Mezei István: Urban development in Slovakia (Pécs-Somorja, 2010)
3. The settlement structure of Slovakia
The settlement system of Slovakia lation of 20,000-50,000 increased by 174.6% and, according to the 1970 census, it increased by 209.5%. This was obviously due to the fact that the population was urged to move to larger towns, which was the consequence of industrialization. Apparently, the population of towns with under 20.000 inhabitants increased to an extent where they exceeded the category threshold. There was a decrease in the population of the settlements with between 200 and 10,000 people in the 1970s, whereas in those with more than 10,000 inhabitants the population increased. As a matter of fact, this trend continues, as the 1991 figures indicate that the number of inhabitants in settlements with more than 20,000 people increased considerably, while the population of small villages with fewer than 500 inhabitants also showed signs of revival. The figures for 2001 actually refer to the new phenomenon, because they show that in all but two settlement types there was an increase in the population. The fact that it was the number of the inhabitants of the settlements with a population of between 2,000 and 5,000 people that increased to the largest extent shows that wealthier people had started to move out of big cities. This is also confirmed by the fact that there was a decrease in the population number of the cities with more than 100.000 people. Both Bratislava and Košice became cities with decreasing populations. Moving out of the towns and cities to the country for a better quality of life is a sign of economic dynamism. Table 11. Settlements in Slovakia with population below and above the thresholds of 1,000 and 10,000 in Slovakia 1921 1930 1950 1961 1970 1980 1991 2001 total 2,998,239 3,330,885 3,442,317 4,174,050 4,537,285 4,998,168 5,274,335 5,379,455 under 1,000 people 1,155,022 1,091,118 1,028,252 852,944 883,327 878,377 over 1,000 2,287,295 3,082,932 3,509,033 4,145,224 4,391,008 4,501,078 under 1,000 33.6 26.1 22.7 17.1 16.7 16.3 over 1,000 % 66.4 7.,9 77.3 82.9 83.3 83.7 under 10,000 people 2,615,200 2,845,561 2,822,557 3,315,603 3,251,290 2,862,229 2,663,043 2,757,868 over 10,000 383,039 485,324 619,760 858,447 1,285,995 2,135,939 2,611,292 2,621,587 under 10,000 87.2 85.4 82.0 79.4 71.7 57.3 50,49 51.3 over 10,000 % 12.8 14.6 18.0 20.6 28.3 42.7 49.51 48.7 Source: Štatisticky úrad SR, Bratislava In spite of there bejng so many small villages in Slovakia, the majority of the population lives in settlements with more than 1,000 inhabitants (Table 11). Although the number of people living in small villages increased compared with the previous years, their proportion within the whole of the population kept decreasing (Slavik 1997). The table shows 43
