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The article aims to discuss conditions of spatial organization of elementary schools in the Czech countryside and to validate whether there is any relation between the different types of rural schools and the diverse types of rural areas. Usually, rural schools are perceived in contrast to urban schools as a homogenous group of institutions with common characteristics – despite their diversity. The article compares the typology of municipalities according to data about elementary schools with the typology of municipalities according to its societal and cultural characteristics. Based on three indicators describing main characteristics of the school network – the number of elementary schools in a municipality, their average utilization of the maximum reported capacity, the average extent of area serviced by the school – eleven types of municipalities were identified. Statistically significant connections were shown between the two typologies. Rural schools thus should not be assessed as internally homogenous group of institutions with broadly common characteristics. This is because problems that rural schools face during their existence reflect wider societal, cultural, and economic conditions of areas in which they are located.

Since 1980s, we can observe a changing paradigm within the approaches towards regions which understand and deconstruct the “region” as a social process. Instead of understanding the region as an object or a category, this change transforms the region into a subject of interest for scholars. The study of regions is from now on considered a research topic which requires a holistic understanding of geography, broad interdisciplinary approaches as well as local and historical sensitivity. The paper is using a conceptual understanding of a region based on the combination of territorial, symbolic and institutional configurations. Regional identity that permeates through all of these layers is viewed as one of the most important elements of the very existence of the region and its recognition in the regional system. This paper contributes to the discussion on the importance of regional identity in regional development. The case study of the Bohemian Paradise region proves the significant influence of landscape features on the process of regional identity reproduction.

The aim of the article is to identify changes in the distance and time accessibility of elementary schools in Czechia, during the second half of the twentieth century, using geo-informational analytical methods. to the article focuses particularly on quality of life in disadvantaged, peripheral areas. The elementary school network has been changing, in accordance with general changes in the geographical organization of society and school catchment areas have been expanding due to improved transportation possibilities. The second part of the article addresses the impact of changes in elementary school accessibility on life in rural peripheral regions, utilizing in-depth interviews with inhabitants from six case study localities, where local schools were closed, during the observed period. The article introduces a classification of forms of disadvantage, affecting regions and localities and resulting from spatial inequalities in the distribution of elementary schools.

The objective of this article is the regional differentiation of rural space in Czechia, which is defined as the territory of rural municipalities of up to 3,000 inhabitants. The ultimate determination of particular types of rural space is realized at the level of authorized municipal authorities. Current socioeconomic characteristics of rural municipalities in Czechia are compiled and used for analysis. These characteristics were selected on the basis of their potential to represent important socioeconomic phenomena, processes and factors that are typical for the Czech countryside and that influence the development of rural municipalities. Four statistically significant components are identified through the statistical analysis of the indicated data at the level of authorized municipal authorities, namely:size,growth,human potentialandhousing. Different combinations of these components enable us to define eight main types of rural space, in terms of potential for development. This provides evidence to confirm our affirmation that rural space in Czechia is not homogenous. The results of the statistical analyses conducted also show that the basic differentiation of the Czech countryside is determined by the geographical location of particular areas.

Settlement and municipality are fundamental terms in geography of settlements, which are often identified or interchanged. Their meaning and relationship are analysed in the article with using different sources. A settlement is an inseparable part of cultural landscape and a landscape unit with certain physiognomy in particular. A municipality is an abstract societal unit. Settlement organization within the system of settlements is the image and product of human activity in certain landscape, whereas character and number of municipalities are the image and product of spatial organization of society.