Mezei István: Urban development in Slovakia (Pécs-Somorja, 2010)
5. Regional organization in Slovakia
The administrative region as a development unit result, four out of the ten largest building companies can be found there. Glass factories, timber and furniture factories and the most important printing houses are located in the city. In 2005 the city council made the decision to start relocating industrial companies to gain areas for residential areas and offices. The Trnava region can benefit from its location in the neighbourhood of Bratislava and the Czech Republic for its development. The settlement of the auto manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroen was also due to this advantage. Apart from the Little Carpathians, which cross the region, most of its area is flat (Záhorie Plain, Matúšova zem). Trnava, Skalica, Piešťany and Hlohovec are regarded as fairly developed districts. They are also more densely populated than the Galanta, Senica and Dunajská Streda districts, which bear the marks of lowlands. It is a decided advantage of the region that, because of the location of Bratislava, every communication road crosses it and the airport is not far, either. The natural resources involve medicinal waters (Piešťany) and a large amount of clear water. The most important underground water resources of Central Europe can be found in Žitný ostrov [Csallóköz], under the gravel of the Danube. Of the southern part of the region, agricultural activities and food industry based on its products are typical, whereas in the northern districts the consumption industry is dominant, mainly around Trnava. The power generating giants built in this area play a decisive role in the energy supply of the whole country. The nuclear power station at Jaslovské Bohunice and the hydroelectric power plant at Gabčíkovo are wellknown. Besides the appearance of auto manufacturing, which is crucial for the Slovak economy, the setting up of a factory of the South Korean firm Samsung in Galanta, where about 2,000 people are employed, was also important development. Concerning returns, Samsung is followed by the Trnava-seated television-producing factory of Sony, which, after producing traditional televisions in the beginning, launched the production of new flat-screen television sets. In Piešťany, in the old Tesla factory, semi-conductors are produced. Based on the extensive wooded areas in the region, the timber industry is also highly developed. Office furniture is produced primarily for the Austrian, Czech and German markets in the Trnava-seated factory of Swedwood, which is in Swedish ownership and belongs to the Ikea Group. In Hlohovec there is a pharmaceutical factory and a steel works, where steel filaments are produced for the tyre factory in nearby Sládkovičovo. The privatization of the gas distribution network in Gbely was 127
