ROMANIAN SMALL TOWNS SEARCHING FOR THEIR IDENTITY

Romanian small towns – urban settlements of less than 20 000 inhabitants, having a polarization function of the socio-economic activities in the narrow rural areas - are considered an interface between rural and urban communities. Determining the identity of small towns is rather difficult, because complex and varied political, social and economic changes occurred in the previous century. Thus, three distinct phases have been established: before 1950 the towns had a rather strong rural character; in 1950-1989 their identity was completely changed under the communist regime; after that they somehow regained their initial identity (that before 1950), or promoted it at higher levels. There is a main discrepancy between the present stage and that before 1989: the then identity wasconventional and constrained whereas today it develops in a natural process conditioned only by the town itself and by the choice of its inhabitants

Rethinking the territorial pact in the context of European territorial cohesion

The authors argue through this paper, the importance of rethinking the recently abandoned tools that can be reactivated in times of crisis. EU 2020 Strategy and other EU documents create a favorable frame in order to achieve the priorities set by reconsidering the territorial pact concept. Recent documents define the partnership agreement concept, which seems to be more rigid and less flexible than the territorial pact. Having as a starter point Romania’s specifics, there are individualized 10 thematic territorial pacts and 8 global pacts. They must generate territorial synergies capable of ensuring the coherence between regions, states and the European Union as a whole

In search of a relevant index measuring territorial disparities in a transition country. Romania as a case study

Countries in transition to a market economy exhibit increased regional disparities, leading to differences in the standard of life and in the chances of the population to benefit from the radical socio-economic and political changes. Our aim in this article is to find an index other than the gross domestic product, and maybe a synthetic one, capable of measuring territorial imbalances. In search of such an index, we considered 17 indicators to be relevant and applied these to the 41 Romanian counties. The results indicate that territorial disparities in a transition country with a large rural population can be measured by an aggregate index essentially formed by the gross domestic product, the number of inhabitants per room, and the rate of school dropouts

POTENTIAL LABOUR FORCE BETWEEN DECLINE AND UNEMPLOYMENT. CASE STUDY: BUZĂU SUBCARPATHIANS

The purpose of this article is to emphasize the current characteristics of the labour force, in its potential dimension, in Buzău Subcarpathians. For a better understanding of the current situation, its dynamics and the influencing factors were analysed in the post-communist period. The potential labour resources dynamics (1992-2010) emphasized a decreasing for the majority of the administrative units. At the same time, the total age dependency ratio registers an increasing for over 60% of these. A better situation, pointed by a tendency slightly upward of the potential labour resources, is specific to some administrative units with a higher development level and/or with a good accessibility towards nearby urban settlements. The analysis of the labour market emphasis the existence of some enterprises only in a few settlements, in which the workplaces are being occupied in general. Thus, the majority of the population is occupied with a subsistence agriculture which generates low incomes. Therefore, there is potential labour force which can be involved in a various range of economic activities, but it is not adequately capitalized. In this context, it is necessary to develop a rural development strategy based on a sustainable and efficient exploitation of the local resources that can allow the stabilization of the population and their access to the minimal services (education, health care etc.)

HYDROLOGICAL RISKS CHARACTERISTIC FOR PRAPASTIILOR DRAINAGE BASIN, PIATRA CRAIULUI MOUNTAINS

Hydrological Risks Characteristic for Prăpăstiilor Drainage Basin, Piatra Craiului Mountains. The subject of this paper aims to present the characteristics of extreme hydrological phenomena form Prăpăstiilor Drainage Basin. Prăpăstiilor Drainage Basin is situated in the north-eastern part of Piatra CraiuluiMountains, eastern Carpathians. The structural conformation, given by the presence of Piatra Craiului syncline and by the limestone-conglomerate lithologic pattern, determines certain characteristics of the hydrographic network, which is mostly temporary, because of the water infiltration into the substrate. The springs, which provide permanent flow to the network, occur only on the syncline axis and at the base of slope deposits. When entering the gorge areas, they disappear in the same substrate, and reappear as springs, downstream of the gorges. Thus, because of these aspects, over which climate elements overlap, during periods of heavy rain, extreme events like floods frequently occur in different sectors. Effects on the environment components are complex. The floods accelerate the erosion, can affect the forest roads, construction or isolated houses along water bodies. Sometimes, the floods reach Zărnești town, causing damages or casualties. This paper comes to complete studies conducted till present on the enigmatic Piatra Craiului Mountains and its surroundings, which were included in Piatra Craiului National Park

Functional Structure of Deeply Disadvantaged Areas in Gorj County

General contemporary economic and social developmen t, but also the industrialization forward policy be fore 1990, led to some territorial imbalances. The alleviation of thee imbalances should mean an important object for central, local and district administrations, on a general national reg ional development background. Identification and analysis of territorial disparit ies were made on four type basis: demographical one , economic level, the infrastructure and life standard, each category is considered as equally involved in developing. Functional structuring of deeply disadvantaged area s means the result of political and economic change s after 1990, when Gorj district suffer great basic economic chan ges, which had a major impact on territorial and fu nctional structure of the settlements and, implicitly, on dynamics, struc turing and quality life

Urban-rural Interface, Polycentric Development and Transportation Systems. Case Study: Bucharest Metropolitan Area

The article is aiming to analyse the concept of urban-rural interface. This concept is distinctively interpreted by various sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, informatics and geography. The study is meaning to come up with an approach where polycentric development and the regional transport system play a part in adjusting and strengthening the complex ties between the urban space and the rural space. The case study focuses on the City of Bucharest metropolitan area. The study presents the area’s specific features, emphasizing those elements that favor the optimal functioning of the mutual ties between metropolis and the adjoining space. Dysfunctions can be corrected by implementing a regional transport system, with a role in enhancing the cities’ polarization role, and also in optimizing inter-settlement ties

Evaluating the Territorial Impact of Built-Up Area Expansion in the Surroundings of Bucharest (Romania) through a Multilevel Approach Based on Landsat Satellite Imagery

Assessing the relentless expansion of built-up areas is one of the most important tasks for achieving sustainable planning and supporting decision-making on the regional and local level. In this context, techniques based on remote sensing can play a crucial role in monitoring the fast rhythm of urban growth, allowing the regular appraisal of territorial dynamics. The main aim of the study is to evaluate, in a multi-scalar perspective, the built-up area expansion and the spatio–temporal changes in Ilfov County, which overlaps the surroundings of Bucharest, capital of Romania. Our research focuses on processing multi-date Landsat satellite imagery from three selected time references (2000, 2008, 2018) through the supervised classification process. Further on, the types of built-up area dynamics are explored using LDTtool, a landscape metrics instrument. The results reveal massive territorial restructuring in the 18 years, as the new built-up developments occupy a larger area than the settlements’ surface in 2000. The rhythm of the transformations also changed over time, denoting a significant acceleration after 2008, when 75% of the new development occurred. At the regional level, the spatial pattern has become more and more complex, in a patchwork of spatial arrangements characterized by the proliferation of low density areas interspersed with clusters of high density developments and undeveloped land. At the local level, a comparative assessment of the administrative territorial units’ pathway was conducted based on the annual growth of built-up areas, highlighting the most attractive places and the main territorial directions of development. In terms of the specific dynamics of built-up areas, the main change patterns are “F—NP increment by gain”, followed by “G—Aggregation by gain”, both comprising around 80% of the total number of cells. The first type was prevalent in the first period (2000–2008), while the second is identified only after 2008, when it became the most represented, followed in the hierarchy by the previously dominant category. The spatial pattern differentiations were further explored in three complementary case studies investigated in correlation with socioeconomic data, revealing a heterogeneous landscape

The Role of SMEs in the Development of Romanian Rural Areas. Case Study: Sucarpathian Rural Area between Buzãu and Slãnic Valleys (Buzãu Subcarpathians)

Romanian rural areas are a sector that, in the context of transition from socialist economy to market economy, has accumulated numerous dysfunctions, whose resolution requires the identification of viable solutions that are compatible with local potential and at the same time preserve traditional features. In this context SMEs play an active part and are very important because they allow the absorption of a percentage of the population laid off in the wake of economic reorganization that plagued post-1989 Romanian society, as well as the rapid diffusion of innovation in the territory. They can be considered local sources of discontinuity, which serve to enhance and propagate economic growth in the territory, implicitly bringing about a rise in living standards. After 1989, the rural sub-Carpathian area between Buzãu and Slãnic valleys was characterized by changes in economic structure, with a strong impact on the population and on the organization of rural communities. In this context, the features of SMEs during 1994-2006 were analyzed, which highlighted their increase in numbers, more than threefold, during the respective period.rural area, small and medium - sized enterprises, development strategies