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Geographica 44/1 (2013)

Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis Facultas Rerum Naturalium June 2013 Geographica 44 | 1
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Functional regions of the Czech Republic: comparison of simpler and more advanced methods of regional taxonomy

Pavel Klapka, Marián Halás, Petr Tonev, Marek Bednář

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Received: February 28, 2013
Accepted: June 20, 2013

Abstract
The article compares the results of three simpler methods of functional regional taxonomy to the results of the more advanced methods. All methods use daily travel-to-work flows provided by the 2001 census as a regionalisation criterion. Simpler methods rest in the application of primary-flow linkage in order to assign a basic spatial zone to a potential regional core, while more advanced method applies a relativised linkage measure that also takes into account a reverse flow between a pair of basic spatial zones. For comparisons the more advanced method approximates the size parameter used in simpler methods, which is however put into relation to a self-containment of a regional class. The article provides three comparisons of results and identifies main advantages and disadvantages of the two methodological approaches, concluding that the more advanced method provides geographically more relevant results.

Key words
regional taxonomy, regionalization algorithm, functional regions, travel-to-work flows, Czech Republic