ABSTRACT
The transformation process aims to transform centrally planned or command economies into economies based on market mechanisms, has both general and specific features. The Transformation Act provided the basic rules for the transformation of state-owned property. Agricultural co-operatives under the Communist system did, however, operate quite effectively. Incomes of co-operative members were often high and living standards were good, with many owning their own family housing. Few clear spatial patterns or regularities are evident, although there do seem to be emerging a series of development gradients between urban and rural areas, industrial and agricultural localities, core and peripheral regions and areas located in the west and those in the east. Slovakia could benefit from the eradication of east-west barriers in Europe by acting as a central European transit country between east and west, and north and south, although it is necessary to build a modern transportation infrastructure.
