Mezei István: Urban development in Slovakia (Pécs-Somorja, 2010)
4. Towns in Slovakia after 1993
Towns in Slovakia after 1993 Strážske 184 4,255 4,474 105.15 Trenčianske Teplice 410 4,436 4,438 100.05 Nováky 227 4,341 4,402 101.41 Tlmače 885 5,478 4,305 78.59 Tisovec 33 4,430 4,215 95.15 Giraltovce 379 3,933 4,189 106.51 Veľký Šariš 186 4,058 4,018 99.01 Leopoldov 725 3,826 3,999 104.52 Spišské Podhradie 154 3,562 3,780 106.12 Medzev 119 3,871 3,667 94.73 Hanušovce nad Topľou 257 3,144 3,582 113.93 Spišské Vlachy 86 3,368 3,518 104.45 Jelšava 67 2,508 3,287 131.06 Podolínec 97 2,908 3,173 109.11 Rajecké Teplice 249 2,540 2,677 105.39 Spišská Stará Ves 133 2,234 2,355 105.42 Dudince 219 1,530 1,500 98.04 Modrý Kameň 76 1,374 1,434 104.37 ___________i___________ 2,993,234 3.022,106 Source: Štatisticky úrad SR, Bratislava After 1990 the individual settlements, as independent local authorities, became able to make decisions about the issues within their competences rather than follow party directives and party instructions regarding the settlement system. Consequently, independence had a decisive influence on the future of individual settlements. As people's possibilities of making choices were increasing, and opportunities started to depend on their own performance, settlements were also forced to follow policies that could make their town or village more attractive, to prevent more highly-qualified young families with occupations in demand from moving away. In this way, it became necessary to explore local needs and try to satisfy them. The first two censuses of the new era provide figures that indicate some new phenomena (Table 30). Table 30. Towns with decreasing and increasing numbers of population, 1991-2001 Towns with decreasing population Towns with increasing population Number of towns: 46 92 Average town population 27,183 19,258 Population of the largest town 428,672 (Bratislava) 236,093 (Košice) Population of the smallest town 1,500 (Dudince) 1,434 (Modrý Kameň) Source: Štatisticky úrad SR, Bratislava 91
