Region - régionalisation - regionalism

In the article an attempt is made to systematise the various understandings of a region, regionalisation and regionalism in geography, and to show how these concepts can be useful in the solution of contemporary research problems. This systématisation rests on the distinction between three categories of regions: (1) a region as a tool of research, (2) a region as a concrete object, and 3) a region as a tool for action. This categorisation provides a basis for t h e characterisation of the concepts of a region. A region as a tool of research, or spatial analysis, rests on the notion of the homogeneit of an area. This understanding can be found m the conception of a uniform region and the conception of a nodal region. The notion of a region as a concrete object can be found in a structural-systems approach. A region as a territorial system is identified by the following elements. 1) the nodal structure of the settlement system, 2) a high level of social, economic and cultural integration, 3) a higli level of self-organisation, and 4; the nature of the closure and boundaries. A region as a tool for action is an area of a unit of t he State's territorial organisation. Hence it is called a region of territorial organisation. There are two krids of such regions: administrative (of the central and local governments) and special. The three basic concepts of a region are the starting-point for distinguishing: 1) analyticalcognitive régionalisation, 2) structural régionalisation, and 3) practical régionalisation. The anaytical kind of régionalisation is understood as a form of spatial classification of prime importance in the preparation of an algorithm of régionalisation based on taxonomic methods. Régionalisation associated with the structural-systems understanding of a region seeks to distinguish it in the complex socio-economic reality. The delimitation of regions - territorial systems consists in 1) deerrnining the hierarchical system of links, and 2) testing its degree of closure. Practical regionaliation, which aims at establishing or testing territorial divisions for practical activity, must satisfy two groups of conditions. Internal ones refer to the relation between a territorial division and the existing regional structure. External ones refer mainly to the equality of "unit size" and the economic potentials of these units. Regionalism is taken to mean a set of various properties which are typical of a community of people and which occur in an area and define its separate character. In this sense the concept defines the uniqueness of a region. The concept of regionalism refers both to the state of social consciousness dominant in the regional community and its opinion-creating circles, and to the economic, cultural and practical activity of this community. Regionalistic movements and tendencies are a response to excessive centralism and cultural and economic uniformity on the one hand, and on the other they are a product of cultural, ethnic and national differences reinforced by differences in the economic and civilisation levels and opportunities for economic developmentDigitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/201