Marcela DANKOVA, Palacký university Olomouc, Czechia
Regional structures are not rigid and they change over time. Regions are historically conditioned and on different scales, they are used as spaces for identities of their inhabitants. Once regional structure is transformed, residents of a regional amalgam are confronted with old and new regions. The possible clash between regions may have significant impacts on residents, especially in rural areas, when one can expect stability in a population, at least to some extent. Both types of regions can enter the regional identities of their residents. In our contribution, we would like to present what can happen to these identities in the long-term when an old regional structure is deinstitutionalised and replaced by a new structure. Our contribution aims to introduce the result of the research that focus on exploring and analysing spatial identity in a regional amalgam and the relationships between the age categories of its residents, and the meaning of institutionalised and deinstitutionalised regions. The methodology of our research is based on the statistical analysis of primary data gathered through a questionnaire given to residents of the rural region under study. The empirical research suggests that a certain time after the transformation of a regional structure the act has imprinted itself on particular generations of a rural regional amalgam in various ways, and it appears that nostalgia for the old region is widespread among older residents.
Keywords: Deinstitutionalisation|Regional identity|Rural regional amalgam|Age|Pelh?imov region (Czech Republic)
A103262M