ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS IN THE MOST DISADVANTAGEOUS... 1001 ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS IN THE MOST DISADVANTAGEOUS HUNGARIAN MICROREGIONS Bernadett Gálosi-Kovács 1– Norbert Pap 2– Zsuzsanna M. Császár 3 – Péter Reményi 4 ABSTRACT e Hungarian government and the regional development institution system has worked out an own development programme for the improvement of so-called most disadvantageous or MD micro-regions. Micro-regional environmental devel- opment has a double role: on the one hand, it should plan activities which in their realisation actively contribute to the solution of environmental problems which are considered a priority on national and regional levels; on the other hand it must be an effi cient device for the treatment of local problems which are regarded as most important by the micro-region in question. e Government gives an emphasis to the micro-regions in the worst position for the sake of diff erentiated utilisation of regional development supports; and it contributes to the realisation of their development programmes to an increased degree JEL clasiffi cation: N5, O13, P28, R11 Key words: regional development, micro-regions, topological opportunities, environment 1 Dr. Bernadett Gálosi-Kovács assistant professor, UP NS Faculty, Department of General and Applied Environmental Geography 2 Dr. Habil Norbert Pap associate professor, Head of Department, University of Pécs, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Political Geography and Regional Development; professional leader of the LHH Development Programme of the Transdanubian Region in 2008-2009. 3 Dr. Zsuzsanna M. Császár associate professor , UP NS Faculty, Department of Political Geog- raphy and Regional Development 4 Dr. Péter Reményi assistant professor, UP NS Faculty, Department of Political Geography and Regional Development 1002 Bernadett Gálosi-Kovács • Norbert Pap •Zsuzsanna M. Császár • Péter Reményi I. INTRODUCTION Despite the oversized regional development institutions and multiplied devel- opment resources, regional diff erences in development have further been increased in the last two decades. Certain micro-regions have dropped behind the average in the highest degree concerning the indicators and liveability; in certain places the conditions suggest the level of ird World countries. ese are the so-called most disadvantageous or MD micro-regions. Facing this problem, the Hungarian gov- ernment and the regional development institution system has worked out an own development programme for the improvement of these regions. It is questionable whether the regional policy shaped after the European patterns is suitable for the solution of these problems. Micro-regional environmental development has a double role: on the one hand, it should plan activities which in their realisation actively contribute to the solu- tion of environmental problems which are considered a priority on national and regional levels; on the other hand it must be an effi cient device for the treatment of local problems which are regarded as most important by the micro-region in question. e programme itself is a means infl uencing and facilitating decisions, by which grant resources may be involved in order to realise the target conditions, and it is especially true in case of the realisation of environmental development plans of MD micro-regions, where the improvement of the circumstances and maintaining the values of the area are provided with favourable tendering conditions. II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RECENT REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN HUNGARY e legal foundations have been created by the Act of 1996/21. – and its modi- fi cations, which have developed an EU-compatible institution and implementation system of the development policy. Its main characteristics are the following: - value-neutral - average-approach - bureaucratic - paternalist (partnership and co-operation is only accepted verbally) - wasteful and operates at high costs ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS IN THE MOST DISADVANTAGEOUS... 1003 - it deprives rural settlements of local resources, which cannot take advantage of the principles of concentration and additionality, therefore they come out of the developmental process in a disadvantageous position. Basic geographical questions of regional development in Hungary Today it is mainly Europe that off ers itself as a macro-regional developmental framework. It is essential to observe the processes within the former; one of our main tasks is adaptation, while there is only a minimal opportunity for infl uencing. Planning and developing can be considered ideal within our real areal community, that is, in the Carpathian Basin. Upper Hungary, Transdanubia, the Great Plain, Transylvania and the Partium, Slavonia, Vajdaság (Vojvodina), Tengermellék (a historic region called Austrian Lit- toral), etc. span the Basin as historical regions possessing their own identities, but the course of these adjacent areas have been drawn away from each other in the last 90 years. In the deepest structures, such as agricultural civilisations, the characteris- tic of the settlement-network, the (areal) community still exists, because these can change slowly, and it is the hardest to infl uence these ones. In many places already existing diff erences have been increased signifi cantly concerning the organisation of society, economic features, institutional and legal systems, customs, the ethnic constitution of the population, and especially the social-cultural issues. Concern- ing these, Euro-regional co-operations off er a solution for the problem within the framework of sub-national organisation units. e pitfall to be avoided is that co-operation is dumped into hopeless tactical limitariness in many cases, which is unable to produce results concerning realities. Co-operation must explore its real geographical dimensions. Due to the character- istics of the basin, hydrological engineering, collective fl ood-protection, soil de- struction, organisation of tourism, common town-network development, mutual contribution to the cultural activities of ethnic minorities, migration processes to infl uence the region signifi cantly in the future, the common cause of environmen- tal protection are all off ering several junction points. To some degree the great change had even preceded the political and economic changes. e emergence of demographic decrease in Hungary (in the 1980s), espe- cially the increasing depopulation of certain rural regions, then the rapid change of concentration-urbanisation processes triggered by the conditions of market econo- 1004 Bernadett Gálosi-Kovács • Norbert Pap •Zsuzsanna M. Császár • Péter Reményi my, suggestions and requirements of the European Union have demanded and still demand changes in areal organisation. e development of the NUTS system of the European Union has oriented the development of a new areal organisation system. e sub-national system of the regions of NUTS II. and the macro-regional system of NUTS IV. have constituted the basis of the areal organisation structure since 1994. e Hungarian Central Statistical Offi ce conducted researches on vicinity be- tween 1991 and 1993. e resulting micro-regional data-collection and process- ing system was introduced on 01. January, 1994. 138 micro-regions were defi ned, which covered the area of the whole country altogether. Due to local endeavours and compromises, this system was modifi ed in 1997, and 150 micro-regions were defi ned. Although other opportunities were also mentioned in the original con- ception, the micro-regions did not cross county borders in the end. During their defi nition these original administrative boundaries were taken into account. e micro-regional system was modifi ed again in 2003, so that the number of micro-regions increased to 168. Today they amount to 174, and it can be presumed that the system will be subdivided again; the number of its units will increase. is can be partly related to the fact that several settlements have gained the title of towns. e establishment of autonomous micro-regions was urged by minor mu- nicipalities – in order to gain the title of towns, and by small towns – in order to confi rm their regional position. Concerning NUTS I. level, the recent seven-region model has been established after long debates. e basic principle was the ‘numerologic’ three; so that three counties make up a region, except for one case. However, none of these consti- tutes an unquestionable regional unit. Harmonious relationship and co-operation between the counties (i.e. the general assemblies of the counties) and cities have developed in none of these cases. Neither an identity related to the newly estab- lished region nor a co-ordinated transport system has been emerged. e newly established regions as an obligate spatial framework for receiving European Union monetary sources are rather voluntaristic formations. e county system having been developed during a long period provided suffi - cient framework for administrative, regional development, etc. problems by an in- creasing population. Natural depopulation and migrational decrement, especially present in rural areas, and especially the loss of active, productive population is ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS IN THE MOST DISADVANTAGEOUS... 1005 steadily increasing the costs of maintaining the establishment system per capita. Transport exposition can only be maintained by increasing costs as well. Establish- ing greater regional units, modifying the frameworks by a complex aspect system have become urgent by today.