La taille des logements, densité et attachement résidentiels – facteurs limitatifs de l’habitat urbain Bucarestois à l’impact visible sur la qualité de vie

One of the most important life quality’s domains is housing quality related in extenso to the human activities within infrastructure or urban equipment or stricto senso by housing standard highlighted by person per room, crowded dwellings, median living surface and comfort. Residential satisfaction, owner occupiers, households characteristics are very important issues in order to underline the social patterns of the living habitat. The residential satisfaction, an obsolete housing stock, crowded dwelling represent the key – elements of the Romanian communism heritage. The techniques available are “objective” or “subjective” (objective criteria – median living surface, number of person by room – subjective criteria involve the residents of an area determining their own perception of housing). The factor analysis technique enables to examine a large number of variables related to the residential satisfaction. The principal components have been used to provide partial explanation of residential satisfaction

Urban (In)security: Between Appearance and Reality in Bucharest

Social disorganization has become a significant issue for social geography. In addition, the territoriality of urban space is deeply embedded in social relations. At the local level, the type of local support for the social community and the role of the urban actors involved are a critical issue. Moreover, city centre redevelopment emphasises commercial growth that advances private interest entrepreneurships whilst the revitalisation of neglected neighbourhoods is a lower priority for the local authorities. Urban violence and the increasing sense of insecurity are phenomena which affect the quality of life. This article focuses on perceived urban (in)security within Bucharest using the results of questionnaires conducted in 36 districts of the city

Restructuring Romania’s Railways: The Freight Business

Railways remain a key element in Romania’s transport infrastructure but many adjustments have been made since 1989 in the quest for profitability in the context of European integration as well as competition with other transport modes. After a brief contextual introduction the paper concentrates on railfreight; noting a fall in traffic since 1989, coupled with the need for qualitative improvements and higher labour productivity with the state-owned freight company (CFR Marfă) now open to competition from private operators who have gradually increased their share of the business. The paper concludes with reference to Marfă privatisation as a prerequisite for the long-term survival of the company as a major player in the business

Urban Regeneration and Affective Connections to Place in Bucharest City Centre

“Place” represents an important issue for human geo graphers. This paper deals with the process of urban change that has affected the histo rical centre of Bucharest over the course of the last decade. The urban regeneration process could t ransform the cultural meanings of the ‘sense of the place’ and contribute to a reinvention of an ur ban identity dimension. The aim of the paper is to contribute to the formulation of a critical pers pective on urban regeneration, by highlighting the absence or otherness of cultural urban meanings in creating a place identity among the citizens during the (post)communist period. The authors adva nce and test the hypotheses that the historical importance of the city and the regenerat ion process in the sense of place construction are different among the residents

Romania’s revolution in telecommunications and information technology: a geographical approach

Economic restructuring since 1989 has created an environment in which this economic branch has been able to expand through private enterprise; involving both the former state monopoly (through the creation and subsequent privatisation of Romtelecom – emerging from the communist PTTR organisation) and a fiscal regime conducive to private investment both domestic and foreign; not to mention appropriate regimes of licensing and regulation as well as stimulatory measures to accelerate the absorption of information technology. While development has been very rapid globally, Romania’s progress is particularly striking given the low priority for state investment in the 1980s coupled with the enthusiasm of consumers over the past decade and the commitments made by foreign investors. The paper provides a historical introduction before examining recent developments in telephony (both fixed and mobile), cable television and information technology; emphasising the diversity of methods for Internet access; based on material culled from the economic press throughout the post-1989 period. Attention is given to both domestic and foreign IT companies; noting location policies which emphasise not only Bucharest but also the country’s ‘metropoles’ which are very attractive on account of their accessibility and labour markets

La ville de Bucarest, espace de (post)transition entre restructuration et étalement urbain

Les villes contemporaines subissent des changements structuraux extrêmement rapides en termes de reconversion urbaine, d’embourgeoisement ou de mobilité résidentielle. Bucarest est organisée selon un modèle résidentiel classique : la zone centrale (transformée et revitalisée au cours des dix dernières années), une zone intermédiaire mixte où les ensembles résidentiels communistes en blocs côtoient pavillons et autres logements collectifs, et la périphérie où se maintient une forme de vie rurale. La transition économique, notamment par le chômage et la demande accrue en logements, a engendré des disparités grandissantes entre groupes sociaux. Ces mutations visibles dans toutes les villes post-socialistes, y compris à Bucarest, ont eu de nombreuses répercussions sur la structuration urbaine : des zones résidentielles homogènes et hétérogènes coexistent, de nouvelles fractures et discontinuités socio-spatiales apparaissent, mais dans le même temps des particularités héritées de l’époque communiste persistent (parc locatif vétuste, densités résidentielles élevées, surfaces habitables réduites, environnement social précaire).À partir de recherches de terrain et d’une réflexion exploratoire, cet article tente de cerner les mutations urbaines bucarestoises, notamment après l’an 2000, en insistant sur la composition sociale des quartiers mixtes et sur l’attachement résidentiel des habitants. Cet attachement résidentiel est un élément essentiel du vécu des citadins, confrontés à une société en changement perpétuel, tandis que le logement en blocs assure la persistance d’une forme de stabilité ou de pérennité personnelle et familiale. D’autre part, les nouveaux modes de consommation induisent une diversification des préférences résidentielles dans le contexte d’un pouvoir d’achat en augmentation, porté par les ménages aisés, connus en tant que « nouveaux riches » de la société roumaine.The contemporary cities are confronted to very complex and quick structural changes related to the urban regeneration, gentrification or residential mobility. Bucharest’s organisation is based on a classical model: the old central area (transformed and renewed over the past decade), a mixed intermediate area where collective apartment blocks are scattered amongpavilions and other locative units, and a peripheral land heavily influenced by its rural roots. Through the unemployment and the reinforced demand for new housings, the economic transition has produced growing status disparities in status among social groups. Those transformations performed in every post-socialist city, including Bucharest, have generated numerous consequences over the urban structure: homogeneous and heterogeneous residential places coexist, new social and spatial discripancies have appeared but at the same time some inherited specificities of the communist era have survived (timeworn locative housing stocks, huge residential densities, reduced living spaces, precarious social environment).Through ground level investigations and exploratory considerings, the paper tries to explain the Bucharest urban mutations which mainly occurred since 2000, and pays special attention to the mixted residential districts and to the residential attachment of the inhabitants. The article went to suggest the changes of the urban design especially occurred after 2000 by enhancing the social composition and the residential attachment of the inhabitants. The surveys of neighborhood’s perception have shown thaht this attachment is considered a fundamental positive feeling by a populaiton submitted to continuous changes whereas the housing blocks represent one kind of familial or personnal continuity. On the other hand, the new consumption ways should create new residential preferences considering the growing power consumption of some well-off households, the so called “nouveaux riches” of the Romanian society

Multidimensional Approach on Sustainability of Ageing in Romanian Residential Care Centres for Elders

Residential care centres for elders (RCCEs) in Romania have rapidly developed over the last two decades. In the absence of coherent policies regarding elderly people, RCCEs are mainly the result of businesses arising from an acceleration of the ageing process in Romania. This study uses a multidimensional approach to investigate issues related to the sustainability of ageing in RCCEs in Romania. Specifically, it aims to analyse whether the grouping of RCCEs is following the distribution of elderly Romanian population likely to require such amenities, and whether the characteristics and services of these facilities were appropriate for their users in line with World Health Organization’s Agenda of Ageing. The research relies on a combination of quantitative methods by Geographical Information System (GIS) spatial analysis, and qualitative methods by interviews. The results show that remote rural areas have clusters with high shares of aged population, while the distribution of the RCCEs prevails in large cities, being partly adapted to socio-spatial requirements, and the general trends of the demographic ageing process. These findings are in contrast with the dominant perception of RCCE beneficiaries, who want to be closer to their domiciles, as they are more oriented towards family values, emotionally affected by separation from their relatives, consider themselves socially and spatially segregated groups in care centres, although aware of the need for long-term institutional care. The study reveals the necessity for optimising health policies for elders, by improving the socio-spatial management of such services and building age-friendly environments in long-term care in consent with WHO calls

Responsibilities and Limits of Local Government Actions against Users of Public Services of Planning and Sustainable Territorial Development in Romania

In the context of the changes that have occurred in the Romanian society, the public authorities are required to play a coordinating role in providing the framework for a sustainable and balanced development of the national territory, and to ensure the quality of life of the citizens. In order to achieve these goals of social responsibility, the public administration authorities must build and adapt the tools of public territorial action based on their specificity and within the existing legal framework and resources,. Thus, the study shows the national and European context that frames the actions of public administration for what concerns the sustainable territorial development. It analyzes the characteristics of administrative-territorial structures of Romania, highlighting their socio-demographic diversity and the territorial forms of institutional cooperation. The approach of these issues is based in the first instance on an analysis of the European strategic documents in the field, as well as on the national regulations concerning the organization and functioning of public administration and territorial planning. The implementation of decentralization and local public autonomy has led to the capitalization of the local potential of some administrative divisions and caused a competition and a difficult cooperation between them. By analogy with the provisions of the quality standards regarding the responsibilities of the organizations towards customers, the study illustrates and analyzes the responsibilities and limits of public administration authorities in promoting sustainable development, territorial equity and the quality of life for the users of public services, i.e. the community members

Modelling Potential Geographical Access of the Population to Public Hospitals and Quality Health Care in Romania

The geographical accessibility to hospitals relies on the configuration of the hospital network, spatial impedance and population distribution. This paper explores the potential geographic accessibility of the population to public hospitals in Romania by using the Distance Application Program Interface (API) Matrix service from Google Maps and open data sources. Based on real-time traffic navigation data, we examined the potential accessibility of hospitals through a weighted model that took into account the hospital competency level and travel time while using personal car transportation mode. Two scenarios were generated that depend on hospitals’ level of competency (I–V). When considering all categories of hospitals, access is relatively good with over 80% of the population reaching hospitals in less than 30 min. This is much lower in the case of hospitals that provide complex care, with 34% of the population travelling between 90 to 120 min to the nearest hospital classed in the first or second category of competence. The index of spatial accessibility (ISA), calculated as a function of real travel time and level of competency of the hospitals, shows spatial patterns of services access that highlight regional disparities or critical areas. The high concentration of infrastructure and specialised medical personnel in particular regions and large cities limits the access of a large part of the population to quality health services with travel time and distances exceeding optimal European level values. The results can help decision-makers to optimise the location of health services and improve health care delivery

The Urban Nexus: Contradictions and Dilemmas of (Post)Communist (Sub)Urbanization in Romania

The process of urbanization in Romania was a very tumultuous and slightly different one compared to other Central and Eastern European countries, being marked by the constant willingness to increase the degree of urbanization. The communist period was the most significant from this point of view, by considering both the number of newly declared towns and urban population growth. The urbanization of communist era corroborated with the excessive and forced industrialization has generated imbalances in the urban system and created distortions in the urban hierarchy. However, the legislative inconsistency and the lack of urban regulations during the post – communist period have lead to the increasing number of new (quasi) urban units (many of which without urban amenities) to the chaotic sub-urbanization of cities and urban decline. In many cases, the ability of local authorities to manage the urban development in the early years of transition has been hampered by inadequate legislation that regulates the urban growth in a completely different socio-economic system. Thus, the lacks of specific urban policies and urban regeneration plans have determined indirectly a hypertrophic evolution and an uncontrolled suburban expansion. Bucharest, the capital of the country has been most affected by these processes determining multilayered space transformation within the city and open space conversion to commercial and residential use, both affecting the urban environment and quality of life of urban-rural communities. The paper focuses on the patterns, the driving forces and the consequences of two opposing processes: socialist forced urbanization vs. post-socialist chaotic urbanization unfolding across the national urban landscape