The socioeconomic performance of small and mediumsized industrial towns: Slovenian perspectives

The socioeconomic performance of industrial small and medium-sized towns (SMSTs) in comparison to that of non-industrial SMSTs, is subject to evaluation in this paper, to see if the presence of industry has adverse effects on socioeconomic factors. We studied 32 variables accounting for dimensions of socioeconomic performance in Slovenian SMSTs and conducted various statistical tests. We found only minor differences between the two groups, pertaining mainly to some elements of economic structure and demography, and some mixed relations of industrial employment and socioeconomic performance. The results demonstrate that industrial SMSTs should not be labelled automatically as ‘disadvantaged’. We discuss why our results differ from general research expectations in the literature: in the local context, we outline the “egalitarian syndrome” and policies of polycentric spatial development; in the global context, we discuss the “failed tertiarisation effect” and the differences between post-socialist and “Western” countries. We conclude by proposing that research should be re-oriented towards the more place-sensitive issues of industrial towns across Europe.