Cultural aspects of the challenges of the sustainability of the medium-sized cities in the region of Southern Transdanubia, Hungary

The fundamental questions of sustainable development as well as the scientists, the researchers and the economic experts as well as the public opinion from the 1960-er years. Because of the economic, social and environmental challenges that are occurring with increasing intensity, the need to shape the equilibrium at a global, regional and also local level is becoming more and more urgent, which can also secure the prosperity and well-being of the given community in the long term. The ever-increasing globalization of economic and social processes of modern times have left the important part of the more or less closed societies and communities that are fundamentally challenged by the challenges of strong sustainability. In the earlier historical times, the geographic and natural characteristics and characteristics of the individual regions, settlements have decisively determined whether the individual communities can have long-term functioning economic and social systems. The logic of the individual processes has not actually changed even in our day, the difference is rather the fact that the circle of economic challenges and the securing of continuous competitiveness appears to be increasingly strong in addition to the previously more strongly emphasized environmental and geographic dimensions. The individual development paths and competitiveness factors are influenced by economic, social events, relationship systems, cultural characteristics of the earlier times. This cultural dimension can, on the one hand, result in such sustainability patterns which can also secure the success of the individual communities and regions in the long term. On the other hand, the cultural offer in the given areas can be a competitive advantage; in an optimal case as a determining sector; , Social and environmental systems of the given region can also be sustainable in the long term. In this lecture, I would like to give an overview of the sustainability challenges of the medium-sized cities in the region of Southern Transdanubia in Hungary, and the cultural aspects of these challenges.