Commuting in the Settlement System of Serbia

Territorial organization of settlement system is the framework for internal migration flows. The purpose of this paper is to consider the relation between commuting and the settlement structure. Commuting patterns and characteristics of commuters in Serbia are relatively unknown and insufficiently researched, and as such, can not be adequately used in creation of development strategies and public policies which would include commuters' issues. It has been emphasized the importance of reserach of commuting ties between different settlements and also pointed out in which way commuting flows could be researched and analyzed by using existing sources, due to better understanding of connections between migrations and settlements. Commuting patterns of workers in Serbia and interrelations between the scope and the structure of commuting flows, as well as the type and population size of settlements in Serbia have been examined. Apart from territorial dimension of commuting phenomenon, socio-economic component of commuting population has also been considered. The use of costumised tabulations from 2002 Census have enabled us to examine all types of commuting and emphasise dominant directions of commuting flows of economically active population according to gender, level of education and sector of economic activity, within the settlement hierarchy. Workers have been classified into seven groups according to place of residence and place of work. The findings reveal there is a clear connection between the hierarchy structure and commuting patterns in Serbia. Further, we find some evidence that only 9,5% of workers – commuters have been working in the settlement of the same population size and type such as their residing settlement. Commuting flows within Serbia’s settlement system point out to certain variations when looking at individual categories of population, but it can be concluded that there is general trend of commuting "upwards" within the hierarchy of settlements.