Same or Different Development Paths? A Comparative Study of the Large Cities and Regions in Hungary

According to specialist literature, the current development of agglomerations is by large urban areas evolving by the expansion and structural transition of larger urban zones, where “the formerly hierarchic division of settlements with a different size and role is replaced by horizontal cooperation, linking into a network” (Enyedi 2012, p. 17). The aim of the present paper is to examine, how equal the domestic large cities and their agglomeration can be considered by their development and competitiveness, and if there is an economic basis for them to cooperate ho rizontally in a network in the present case. The authors use different methodological approaches to examine the development and competitiveness of cities and their agglomeration, and spatial autocorrelation circumstances to model the economic base of outlined cooperation.