We are implementing the international CROSS-CZ project in cooperation with the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. It focuses on analysing cross-border functional areas along the borders of the Czech Republic. Its aim is to improve understanding of the actual links between border regions, which are shaped not only by administrative boundaries but also by residents’ everyday interactions, access to services, labour markets, mobility, economic relations and institutional cooperation.
The project’s methodological basis is a detailed territorial analysis of the Czech border regions and the adjacent areas of neighbouring countries. The methodology combines harmonised data at municipal level or for comparable territorial units, GIS analyses, spatial modelling, assessment of accessibility to services and centres, analysis of socioeconomic conditions, and the involvement of key stakeholders. It also includes modelling of functional linkages. The project will delimit and develop a typology of cross-border functional areas, i.e. territories with significant everyday or development links across national borders. Particular attention will be paid to differences between the individual sections of the Czech border.
The project will also propose a monitoring system for the long-term observation of cross-border linkages and cooperation. Its outputs will include analytical, cartographic and data resources, profiles of selected cross-border functional areas, and public-policy recommendations, particularly for the preparation of the Czech Regional Development Strategy 2028+ and the future design of support for cross-border cooperation.