Deindustrialization, Tertiarization and Suburbanization in Central and Eastern Europe. Lessons Learned from Bucharest City, Romania

Radu Săgeată (), Bianca Mitrică, Andreea-Loreta Cercleux, Ines Grigorescu and Tamás Hardi
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Radu Săgeată: Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, 023993 Bucharest, Romania
Bianca Mitrică: Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, 023993 Bucharest, Romania
Andreea-Loreta Cercleux: Faculty of Geography and Interdisciplinary Center of Advanced Research on Territorial Dynamics (CICADIT), University of Bucharest, 050663 Bucharest, Romania
Ines Grigorescu: Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, 023993 Bucharest, Romania
Tamás Hardi: CERS Institute for Regional Studies, Széchenyi István University, 9022 Győr, Hungary

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: This paper intends to delve deeply into the current understanding of the ways in which the transition from a central-based economy to an economy relying on free competition has led to changes in the big urban centers, bringing about a change in the relationships with the suburban areas. The authors take into account the high population density, the lack of space, and the elevated price of land within the big cities, which leads to urban functions migrating beyond the administrative boundaries, thus favoring the process of suburbanization. Given the context, commercial forces shift, migrating from the center to the urban peripheries or even outside them. This research is based on a comprehensive process of participative investigation (2012–2022) in Bucharest, Romania’s capital city. The research relies on field investigation, statistical and quantitative analyses and bibliographical sources. The conclusions rely primarily on the idea that political changes cannot be separated from economic, cultural and environmental ones, highlighting globalizing flows and the development of big cities. Industrial activities, strongly developed within a central-based economy, have significantly declined, which is partly compensated for by the development of the tertiary sector and, in particular, of commercial services leading to a functional reconversion of the urban peripheries and of suburban areas. The conclusions suggest that it is very important to be highly careful regarding the dilemmas and challenges ensuing from uncontrolled urban growth; therefore, several measures of urban planning should be taken with a view to achieving a better cooperation between urban stakeholders and those from the metropolitan areas so as to attain some common objectives in infrastructure in order to reach an integrated regional development.

Keywords: deindustrialization; tertiarization; suburbanization; commercial investments; central and eastern Europe; Romania; Bucharest (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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