand people, was an important step. 
The Duslo chemical factory, which used to produce rubber and artificial fertiliz-
ers, was established in Šaľa in 1958. At present they specialize in producing 
mainly insecticides. The Smurfit Kappa factory, which produces wrapping paper, 
is based in ŠtúrovoKomárno is the most important economic centre of the region 
along the Danube. It has its own shipyard and this is where the largest shoe fac-
tory in the country (Swiss Rieker) can be found. The largest port of the country 
between Vienna and Budapest is also in Komárno. In addition, János Selye Uni-
versity, the only university with Hungarian as its language of education, can be 
found there. To meet the needs of the car manufacturing companies the electric 
bulb factory of the German company Osram was built in Nové Zámky. In Hur-
banovo
 Heineken operates the former Arany Fácán brewery, which they bought in 
1995. 
The towns Veľký Krtíš and Rimavská Sobota and their districts can be charac-
terized as underdeveloped agricultural areas with an extremely low level of in-
dustrialisation. In Lučenec there is a furniture factory. 
Košice is the second-largest regional centre of the country, but it lags behind 
Bratislava in every respect. It is a town with a central role, but only at a regional 
level as the centre of Eastern Slovakia. It has hardly any institutions of national 
importance. It is a transport and communication junction point, however, rather at 
the level of opportunities, because, although it is involved in the motorway plans, 
this is only as a destination rather than as a starting point. There is only a short 
section of about 20 km between Košice and Prešov which has already been built. 
The infrastructure and traffic of its airport lag behind those of Bratislava. It has no 
navigable river, either. Besides the plan for the new motorway, which would con-
nect the town with the western part of the country, the motorway to Uzhhorod is 
also still on the drawing board. To Ukraine the town is only connected by the 
 
49 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
broad-gauge railway, built to satisfy the raw material demand of the city iron-
works. It has three universities (the University of Technology, P.J. Šafárik Uni-
versity and the Veterinary University) to train the new generation of profession-
als. The experts trained there are also employed in the plants of the large automo-
tive manufacturers.  
Undoubtedly, Košice was turned from a small provincial town into an indus-
trial centre of national importance by the ironworks, which was built in the 1960s 
(Ironworks of Eastern Slovakia). After that the inflow of the inhabitants made it 
necessary for the town to build huge housing estates and service provision units 
for them, all the more necessary since in the golden age of the factory, it em-
ployed 24,000 people. The crisis of the ironworks, a typically communist indus-
trial establishment, was overcome by the Pittsburg-based US Steel buying it for 
five hundred million US dollars and a promissory note of seven hundred million 
dollars for modernisation (US Steel Košice). As a result of its modernisation, the 
factory contributes to the developing Slovak auto industry by plate rolling. At 
present there are about 16,000 people working in the ironworks, the largest in-
dustrial plant of the country. 
The  MichalovceTrebišov and Rožnava districts belong to the mixed (indus-
trial and agricultural) districts. Košice emerges from these environs. In the envi-
rons of Michalovce there are brown and black coal mines and places of gas occur-
rence.  
The economic weakness of the towns in the borderland region is especially 
striking if we have the dynamically developing towns in the valley of the river 
Váh in mind, where besides the car manufacturing plants, the most highly devel-
oped sector, various kinds of plants of modern industries and services can be 
found.  
The Regional Development Concept of Slovakia, which was published in 2001, 
also emphasized the importance of towns when it suggested the development of 
settlement-groups according to gravitation zones.  
The following towns are the main junctions in Slovakia (Figure 10). There are 
four pairs of towns whose joint development is beginning to result in the emer-
gence of important economic regions. The most highly developed pair of towns 
are, of course, Bratislava, the capital city (and its close environs) and Trnava, not 
far from it. Another pair of towns is Košice and Prešov, the only development 
centres in the east. As a result of conscious planning, two town pairs emerge in 
the middle of the country, that of Banská Bystrica and Zvolen and of Žilina and 
Martin, in the valley of the river Váh. In addition, the towns Trenčín and Nitra 
represent a breakthrough, and are economic and gravitation centres. Slovak lit-
erature also regards the joint strengthening of administrative, educational (in a 
wider sense: service providing) and economic service providing functions (trade, 
50
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
finance) as the basis ensuring the increased importance of towns (Slavik– 
Kožuch– Bačik
, 2005). 
Figure 10 
Developed urban grativation zones and backward districts in Slovakia 
Námes
Ča
tovó
dca
Kys
S
uc
vi
k
dn
é
ik
Tvrdošín
Bytča
Nové Mesto
Bardejov
Stará Ľubovň
Str
a
opkov
Dolný Kubín
Žilina
Púchov
Medzilaborce
Kežmarok
Sabinov
Považská
Liptovský
Po
M
pra
R
ik
d
Bystrica
u
u
žom
láš
-
Levoča
Humenné
Ilava
Martin
berok
Prešov
Snina
Spišská
Vranov
Turčianske
Nová Ves
n. T.
Trenčín
Tepl
Sk
ic
alic
e
a
Banská
Myjava
Brezno
Bystr
N
ica
ové Mesto
Gelnica
Bánovce
Prievidza
n. V.
Senica
n. B.
Košice-
Sobrance
Košice
Revúca
Piešťa
o
ny
Rožňava
kolie
Partizánske
Žiar n. H.
Detva
Michalovce
Topoľčany
Zvolen
Malacky
Trnava Hlohovec
Žarnovica
Poltár
Zlaté
Banská
Pezinok
Moravce
Nitra
Stiavnica
Trebišov
Rimavská
Sobota
Krupina
Lučenec
Bratislava Senec Galanta
Levice
Veľký Krtíš
Šaľa
Nové Zámky
1
Dunajská Streda
Komarno
2

 
Legend: 1 – Development centre, 2 – Towns and cities growing together, 3 – Underdeveloped dis-
trict. 
Source: Author’s construction. 
The areas apart from the listed towns belong to the less developed or backward 
areas. They are first of all towns, which can be considered as internal peripheries, 
such as Detva, Poltár, Gelnica, Sabinov and Vranov nad Topľou, together with 
their districts, i.e. with the villages not far from them. The majority, however, can 
be found along the border and are considered borderland peripheries, like Čadca 
and Námestovo not far from the Czech and Polish borders, or Kežmarok, Stará 
Ľubovňa, Bardejov, Stropkov, Medzilaborce and Snina along the Polish border, 
Sobrance by the Ukrainian border and Veľký Krtíš, Rimavská Sobota, Revúca, 
Rožnava and Trebišov along the Hungarian border. All in all, these settlements 
divide the country into two parts along a Veľký Krtíš–Kežmarok axis, into a 
western, more developed and an eastern, less developed part.  
 
51 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
Thus, in the Hungarian and Slovak borderland region there are towns at all 
levels of development; from Bratislava, which is developed to a European level, 
through the towns along the Danube, which are fairly developed compared to the 
typical Slovak development levels, to the backward Eastern Slovak towns, of 
which only Košice emerges representing the level of a highly developed city (Ko-
rec
, 2007). 
52
 

Mezei, István : The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia. 
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2009. 53. p. 
Discussion Papers, No. 76. 
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Discussion Papers 2009. No. 76. 
The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia
The Discussion Papers series of the Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian 
Academy of Sciences was launched in 1986 to publish summaries of research findings on 
regional and urban development. 
The series has 5 or 6 issues a year. It will be of interest to geographers, economists, so-
ciologists, experts of law and political sciences, historians and everybody else who is, in 
one way or another, engaged in the research of spatial aspects of socio-economic develop-
ment and planning. 
The series is published by the Centre for Regional Studies. 
Individual copies are available on request at the Centre. 
 
 
 
Postal address 
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P.O. Box 199, 7601 PÉCS, HUNGARY 
 
Phone: (36–72) 523 800 
 
Fax: (36–72) 523 803 
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Editor 
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lux@rkk.hu 
 
 
55 

Discussion Papers 2009. No. 76. 
The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia
Papers published in the Discussion Papers series 
 
Discussion Papers / Specials 

BENKŐNÉ LODNER, Dorottya (ed.) (1988): Environmental Control and Policy: Proceedings of 
the Hungarian–Polish Seminar in the Theoretical Problems of Environmental Control 
and Policy 
OROSZ, Éva (ed.) (1988): Spatial Organisation and Regional Development Papers of the 6th Polish–
Hungarian geographical Seminar 
DURÓ, Annamária (ed.) (1993): Spatial Research and the Social–Political Changes: Papers of the 
7th Polish–Hungarian Seminar 
DURÓ, Annamária (ed.) (1999): Spatial Research in Support of the European Integration. 
Proceedings of the 11th Polish–Hungarian Geographical Seminar (Mátraháza, Hungary 
17–22 September, 1998) 
GÁL, Zoltán (ed.) (2001): Role of the Regions in the Enlarging European Union 
HORVÁTH, Gyula (ed.) (2002): Regional Challenges of the Transition in Bulgaria and Hungary 
KOVÁCS, András Donát (ed.) (2004): New Aspects of Regional Transformation and the Urban-
Rural Relationship 
BARANYI, Béla (ed.) (2005):  Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian border regions as 
areas of co-operation along the external borders of Europe 
ENYEDI, György – KOVÁCS, Zoltán (eds.) (2006): Social Changes and Social Sustainability in 
Historical Urban Centres. The Case of Central Europe 
KOVÁCS, András Donát (ed.) (2007): Regionality and/or locality 
SZIRMAI, Viktória (ed.) (2007): Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of 
Central Europe 
ILLÉS, Iván (2008): Visions and Strategies in the Carpathian Area (VASICA) 
GÁL, Zoltán – RÁCZ, Szilárd (eds.) (2008): Socio-Economic Analysis of the Carpathian Area 
KOVÁCS, András Donát (ed.) (2009):  
Discussion Papers 
No. 1 
OROSZ, Éva (1986): Critical Issues in the Development of Hungarian Public Health with 
Special Regard to Spatial Differences 
No. 2 
ENYEDI, György – ZENTAI, Viola (1986): Environmental Policy in Hungary 
No. 3 
HAJDÚ, Zoltán (1987): Administrative Division and Administrative Geography in 
Hungary 
No. 4 
SIKOS T., Tamás (1987): Investigations of Social Infrastructure in Rural Settlements of 
Borsod County 
No. 5 
HORVÁTH, Gyula (1987): Development of the Regional Management of the Economy in 
East-Central Europe 
No. 6 
PÁLNÉ KOVÁCS, Ilona (1988): Chance of Local Independence in Hungary 
No. 7 
FARAGÓ, László – HRUBI, László (1988): Development Possibilities of Backward 
Areas in Hungary 
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Discussion Papers 2009. No. 76. 
The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia
No. 8 
SZÖRÉNYINÉ KUKORELLI, Irén (1990): Role of the Accessibility in Development and 
Functioning of Settlements 
No. 9 
ENYEDI, György (1990): New Basis for Regional and Urban Policies in East-Central 
Europe 
No. 10 
RECHNITZER, János (1990): Regional Spread of Computer Technology in Hungary  
No. 11 
SIKOS T., Tamás (1992): Types of Social Infrastructure in Hungary (to be not published) 
No. 12 
HORVÁTH, Gyula – HRUBI, László (1992): Restructuring and Regional Policy in 
Hungary 
No. 13 
ERDŐSI, Ferenc (1992): Transportation Effects on Spatial Structure of Hungary 
No. 14 
PÁLNÉ KOVÁCS, Ilona (1992): The Basic Political and Structural Problems in the 
Workings of Local Governments in Hungary 
No. 15 
PFEIL, Edit (1992): Local Governments and System Change. The Case of a Regional 
Centre 
No. 16 
HORVÁTH, Gyula (1992): Culture and Urban Development (The Case of  Pécs) 
No. 17 
HAJDÚ, Zoltán (1993): Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the 
Period of State Socialism (1949–1985) 
No. 18 
KOVÁCS, Teréz (1993): Borderland Situation as It Is Seen by a Sociologist 
No. 19 
HRUBI, L. – KRAFTNÉ SOMOGYI, Gabriella (eds.) (1994): Small and medium-sized 
firms and the role of private industry in Hungary 
No. 20 
BENKŐNÉ Lodner, Dorottya (1995): The Legal-Administrative Questions of 
Environmental Protection in the Republic of Hungary 
No. 21   ENYEDI, György (1998): Transformation in Central European Postsocialist Cities 
No. 22   HAJDÚ, Zoltán (1998): Changes in the Politico-Geographical Position of Hungary in the 
20th Century 
No. 23 
HORVÁTH, Gyula (1998): Regional and Cohesion Policy in Hungary 
No. 24 
BUDAY-SÁNTHA, Attila (1998): Sustainable Agricultural Development in the Region 
of the Lake Balaton 
No. 25 
LADOS, Mihály (1998): Future Perspective for Local Government Finance in Hungary 
No. 26 
NAGY, Erika (1999): Fall and Revival of City Centre Retailing: Planning an Urban 
Function in Leicester, Britain 
No. 27 
BELUSZKY, Pál (1999): The Hungarian Urban Network at the End of the Second 
Millennium 
No. 28 
RÁCZ, Lajos (1999): Climate History of Hungary Since the 16th Century: Past, Present 
and Future 
No. 29 
RAVE, Simone (1999): Regional Development in Hungary and Its Preparation for the 
Structural Funds  
No. 30 
BARTA, Györgyi (1999): Industrial Restructuring in the Budapest Agglomeration 
No. 31 
BARANYI, Béla–BALCSÓK, István–DANCS, László–MEZŐ, Barna (1999): 
Borderland Situation and Peripherality in the North-Eastern Part of the Great Hungarian 
Plain 
No. 32 
RECHNITZER, János (2000): The Features of the Transition of Hungary’s Regional 
System 
No. 33 
MURÁNYI, István–PÉTER, Judit–SZARVÁK, Tibor–SZOBOSZLAI, Zsolt (2000): 
Civil Organisations and Regional Identity in the South Hungarian Great Plain 
No. 34 
KOVÁCS, Teréz (2001): Rural Development in Hungary 
 
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Discussion Papers 2009. No. 76. 
The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia
No. 35 
PÁLNÉ, Kovács Ilona (2001): Regional Development and Governance in Hungary 
No. 36 
NAGY, Imre (2001): Cross-Border Co-operation in the Border Region of the Southern 
Great Plain of Hungary 
No. 37 
BELUSZKY, Pál (2002): The Spatial Differences of Modernisation in Hungary at the 
Beginning of the 20th Century 
No. 38 
BARANYI, Béla (2002): Before Schengen – Ready for Schengen. Euroregional 
Organisations and New Interregional Formations at the Eastern Borders of Hungary 
No. 39 
KERESZTÉLY, Krisztina (2002): The Role of the State in the Urban Development of 
Budapest 
No. 40 
HORVÁTH, Gyula (2002): Report on the Research Results of the Centre for Regional  
Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences 
No. 41 
SZIRMAI, Viktoria – A. GERGELY, András – BARÁTH, Gabriella–MOLNÁR, Balázs 
– SZÉPVÖLGYI, Ákos (2003): The City and its Environment: Competition and/or Co-
operation? (A Hungarian Case Study) 
No. 42 
CSATÁRI, Bálint–KANALAS, Imre–NAGY, Gábor –SZARVÁK, Tibor (2004): Regions 
in Information Society – a Hungarian Case-Study 
No. 43 
FARAGÓ, László (2004): The General Theory of Public (Spatial) Planning (The Social 
Technique for Creating the Future) 
No. 44 
HAJDÚ, Zoltán (2004): Carpathian Basin and the Development of the Hungarian 
Landscape Theory Until 1948 
No. 45 
GÁL, Zoltán (2004): Spatial Development and the Expanding European Integration of the 
Hungarian Banking System 
No. 46 
BELUSZKY, Pál – GYŐRI, Róbert (2005): The Hungarian Urban Network in the 
Beginning of the 20th Century 
No. 47 
G. FEKETE, Éva (2005): Long-term Unemployment and Its Alleviation in Rural Areas 
No. 48 
SOMLYÓDYNÉ PFEIL, Edit (2006): Changes in The Organisational Framework of 
Cooperation Within Urban Areas in Hungary 
No. 49 
MEZEI, István (2006): Chances of Hungarian–Slovak Cross-Border Relations 
No. 50  RECHNITZER, János – SMAHÓ, Melinda (2006): Regional Characteristics of Human 
Resources in Hungary During the Transition 
No. 51 
BARTA, Györgyi – BELUSZKY, Pál – CZIRFUSZ, Márton – GYŐRI, Róbert – 
KUKELY, György (2006): Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest 
No. 52 
GROSZ, András (2006): Clusterisation Processes in the Hungarian Automotive Industry 
No. 53 
FEKETE, G. Éva – HARGITAI, Judit – JÁSZ, Krisztina – SZARVÁK, Tibor – 
SZOBOSZLAI, Zsolt (2006): Idealistic Vision or Reality? Life-long learning among 
Romany ethnic groups 
No. 54 
BARTA, Györgyi (ed.) (2006): Hungary – the New Border of the European Union 
No. 55 
GÁL, Zoltán (2006): Banking Functions of the Hungarian Urban Network in the Early 
20th Century. 
No. 56 
SZÖRÉNYINÉ, Kukorelli Irén (2006): Relation Analysis in Rural Space – A Research 
Method for Exploring the Spatial Structure in Hungary 
No. 57 
MAUREL, Marie-Claude – PÓLA, Péter (2007): Local System and Spatial Change – The 
Case of Bóly in South Transdanubia 
No. 58 
SZIRMAI, Viktória (2007): The Social Characteristics of Hungarian Historic City Centres 
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Discussion Papers 2009. No. 76. 
The Development of the Urban Network in Slovakia
No. 59 
ERDŐSI, Ferenc – GÁL, Zoltán – GIPP, Christoph – VARJÚ, Viktor (2007): Path 
Dependency or Route Flexibility in Demand Responsive Transport? The Case Study of 
TWIST project 
No. 60 
PÓLA, Péter (2007): The Economic Chambers and the Enforcement of  Local Economic 
Interests 
No. 61 
BUDAY-SÁNTHA, Attila (2007): Development Issues of the Balaton Region 
No. 62 
LUX, Gábor (2008): Industrial Development, Public Policy and Spatial Differentiation in 
Central Europe: Continuities and Change 
No. 63 
MEZEI, Cecília (2008): The Role of Hungarian Local Governments in Local Economic 
Development 
No. 64 
NAGY, Gábor (2008): The State of the Info-communication Markets in Dél-Alföld 
Region – Hungary 
No. 65 
HORVÁTH, Gyula (2008): Regional Transformation in Russia 
No. 66 
BELUSZKY, Pál – SIKOS T., Tamás (2008): Changing Village-Typology of  Rural 
Settlements in Hungary at the Beginning of the Third Millennium 
No. 67 
CSIZMADIA, Zoltán – GROSZ, András (2008): Regional Innovation System in West 
Transdanubia 
No. 68 
HARDI, Tamás (ed.) (2008): Transborder Movements and Relations in the Slovakian–
Hungarian Border Regions 
No. 69 
ERDŐSI, Ferenc (2008): Global and Regional Roles of the Russian Transport 
Infrastructures 
No. 70 
CSIZMADIA, Zoltán (2009): Cooperation and Innovativity: the Network Foundations of 
the Regional System of Innovation 
No. 71 
HAJDÚ, Zoltán – LUX, Gábor – PÁLNÉ KOVÁCS, Ilona – SOMLYÓDYNÉ PFEIL, 
Edit (2009): Local Dimensions of a Wider European Neighbourhood: Crossborder 
Relations and Civil Society in the Hungarian–Ukrainian Border Arean 
No. 72 
HORVÁTH, Gyula (2009): Cohesion Deficiencies in Eastern and Central Europe – 
Inequalities of Regional Research Area 
No. 73 
PÁLNÉ KOVÁCS, Ilona –VARJÚ, Viktor (eds.) (2009): Governance for Sustainability – 
Two Case Studies from Hungary 
No. 74 
SZÉPVÖLGYI, Ákos (2009): The Effects of the Information Society on Spatial 
Development – Hungarian Case Study 
No. 75 
BARÁTH, Gabriella (2009): The Relation Systems of Metropolitan Areas 
 
 
 
59