The aim of the study is to examine the regional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its individual waves on foreign trade in food and agro-based products in the world's largest trading countries. The study was based on the statistical database of the International Trade Centre (ITC). In addition to the basic analysis, use was made of the auto-correlation method to detect special relationships between foreign food trade of different countries. The results show that the pandemic has had the greatest impact on agricultural and food trade in the United States, but it has spilled over to other countries as well, especially its two major trading partners, the European Union and China. Food trade stagnated in the initial period of the pandemic, but later recovered relatively well. The six examined regions can be divided into three groups based on the typical features of their autocorrelation.

The study seeks to answer the question as to why the combined performance of agriculture and forestry can be explained by the fact that in an EU member state with an agricultural disadvantage and with an advanced economy, the size of the cultivated area is high. The reasons are complex and suggest a deliberately chosen strategy, the essence of which is that in Austria the social perception of agriculture is far more favorable than it would be expected from its GDP contribution. The reasons for this are partly rooted in the history of the past, but may also be linked to a more immediate and strategic decision making primarily on the transformation of the agricultural product structure, the efficient use of resources from the EU, the use of sophisticated tools for rural tourism and, last but not least, on the widespread shaping of the attitudes of the population.

Most European countries apply development policy solutions to help disadvantaged regions catch up and seek effective solutions for territorial cohesion. This endeavour has been strongly supported by the European Commission in both the 2013-2020 and 2021-27 programming periods and is likely to remain so in the period after 2028. This is an understandable and logical endeavour, as being 'left behind' in economic, social or geographical terms not only reinforces internal migration flows within the European Community and its Member States but also increases political discontent. A number of approaches have emerged in European countries to identify disadvantaged regions and address their problems. The differences stem partly from the different intervention intentions of individual countries and partly from their different spatial, state and public administration structures. Various development policy solutions have been devised to help disadvantaged regions catch up, taking these factors into account. In Hungary, development policy has placed greater emphasis on the catching up of regions and settlements lagging behind in terms of socio-economic development since the 1980s, but the importance of delimitation in development policy practice has increased since the country's accession to the EU, with the establishment of differentiated support resource allocation mechanisms and targeted support programmes. The methodology currently in use for designating beneficiary regions has been in place since 2014. The socioeconomic changes that have taken place since then have shifted the focus of both scientific and policy interest in recent years towards more location-specific regulatory mechanisms that measure development differences at a lower level and are more sensitive to functional links between settlements. To support efforts in the renewal of the Hungarian regional development toolkit, our study seeks to outline alternative options by analysing Italian and British development policy practices, in addition to presenting Hungarian beneficiary regions. The international examples examined, despite their limitations as presented in the study, provide examples of multi-level governance, development policies based on functional units, and methodologies for measuring development below the settlement level. Current legislation in Hungary allows for changes in this direction, but their incorporation into domestic practice is only possible after careful preparation.

Most European countries apply development policy solutions to help disadvantaged regions catch up and seek effective solutions for territorial cohesion. This endeavour has been strongly supported by the European Commission in both the 2013-2020 and 2021-27 programming periods and is likely to remain so in the period after 2028. This is an understandable and logical endeavour, as being 'left behind' in economic, social or geographical terms not only reinforces internal migration flows within the European Community and its Member States but also increases political discontent. A number of approaches have emerged in European countries to identify disadvantaged regions and address their problems. The differences stem partly from the different intervention intentions of individual countries and partly from their different spatial, state and public administration structures. Various development policy solutions have been devised to help disadvantaged regions catch up, taking these factors into account. In Hungary, development policy has placed greater emphasis on the catching up of regions and settlements lagging behind in terms of socio-economic development since the 1980s, but the importance of delimitation in development policy practice has increased since the country's accession to the EU, with the establishment of differentiated support resource allocation mechanisms and targeted support programmes. The methodology currently in use for designating beneficiary regions has been in place since 2014. The socioeconomic changes that have taken place since then have shifted the focus of both scientific and policy interest in recent years towards more location-specific regulatory mechanisms that measure development differences at a lower level and are more sensitive to functional links between settlements. To support efforts in the renewal of the Hungarian regional development toolkit, our study seeks to outline alternative options by analysing Italian and British development policy practices, in addition to presenting Hungarian beneficiary regions. The international examples examined, despite their limitations as presented in the study, provide examples of multi-level governance, development policies based on functional units, and methodologies for measuring development below the settlement level. Current legislation in Hungary allows for changes in this direction, but their incorporation into domestic practice is only possible after careful preparation.

Some of the literature on catchment areas offers valuable insights into spatial units defined by the various types and functions of urban centres. In addition, a range of functional urban region delineation methodologies contribute significantly to understanding citizens' commuting habits. However, while the former often lacks a complex, multifunctional perspective, the latter typically focuses on labour market areas linked to global megacities. As a result, smaller centres fulfilling a wide range of everyday functions are frequently omitted from regional maps, and they remain hidden in the catchment area of larger cities. This research aims to address these gaps by proposing a method for identifying urban centres on the basis of multidimensional selection criteria. This approach enables the general mapping of their multifunctional catchment areas and their wider functional urban zones. This analysis extends the range of statistics commonly used: in addition to labour market commuting, it includes commuting for general and vocational education, as well as accounting for the accessibility of everyday commercial centres and frequently used urban-level public services. Owing to differing spatial organizing principles, this research highlights that everyday centres take on varied structural forms – justifying a multidimensional mapping approach that is in addition to traditional labour market commuting analyses. Although this study is grounded in the Hungarian context, its multidimensional approach to mapping functional urban catchment areas offers valuable insights and a flexible framework for international research. By integrating a wide range of everyday spatial behaviour indicators, this analysis not only deepens our understanding of urban networks but also provides urban planning and regional development professionals with a robust tool for identifying gaps in public service provision. In doing so, it can help increase access to essential services, particularly for residents in rural areas far from major urban centres, which are typically the focus of the literature.

The prevailing methodology for delineating functional urban areas relies predominantly on labour market commuting data related to urban centres with more than 50 thousand inhabitants. However, this approach does not account for other functional relationships arising from residents' daily needs. In the development policy of the European Union, the widely used functional urban area delineation method (Dijkstra et al. 2019) maps connections between settlements by analysing a specific segment of the population on the basis of their location, jobs, and activities. A notable shortcoming of this method is that it neglects the role of small and medium-sized towns – places of unquestionable importance from a regional development perspective. To obtain a more accurate and comprehensive picture of society's spatial usage, extending these studies to a broader range of spatial and temporal characteristics of residents' activities is necessary. This multidimensional analysis allows for more accurate mapping of Hungary's functional catchment areas (FCAs) than the widely used EU-OECD functional urban areas (FUA) framework does. The methodology used is also capable of identifying smaller functional urban areas that are organised around less attractive peripheral, rural towns or suburban subcentres in a more fragmented and complex system of inter-settlement relationships. The resulting primary FCAs, with few exceptions, have an average spatial extent of approximately 468km^2 (73% are between 100 and 1,000km^2). However, in terms of population, they exhibit significant variation, with an average of 43,776 residents, ranging from 6,093 to 321,953 inhabitants. As a result, the spatial structure of the mapped catchment areas can provide forwards-looking guidance for a more territorially balanced organisation of services. However, there is a need for further development of the methodology, considering the principle of population proportionality more strongly. This can play an important role in mapping the internal, partly intraurban daily spatial use subsystems of agglomeration areas. While the framework developed in this study is rooted in Hungary's urban network, its multidimensional methodology and findings focusing on daily space use offer valuable insights for researchers examining urban-rural structures across diverse national and international settings.