PERIPHERIES WITH SHRINKING POPULATION

Abstract

The settlement network of Hungary has many special characteristics, the majority of which – at least in traces – serve as a still tangible, very good basis for their in-depth analysis, and for the mapping of their changes. Despite the relatively small geographical extension of the country, the characteristic features within the settlement network usually coincide with rather definite spatial segregation. The reasons for that are to be found in the history of the Hungarian nation, the orography or the country, the farming habits, the settlement order and traditions of the different ethnic groups living in Hungary, and not last in the settlement policy changing from time to time. The complexity of settlement network goes hand in hand with many area-specific settlement forms in the country too. These settlement forms are usually not independent municipalities, but mostly occupied the outer areas of some towns and villages. In this study we try to analyze these peripheries to find out the reasons of their depopulation. Namely, the settlement-geographic aspects of towns and villages’ population decline are thoroughly explored and trends have become widely known. However, relatively little is known about how the last forty years have been lived by non-autonomous areas, which have also a number of type function and developmental levels. So this study tries to focus on the populated peripheries, finding out the reasons of changes in their population since 1970. Between 1970 and 1980, close to half of the population fell in peripheries, and in the subsequent ten years is significant even in the weight loss, about 170 thousand people. However, the slow climb from regime change, which, at the time of the 2011 Census has been over 300 thousand residents of the peripheral population and over. The increase in the population living in peripheries between 2001 and 2011 was the most dynamic when the rate of peripheries with positive natural reproduction started to decrease again. This is only possible if a large part of population growth is caused by only a few outskirts. The number of peripheries with high population were decreasing till 1990, but from this time forth started to grow again. What has not changed, that the most populous peripheries are in the Great Hungarian Plain.

We could see large decline at the population of peripheries in all counties between 1970 and 1990, but after 1990 at half of the counties we can see increase. Because of the regional differences, historical traditions and recent trends there are different types of peripheries in Hungary. The modern ones (homesteads, granges, railway signal boxes, industrial and mining peripheries) there was large decline at the number and population of such peripheries and another, but smaller decline after 1990. The modern peripheries (small gardens, urban peripheries, recreational and tourism peripheries, vineyards) had large decline both at number and population before 1990, but increase, revitalization after 1990.