A Regional Typology: Developmental Potential of Regions in Czechia

Abstract The evaluation of regional disparities is one of the basic geographical topics. The commonly used division of the territory is based on the position of the region in relation to the main development centres and defines the territory into central, semi-central and peripheral regions. Development links to local and micro-regional development factors based on the quality of human resources and on human and social capital; the importance of identity and other soft development factors are not taken into account in similar works. In the proposed typology, where the micro-regional level are monitored, spatial units are divided into 4 or 5 main types according to the degree of their development capacity, both depending on the position of the region, which means based on their external conditions, and on the quality of soft factors, based on their internal conditions in the region. Internal and external conditions were prepared on the basis of a wide set of input data, which describe both the development characteristics in each region and the current situation in the second half of the second decade of the 21 st century. The typology of regions in Czechia, both at the level of regions of municipalities with extended powers (206 units) or authorized municipal office (393 units), describes very well the basic regional differences in the Czech Republic. The draft typology serves as one of the bases for the Regional Development Strategy of the Czech Republic and for the Rural Development Strategy and is the basis for further considerations on the differentiation of subsidy support for individual types of regions with regard to the actual level of need for a specific subsidy title.