The paper seeks to analyse foreign direct investment and its impact on economic growth in the Central European macro-region, with an emphasis on the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary and Poland. The methodology applied in the first part involved comparative analysis of the trends in foreign investment and gross domestic product, and in the other, a growth model based on the Endogenous Growth Model. The construction of the model seeks to assess the impact of selected economic factors, including foreign direct investment, on the economic growth of transitional economies. The model employs a group of indicators, the gross domestic product per capita, volume of foreign direct investment per capita and gross fixed capital per capita, labour force growth and share of tertiary education graduates in the labour force. The analysis implied a great deal of spatial differentiation in the inflow of foreign investment and in economic growth. The highest volume of foreign direct investment per labour force is reported in Latvia, Estonia and the Czech Republic. The countries in this group are followed by Hungary and Slovakia, with Hungary displaying a marked decline in economic growth and investment attractiveness during recent years, and with Slovakia exhibiting the contrary trends to such an extent that Slovak economy has overtaken that of Hungary. The third group of countries contains Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia with the lowest volumes of foreign direct investment, where Lithuania nevertheless succeeded in sustaining a higher rate of growth of the gross domestic product. Poland also reported economic growth during the crisis years. In the second part, a growth model is compiled, which revealed that statistically significant relations exist between economic growth, labour force and investment growth. Growth of foreign direct investment positively demonstrates itself in increasing the rate of growth of the gross domestic product. As regards fixed capital formation, a higher growth will have an even more marked impact on the growth of the gross domestic product than was the case for foreign direct investment. Research confirms that each country is characterised by a different development trajectory in the field of economic growth and inflow of foreign investment. Foreign direct investment had an exceptional role to play in economic transformation as it contributed to the economic growth of Central and Eastern European countries and became a vehicle of integration for the transitional economies in global production chains.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.27.3.3914

The aim of this article is to evaluate the impact of suburbanisation on the development of settlements with an emphasis on environmental aspects that need to be addressed in the process of extensive growth of municipalities in suburban regions. In the theoretical part, the article evaluates the processes of suburbanisation and their environmental impact. On a methodological level, municipalities in the suburban zone were first defined on the basis of driving distances. These municipalities were subjected to an analysis of the intensity of residential suburbanisation by calculating a multicriteria indicator from five selected criteria. In the second part of the analysis, a questionnaire survey of mayors was carried out in the particular municipalities. The responses were evaluated using the Likert scale method, and then statistically significant dependencies were sought among individual phenomena and environmental problems which need to be solved by the municipal management due to the growth of municipalities. It was found that the mayors consider changes in the landscape character to be among the most significant impacts of suburbanisation in the territory. A change in the rural character of municipalities because of the construction of urban-type houses is perceived as being very problematic. Another serious problem is the insufficient capacity of technical infrastructure such as sewerage and waste-water treatment. The costs of ensuring the quality of the environment and of public spaces, which are, in many cases, beyond the economic possibilities of municipalities, are also increasing significantly. The article also includes specifications of selected smart solutions and procedures that can help preserve the quality of the environment.