Regionalization and Prediction of Future Development in Regions Situated Between the Towns of Brno, Breclav and Znojmo

The aim of the present paper is to introduce the accomplished level of regionalization in regions situated between the towns of Brno, Breclav, and Znojmo. The process of regionalization has been carried out on the basis on Hampl's et al. (1996a, 1996b) work, transportation accessibility, the development of both current and long-term time series of individual communities' demographic data, and the development of employment and unemployment rates in different economic sectors in the communities of the regions in question. As an intermediate product of the study, a typology based on the European Commission typology has been created using the initial dataset. Regionalization, polarization, disparity, and other related phenomena are some of the current issues awaiting serious in-depth inquiry. Divergence is probably the most salient characteristics of the development in the past few years; divergence can also be traced in the seemingly homogenous landscape of the regions in question. Processes of divergence can be dealt with using several strategies. The top-down strategy (from the center to the regions) has recently been replaced with bottom-up strategies ("think globally, act locally", or, in other words, make use of the local potential, ties and relations). The LEADER principle has been gaining more and more ground in the regions recently. This approach is best characterized by network realization, innovations, and the development and perception of identities. According to the materials provided for the preparation of Partnership Agreement for years 2014-2020, the LEADER principle is expected to play an important role in the future. In fact, it was the internal activities that substantially influenced the second phase of regionalization in the given area, the progress and the result of which presents the core of this paper. Finally, the prediction of the possible future development is provided for some of the area's more closely integrated microregions.