Spatial Patterns in the Development of Czechia’s Rural Municipalities

Abstract

The paper explores spatial differences in rural community development in Czechia. Local development is operationalized through a set of statistical indicators, which form four development dimensions. The author shows that rural local development is influenced, inter alia, by the population of the community and that there are spatial clusters of communities with high and low values of development dimensions. Different development dimensions have different spatial patterns. Features concerning economic development and human capital have a high level of autocorrelation. Strong clusters of communities with high levels of these indicators occur especially around economically developed cities. Indicators of political participation and residential stability also show strong autocorrelation. On the contrary, indicators regarding the local demographic situation and the intensity of local public life exhibit only weak autocorrelation.