Search

The multidisciplinary approach outlined in this paper aims to assess the correlation between geophysical and social vulnerability for disaster risk reduction. To achieve this, two multi-criteria methods based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques have been integrated to assess the risk to natural hazards in the North-East Development Region. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was utilized to conduct a comprehensive hazard analysis, including floods, landslides, and earthquakes. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method was applied to examine the spatial distribution of social vulnerability at the Local Administrative Unit (LAU level), utilizing 24 variables to generate 6 principal components. Based on these results a Regional Risk Index (RRI) was developed using the bivariate method, combining the multi-hazard distribution with social vulnerability. The results showed that the north-eastern part of the region presents the highest risk, encompassing 10.68% of administrative units. These results can contribute to the design of risk reduction programs and policies.

This study aims to analyze the mayoral reelection rates in Romanian local elections between 1996 and 2016, a period marked by significant economic and political transitions. Given the post-communist context, understanding these dynamics is crucial for grasping Romania's evolving electoral behavior. In order to evaluate the dynamics of mayoral reelection rates in post-communist Romania, the primary research objective of the study consists in the assessment of the correlation between electoral participation and preferences for the incumbent mayors. In addition to this research objective, the paper aims to evaluate the impact of the ideological polarization in shaping electoral decision. An important research objective highlights the association between electorate's education level and political preferences for the incumbent political parties. Besides these objectives, the paper stresses the importance of the economic factors for predicting the dynamics of Romanian’ mayoral reelection rates. Using a quantitative research design based on nonlinear statistical regressions, the study highlights the importance of both ideological and economic vote in mayoral reelection. Moreover, statistical results indicate that both the interactions between left-right ideological polarization, secondary education and economic efficiency are significant predictors for explaining Romania's electoral behavior over time. The novelty of the study lies in the use of these interactions between ideology, education and economy for providing a deeper perspective on the mayoral reelection dynamics. These empirical findings are relevant not only for scholars but also for political decision-makers or electoral strategists, providing evidence related with electoral behavior in Romanian local elections.

Although the tourism sector has witnessed a gradual recovery during the last years from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is still too soon to discuss about a full recovery, as territories have responded and adapted in diverse manners to the shock. As such, it is important to investigate the impact of the pandemic in different moments and at different geographical scales, in order to identify and understand the contrasts between territories of same countries. In light of these facts, the purpose of the current paper is to assess the evolution and the spatial patterns of tourism demand in Romania under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for the period of time 2020-2023. The focus is on identifying the differences between regions and destinations in terms of initial impact of the pandemic and of their path to recovery to pre-pandemic levels of tourist arrivals.

The sustainable development of rural areas is one of the European Union’s objectives. LEADER program contributes to its fulfillment by offering financial support to disadvantaged rural areas. The purpose of this paper is to assess the LEADER program’s economic impact in the Romanian rural communities. Econometric methods of impact assessment were used to analyze the evolution of economic indicators in the beneficiary communities. Propensity Score Matching and Difference in Differences were the methods applied in order to meet the objectives of the paper: analysis of the spatial distribution of projects submitted and funds allocated to LAGs (1), and of the economic evolution of LAG and non-LAG communities, before and after LEADER funding (2). The results indicate a stronger economic growth for the beneficiary rural communities, confirming in all cases the initial hypothesis. LEADER seems to have acted in these directions: the creation of new jobs and increasing the local businesses performance. However, the contribution made was minimal and insignificant. Conclusions of the study highlight that the contribution of the LEADER program to the economic development of rural communities can be at most one of supporting the current level of development, but not of reaching a much higher level. LEADER can be considered, from a quantitative point of view, only an instrument with a positive effect on rural areas, but not an instrument of impact. This is because LEADER did not bring significant changes and didn’t ensure that critical mass that could trigger the economic development of rural communities.

It is expected that the number of elected female mayors in local government will increase globally, yet no major progress has been registered lately despite the increased focus on the topic. At the European level, no country exceeds 40% female mayors or other leaders of the municipal council (or equivalent), with the highest descriptive representation of 39.1% in Iceland. Following the 2020 elections in Romania, only around 5% of mayors were female with a strong over-representation of male mayors. The current study aims to analyze the male–female distribution of mayors, the degree of re-election, the relationship between the number of candidates and re-election of incumbents, and how these factors impact female political representation at the local level in Romania. Thus, we argue that a high degree of re-election of incumbents may be a barrier to women’s access to the position of mayor. In addition, it is important to determine whether female incumbents are as successful as their male counterparts in being re-elected. While there is an extensive body of literature on incumbency that covers a range of topics, there is a gap in the literature regarding the proposed subject. The present research aims to fill the gap and contribute to a better understanding of the political representation of women in Eastern Europe. We utilized a dataset of Romanian elections from 2008 to 2020 to test our hypotheses. Our findings indicate that during the studied period, more than 95% of mayors were male, the re-election was a frequent occurrence in Romania with a percentage ranging from 70.82% (2008–2012) to 72% (2012–2016 and 2016–2020), and female incumbents were just as likely to be re-elected as their male counterparts.

The fundamentals contribution of multi-hazard assessment lies in its ability to guide and identify directions for territorial development, aiming to reduce vulnerability through the implementation of appropriate measures. In the present study, Multi-Criteria Decision Making supported by Geographic Information System was utilized to solve spatial problems related to territorial sprawl. Considering this perspective, an analysis was conducted on the susceptibility of land to the occurrence of geo hazards in the Moldova catchment, situated in the northeastern region of Romania, within a transitional zone between mountains and plateaus. The analysis focused on assessing the likelihood of geo-hazards like floods, landslides, and earthquakes, utilizing the weights obtained through the implementation of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Subsequently, the obtained results were utilized to generate a multi-hazard map, which facilitated the identification of areas that are suitable for territorial development. The results were validated in two ways: by sensitivity analysis in which two minimum and maximum scenarios were proposed concerning the result obtained and by validation using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve method. The areas with high susceptibility to geo-hazards triggers are located in the southeastern part of the region, in the proximity of the hydrographic network. Flood risk is the hazard with the highest recurrence. Localities with high suitability for spatial development have a central-western distribution. According to the applied model, sites for each locality included in the study area can be identified. The high and very high suitability classes account for 54% of the total area, while the unsuitable classes represent 15% of the area. However, the vulnerability of the area and the need for the study are generated by 35% of the settlements being located in areas with high susceptibility.

Urban transport is one of the most unsustainable activities in Romanian cities. Green and smart mobility solutions could help them in becoming more sustainable. However, it is generally acknowledged that successfully implementing green, smart and sustainable solutions depends highly on local stakeholders’ engagement and public acceptance. Against this background, the current study explores stakeholders’ perception and media coverage of some urban transport issues in Romanian cities. Our approach is only exploratory as it is not aimed at testing hypothesis, but rather at 1) exploring stakeholders’ opinionsconcerning the state of urban mobility in Bucharest, Iași and Cluj-Napoca, and at 2) identifying the main urban transport issues reflected in local newspapers from Iași and Cluj-Napoca. Results concerning stakeholders’ opinions suggest, inter alia, an overwhelming influence of local authorities and transport engineers in the decision-making process, a fact that is contrary to sustainable and good governance practices. Urban transport issues reflected in local newspapers pinpoint the high importance of public transport in Romanian post-socialist cities, a rather incipient emergence of green and smart practices, and some significant differences in the propensity of inquired cities to modernise their urban transport services.

Spontaneous urban development, specific to East European cities in the post-socialist period, produces permanent land-use changes. The study aims at analyzing this phenomenon for the particular case of the North East Development Region of Romania. Although as a way of manifestation there are many similarities at regional level, the behavior of urban systems and land-use changes are influenced by many local factors. For this study, updated data provided by Corine Land Cover were capitalized, and the analysis were carried out in temporal stages – 1990 – 2000 – 2006 – 2012 – 2018 using the ArcGis software. In terms of assessing the consequences of urban development, the analysis concentrates on permanent changes that can indicate the penetration of urban space in rural areas. The largest area of land-use category transformed into artificial surfaces belongs to the agricultural sector. The challenge is to analyze the magnitude of this phenomenon, the main consequence being the consumption of productive land, and to see if its perpetuation and intensification contravenes the principles of sustainable development.

Women’s involvement in politics is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon in Romania,following very contradictory and sinuous trends: starting from a high rate of female participation in the political life during the Communism (only as representatives, but not as decision-makers), to an abrupt drop in the 1990s,when politics was male-dom inated, to, finally, a rise of female presence in this field, especially when Romania joined EU. Given these premises, the study aims to offer an overview on women’s representation in politics at local level, for the 2016 elections, and to understand if there is a connection between the local identity of a future female candidate within the community and her success during the electoral campaign; we have tried to identify the key elements, if any, for a greater presence of women in the politics and if any gender stereotypes are manifested in the studied rural communities; estimating the Romania’s probability to have, in the more or less distant future, a greater presence of women in political life, both in urban and rural areas.

La crise financière globale de 2008 a bouleversé l’ensemble de l’économie mondiale mais les mécanismes de propagation, ainsi que l’impact n’ont pas été neutres du point de vue spatial, car certains territoires ont réagi mieux que d’autres face à ce même défi. Notre contribution test l’hypothèse selon laquelle la nature du territoire est un facteur explicatif important pour les trajectoires différentes de résilience. Dans ce but, on a créé d’abord une typologie de résilience par rapport à la crise, selon la dynamique du PIB/habitant avant (2000-2008) et après ce choc économique (2010-2015). Ensuite on a créé trois typologies des départements roumains selon trois critères qui reflètent leur nature intrinsèque: urbaine/rurale, centrale/périphérique, agricole/industrielle/ tertiaire. Enfin, on a croisé les typologies de résilience avec les trois typologies selon la nature du territoire, à l’aide de l’analyse des correspondances. Cette approche nous a permis tout d’abord de mettre en évidence la complexité des dynamiques de résilience. La typologie rend compte d’une variété importante des trajectoires subies par les départements roumains, trajectoires qui ont été regroupés en six catégories représentatives: leaders dynamiques; leaders en perte de vitesse ; leaders potentiels ; territoires (re)dynamisés; territoires pauvres mais rattrapage soutenu; territoires en difficulté relative. Les résultats valident partiellement l’hypothèse, en montrant que les trajectoires prospères après et avant la crise concernent seulement les départements métropolitains ou centraux. Par contre, la réciproque n’est pas tellement valable ; seulement la moitié des départements centraux et métropolitains s’encadre dans une trajectoire prospère. Les résultats montrent aussi une possible existence d’un potentiel transformatif (territoires (re)dynamisés) parmi tous les types de régions NUTS 3, ce que devrait inciter à nous demander sur l’importance des dynamiques de développement locales (y compris les politiques publiques et les décisions des différents acteurs) dans la construction de la résilience territoriale.

This paper aims to provide a regionally integrated image of Botoșani County, by identifying base typologies concerning the administrative units inside the region it belongs. The analysis of the study focuses on the social and economic sectors aiming to underline the inequities from within. The state of the rural environment in region of Moldavia is statistically analyzed based on data provided by the Romanian Censuses for 2002 and 2011. This analysis serves to fulfill the purpose of this paper, which is to place Botoșani County in its integrated regional position argued from a complex perspective but capable to emphasize it at territorial level. The main results of the analysis concerning the economic and social typologies are acquired through the standardized values of the indicators used, through highlighting the existing positive and negative deviations, and also by setting a profile for each base administrative unit. This study is descriptive and analytic, being meant to highlight the evolution of the demographic, economic and social domains in Moldavia and Botoșani County in the period 2002–2011, the tendency of classifying the NUTS 3 administrative units by the deviations from regional means.

This paper explores the tourism-related official actions undertaken by the government in Romania during the COVID-19 pandemic from a stakeholders' perspective. The approach is based on answering three research questions: (1) Which are the policies that tourism stakeholders benefitted from during the pandemic? (2) How do tourism stakeholders appreciate the utility and efficiency of the measures implemented by the government? and (3) To what extent do the stakeholders perceive these measures as providing long-term benefits? Methodologically, the study relies on the statistical analysis of data collected through a questionnaire applied to tourism stakeholders from Romania. The results indicate mixed perceptions regarding the implemented policies, with most stakeholders considering the received support as less than optimal. A positive perspective is given by the fact that although most stakeholders regarded the positive impact of the policies only in relation to the pandemic period, there are also stakeholders indicating long-term benefits of these policies. These results are useful for providing lessons from the recent pandemic and for suggesting ways for improving governments' response to future crises.

The potential role of tourism in enhancing a balanced territorial development is officially acknowledged by the EU. However, little is known regarding the extent to which tourism in Romania contributes or could contribute to reducing regional inequalities. The present study approaches the matter of the growth of tourism demand and supply in relation to the type of territory (lagging, intermediary, leading), at both regional and local levels. The results indicate a significant geographical concentration of tourism activity, despite a noticeable diffusion of tourism across the country in the last decades. This derives from the fact that the leading territories, which already took the lion’s share of the tourism supply and demand also retain the highest part of the increases in tourism demand. As a consequence, tourism sector stands out more as a factor that can increase territorial disparities than contribute to their reduction. However, a considerable potential for tourism growth in terms of tourism supply characterizes the lagging regions. Accordingly, differentiated tourism public policies related to the type of territory could be considered.

The article describes the main theoretical framework concerning the interpretation of the cultural tourism heritage, by emphasizing the principles of the interpretation, its role in the present challenges created by the tourism development in the new globalized world. The tourism demand trends show that there is an increasing of the numbers of visitors who desire to understand the past, the old cultures, to learn about different cultures and local communities’ way of living, about the architecture and history at the destination. In this context, the interpretation of the cultural heritage has to be appropriated to this democratization of cultural tourism and also to take into account the new technologies which can contribute to achieving the goals of a sustainable tourism.

This paper provides a review of the past extreme weather events encountered in Romania, threatening the physical and psychological health of millions of people, damaging economy, infrastructure and communities, rendering different types of vulnerability. The impact of natural disaster on health is felt globally at different degrees depending on the relief, and particularly on the specific prone areas in each country. The fundamental objective of this work is to reveal a method for estimating the existing vulnerabilities of the population, mainly by socio-demographic indicator analyses, quantified by developing a Public Health Vulnerability Index (PHVI), for a future estimation of the social susceptibility area to natural hazards. By means of a selected area of interest, which highlights socio-demographic analysis in the field of public health, it is revealed the composition followed by the processing method of a partial Public Health Vulnerability Index.

Providing the entire population with the same accessibility to services of general interest is among the priorities of EU policy. Among these services, those concerned with medical treatment occupy a special place due to their social and economic importance. The study raises the issue of modelling the population’s spatial accessibility to medical services in the North-Eastern Region of Romania. A trans-scalar methodology that has been tailored to the specific features of the Romanian medical system was employed for computing indexes of accessibility. The methodology brings together into one synthetic indicator five hierarchical levels of analysis, the geographical proximity of service centres, their degree of attractiveness and the potential need for medical services at local level. The results highlight areas with different levels of accessibility to medical services and their dysfunctionalities according to each variable employed in the analysis.

The Romanian seaside, a magnet for Scandinavian tourists in the past, encounters nowadays difficulties in finding its own place in the regional context of the Black Sea. Despite stagnation in modernising tourism structures, during the months of July and August the coast is full of tourists. The main focus of this survey is to identify the raisons of the tourist choices and the main issues in Romanian coastal tourism.

In 1989, when the communist political regime collapsed, Romania was considered the country that had faced the most ferocious dictatorship of the entire East – European block of communist countries. The freedom won in 1989 has induced radical changes, the post – revolution period representing a race against time in the attempt to pass over many handicaps. At the beginning, the democratic one was the most difficult of all. The enthusiasm of the electing population that took part in the free democratic elections in May 1990 gradually faded away until the next elections. This raises the following question: Isn’t democracy faulted? The Romanian transition has many specificities and it is obvious that the economic transition affects and influences the democratic one. The political class plays a major part in shaping the policies that an economy, a society must follow. The lack of political will in accomplishing the political, fiscal and economic decentralization has caused numerous delays, contradictions and endless political debates. The spatial implications of the democratic transition can be noticed at different scales even if they are not totally functional. We refer here to a political will and to the understanding of democracy, decentralization representing the key to solve out many problems, of participative democracy included. The new Romanian society relies on the new juridical and economic relations created after 1990. Liberalism has had a major impact. It is only the mentality of people and of the political class that has to undergo more changes.