Thesis supervisor: Tibor Kovács
Location of studies (in Hungarian): Eszterházy Károly Katolikus Egyetem Abbreviation of location of studies: EKKE
Description of the research topic:
Globally, our planet has been experiencing a demographic explosion for decades (i.e. a positive locus), but there are countries, regions and localities that have experienced the opposite population trends (based on trends over several decades), and can therefore be described as negative locus, i.e. the opposite of the mainstream. A large part of Europe (including Hungary) generally falls into the latter category and has been experiencing demographic decline for more than four decades.
At the same time, in the shadow of the global trend studies and analyses that expect major analyses and major results, medium-sized and small cities receive undeservedly less attention: in other words, research on urbanisation is 'heavy-handed' - although there is now finally a certain shift in research on small cities, both at home and abroad.
In Europe, the process defined as the demographic crisis is thus one of the fundamental problems of the centre and the (semi-)periphery. In addition to this, certain areas/regions and their cities – not exclusively, of course, but at least partly as a result of de-industrialisation and even de-economicisation – are experiencing declining economic performance, declining attractiveness and shrinking socio-economic opportunities, i.e. the 'new' urban development model of 'declining population - declining capacity', as mentioned above. These processes are leading (among other things and with dangerous spill-over effects) to an overall weakening of local society, further exacerbating socio-economic-cultural and environmental problems in the region and within it in the municipalities, generating a likely downward urban-regional spiral of regression.
As a doctoral topic, I propose to analyse these complex processes "driven" by demographic shrinkage on the basis of a comprehensive socio-economic-environmental analysis of peripheral rural areas (with particular attention to resilience and the use of a capability approach). In particular, it is worth analysing small towns in the inner periphery, based on national and European (especially East German) examples, always taking care to formulate proposals that can (or could) be applied effectively in practical small-town development
Required language skills: angol Number of students who can be accepted: 1
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