Urbanization Trends and their Link to Growth and Development.

Increasing the share of the urban population (urbanization process) is one of the global trends and represents also the topic of many prospective studies. Although it has been often proved to be a driver of economic growth, due to its associated positive externalities, urbanization should be assessed in the wider context of human development, including using indicators related to the quality of living. Improving the living conditions in the expanding urban areas would be very expensive. Thus, it would be unrealistically to expect positive impacts of urbanization on the development all over the world. n Romania, 55% of the population lives in the urban area, according to current statistics, while the World Bank agglomeration index indicates a degree of urbanization of 65%. Regardless which of these two values we consider, the housing conditions, such as the existence of sanitary facilities inside the dwelling, maintain Romania as an "outlier" in the European landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]