From spatial research to regional science. A draft of Eastern and Central European science history

Abstract

The 20th century marked an era of specialisation of the sciences and the birth of new scientific disciplines. During the second half of the last century, a large number of research programmes were launched in Western Europe and the United States to investigate the spatial structures of both economy and society; new theories, instruments and institutions enriched the science and practice of social management. The rapid development of the integrative spatial science, “regional science” occurred simultaneously with the modernisation of traditional disciplines.

The development of a regional science in Western Europe and the USA were summarised in several studies and books. The forums of regional science and the activities of its international organisations have been much discussed during the past decade. However, in these publications we find only few references to Eastern and Central European spatial research. The scarce references may be explained by the fact that the examination of the spatial evolution of the economy and society and the organisation of spatial research into an autonomous discipline were not well reflected in Eastern European research programmes. On the other hand, we may recall that neither the results achieved in determining the principles of national social and economic spaces, nor the attempts at the organisation of this science caught the attention of international professional public opinion. It is likely that both observations contain an element of truth.

The present study evaluates the regional research capacities of the countries of the former socialist block. It provides a picture of the historical antecedents of spatial research, the specifics of regional tasks to be resolved, the typical institutionalisation of regional science and its publication forums. As a conclusion, it summarises the various characteristics of regional science in the individual countries.

The positive and negative effects of processes shaping socio-economic spaces can be observed in the development of Eastern and Central Europe (CEE) in the 20th century, just as in other parts of the continent. In the policies of past eras with their heterogeneous forms of state organisation, spatial aspects were taken into consideration, too. Research results of various social-science disciplines were useful for decision makers to assess the impact of planned measures on specific regions. Such results were also incorporated in spatially-related decisionmaking processes during the late 20th century. Nevertheless, the ruling elite of the communist era requested only superficial knowledge about spatial processes. Spatial research was conducted within national borders, and international professional cooperation – with the exception of Poland and Hungary – remained weak and occasional.

Due to the introduction of the market economy after 1989 and the collapse of the Soviet Union, CEE countries were subjected to profound regional transformation. To handle these changes required a thematic and organisational development of spatial research. The preparations for EU accession provided a further impulse for research, and regional studies research groups flourished in all Central and Eastern European countries at the beginning of the 21st century. However, disparities can be observed regarding the volume, the institutional organisation and the spatial distribution of research. The multitude of factors which contributes to the identity of regional science as an autonomous discipline can be exemplified in two EU member countries, Poland and Hungary, but also in Russia. Disciplinary criteria are partly lacking or not fully developed in the remaining CEE countries. Nevertheless, significant results were achieved in the development of a European regional science, e.g. in studying the regional effects of the Eastern and Central European economic transition, the new democratic public administration, regionalisation and regional decentralisation, the system of objectives, instruments and institutions of a regional policy conforming to EU norms, the competitiveness of urban networks and cross-border cooperation.