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The paper presents a discontinuity‐based analysis of the settlement pattern changes in the Czechia–Poland cross‐border historical region of Těšín Silesia. An approach based on a well‐known and popular method (regression discontinuity design) was applied to measure spatial discontinuity. To describe the spatiotemporal changes, a combination of spatial, statistical and cartographic methods was used. The observed differences have been developing for more than 150 years; at the start, this area belonged to the territory of one state, and later it was divided by a national border. The division of the region resulted in areas following different development trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Territorial cohesion discourse represents normative and ideological vision of ideal spatial practices that should be applied in order to ensure balanced and polycentric spatial development. However, spatial diversity of existing territorial settings often diverge from political representations of spaces. Using the Czech Republic as a case study, the paper focuses on the development of urban system hierarchy by analysing the changes of work‐commuting flows in the post‐socialist period. The results show that the configurations of everyday spatial routines and functioning of real urban systems differ from political imaginaries to a great extent and are moving towards a more polarized pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of fertility and family behaviour in post‐socialist countries was quick and the changes were striking. An account of the changes is the subject of dispute and the mechanisms have still not been explained in a fully satisfying manner. Relatively little attention has been paid to the changes in spatial aspects concerning the broadening of changes in family behaviour. The aim of this paper is to answer the question as to whether changes spread stochastically in post‐socialist countries or if there are obvious spatial patterns. The study tries to answer the questions whether there are any cores of changes which may be understood as innovations, if there is any spatial clustering and if the extent is hierarchically arranged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although the debates about access to services of general interest have been at the core of the EU territorial cohesion discourse since the late 1990s, the impact of unequal accessibility to living conditions has yet be the subject of close inspection. The paper examines the relationship between the accessibility of services of general interest and demographic and socio‐economic conditions in a specific Czech region. The analysis reveals inter‐municipal disparities and identifies spatially excluded areas. Despite the negative association of insufficient access with education and depopulation characteristics, the results suggest that demographic and socio‐economic development stems from a more complex set of factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]