Summary
The main aim of the presented diploma thesis was to evaluate the relationships between the topics “quality of life” and “membership of municipalities to urban and rural space”.
In the theoretical part of the thesis, we dealt with the complete issue of the concept of quality of life, taking into account the characteristic features of the quality of life, its geographical aspect, dimensions, domains and indicators. We also focused in more detail on measuring the quality of life and conducted studies at the level of municipalities in the Czech Republic. In relation to the second of the topics, attention was focused on the definitions of rural and urban space. Existing approaches for their definition were also presented – however, the fuzzy approach and its application in defining the considered spaces were emphasized in more detail, as a counterpoint (alternative) to the classic dichotomous approach of city versus countryside. Subsequently, a symbolic integration of both topics was carried out and the presentation of already realized studies of spatial differentiation of the quality of life in urban and rural spaces. We have summarized selected aspects from a wide field of researched studies in a structured tabular overview (presenting the method of measuring the quality of life, the method of defining urban and rural spaces, expressed conclusions about the differentiation of the quality of life in these spaces, the territory and the temporal actuality of the researched studies).
The analysis was based on data on the quality of life from the study by Murgaš and Klobučník [1], from our own updated evaluation of the quality of life, then from the study presented in the article by Boček and Cibulka [2] and from the data set of the degrees of membership of municipalities of the Czech Republic to rural and urban space based on the study of Pászto et al. [3, 4]. In the case of the second and third listed quality of life evaluative approach, it was the creation of a new data set.
As part of an exploratory non-spatial analysis, in addition to routine tasks (such as the calculation of basic descriptive statistics of location and variability, normality tests or inspection of outliers), attention was paid to examining the relationships between the main phenomena (respectively quality of life indices and the degree of membership of municipalities to rural and urban space) and more advanced examination of interrelationships at the level of indicators of the main phenomena, as well as across all considered indicators. Due to the proof of the non-existence of a significant global relationship between the main phenomena, the examination of local relationships was further approached.
The performed spatial autocorrelation analysis pointed out the tendency of the quality of life data to cluster. LISA methods were used to identify the relevant spatial clusters. The existence of a positive spatially weighted correlation of the main phenomena pointed to a higher level of quality of life in more urban to urban areas (i.e. with increasing membership to the urban area, the value of the quality of life index increases). However, exceptions were also found where this dependence is opposite (e.g. the areas around Ostrava, Karviná, Český Těšín, the south-western part of the Karlovy Vary Region and smaller to medium-sized areas in the Ústí and Labem Region and the Liberec Region). In connection with the behaviour of the spatially weighted correlation, it was also found that the highest absolute values of the correlation coefficient were usually not reached directly in the centres of core areas (i.e. larger cities) – but in their surroundings.
Logistic regression models were used to identify significant and irreplaceable indicators for the description (explanation) of the main phenomena and their levels. There have also been proven cases where the indicator of the first of the phenomena contributes to the explanation of the phenomenon of the second – and vice versa (for all of them, let's mention the proven statistical significance of the indicator of the unavailability of kindergartens when describing the intermediate space).
An important deed was the compilation of a typology of the quality of life in relation to rural, transitional and urban spaces. The resulting three variants were then subjected to independence tests in order to verify their relevance. In addition, a quantification of the occurrence of quality of life levels across defined spaces were made, as well as a mutual comparison of individual typology variants.
The first variant of the typology pointed to only a slight dominance of a high level of quality of life in urban spaces compared to intermediate spaces. The remaining variants clearly confirmed the dominance of a high level in the intermediate space (in the case of the second variant of the typology, a higher level of quality of life was more often recorded in the countryside than in the cities, in the third variant the situation is the opposite). However, it can be stated that from the point of view of the considered objective evaluation approaches, intermediate spaces are a clear prerequisite for a high level of quality of life – probably because of their characteristic combination of good features of the city and the countryside. And this despite the obvious differences in the evaluation of the quality of life in urban and rural spaces at the level of individual typology variants (the first and third variants attribute a better quality of life to urban and intermediate spaces, the second variant claims the same about intermediate and rural spaces).
Based on a comparison of the older (first) and newer (third) variants of the typology, which are based on the same evaluative approach, it can be assumed that, over time, the potential for a high quality of life was (and is) being transferred from the cities through the suburbs to their immediate surroundings (respectively from the countryside to the suburbs in the case of the second variant of the typology).
At the end of the entire diploma thesis, we present the characteristics of individual types, as well as the determination of their places of occurrence in the context of Czech Republic.
We hereby state that the set main aim has been fulfilled. The primary contribution of the presented work is to contribute to the identification of places with the potential for experiencing the “good life” and to provide an image of the spatial differentiation of the quality of life in the Czech Republic. An indisputable advantage is the use of the fuzzy approach in determining the affiliation of municipalities to rural and urban spaces, which allowed us to include, in addition to traditional aspects (quality of urban and rural life), the aspect of intermediate space.
The realized study of the spatial differentiation of the quality of life in urban and rural spaces, while simultaneously taking into account two different evaluation approaches of the quality of life and the use of a fuzzy approach to define such spaces, can, looking at the studies carried out so far, be described as a rarely seen undertaking, almost unique in the Czech environment.
