Selected aspects of territorial cohesion in Slovakia under the recent crisis

Territorial cohesion has been one of the most prominent topics of discourse among spatial planners, urban sociologists, economists and experts from various other fields. Territorial systems with high degree of cohesion are better equipped to withstand the external pressures and situational imbalancies. Recent global crisis exposed these imbalancies and challenged the smooth and balanced spatial development of European countries. Major economic setbacks influenced entire society in Slovakia. Global financial crisis evaporated the ultimate growth of Slovak economics and exposed hidden imbalancies of development policies solely related to GDP growth instead of creating the fundaments for sustainability in the transition economy. Spatial polarization on different levels of society weakened down the overall (mainly social) cohesion and highlighted the problems of marginalized regions and social groups. Social aspects of territorial and spatial processes are more visible than ever before and regional disparities are becoming more prominent issue in political and scientific discourse. Despite the deep profilation of regional identity and place attachment, there are still considerable distinctions and disparities between metropolitan/urban and rural communities in terms of values, consumption patterns, life style, sense of solidarity or wealth distribution. Selected aspects of territorial cohesion in Slovakia, mainly in the field of social cohesion are in the spotlight in this paper. Focus on integrative spatial development balancing the contradictions by effective mixture of general approach and reasonable and sensible differentiation is considered highly essential.