Dynamical analysis of the complex hinterland of Eger

Abstract

The analysis of Eger’s hinterland was based on the investigation of different spheres – commerce, employment, health and education. The analysis received a dynamical character with the comparison to the results of a former study carried out in the 1980s. The objectives of the current study were to illustrate and represent each sphere of influence, the complex hinterland and to discover the main reasons causing changes during the 30 years between 1980 and 2010 under investigation. The investigation was based on our own collection of data and on the results of a census in 2001.

The introduction provides an overview of the most important interpretations and explanations of the definition of hinterland. The following section represents the methodology applied in the case of Hungarian and some foreign studies. The structure of the study followed the spheres listed and the complex of the hinterland.

The total value of the number of purchases grew in the commercial hinterland, but the ratio of non-local customers decreased. The database indicates a more extended sphere of influence of the hypermarkets. The smaller shops in the inner city were faced with a significant decrease in their sphere of influence. This phenomenon is the consequence of the decline of the local shop network, the segmented customer demands and the attractiveness of the large hypermarkets.

Employment dropped significantly after the political transition in 1989, however the decrease in the number of commuters was less spectacular. The importance of commuting gained in importance and became more essential for the smaller settlements located close to Eger.

The catchment area of the Eger hospital is determined by administrative policies, and it did not change significantly during the last 30 years.

The role of Eger in secondary education became clearly stronger, and the expansion of the hinterland of the respective institutes reflected massive growth. The catchment area of Eger covered settlements of neighbouring counties as well. This process was accelerated by the increase of the age of compulsory education, but demographic tendencies suggest a decrease in the degree of attraction in the future.

The complex hinterland of Eger has shown signs of shrinking since 1980, the set of strongly attracted settlements decreased. However, a significant increase was observed in the case of settlements that were target areas of suburbanisation during the last two decades. This Janus-faced process matches European tendencies which have also exhibited increasingly complex characteristics of urban-rural relationships in recent years.