Post-communist spatial restructuring in Bacău municipality (Romania)

Abstract

In the last two decades the Romanian urban space faced major dimensional, structural and functional transformations. Our paper proposes the evaluation of urban dynamics in Bacău municipality analysing the overall territorial evolution and the changes of urban function by two opposite and complementary tendencies which fundamentally marked the habitation pattern. On the one hand we refer to the modification in urban form considering the extension of built-up area – often tentacular and without suitable regulations– by sprawl and by adding or captiously urbanising rural neighbour localities. On the other hand we have in mind the multiple phenomena linked to the restructuring and sometimes the dissolution suffered by the constructed area and which results into a heterogenous urban mosaic composed by adding or demolishing buildings or by changing the land use which is reflected in population and buildings densities and in the manifestation of urban flows. Finally, we intend to make a statement on the manner in which there has been or not a changing in the pattern of urban habitation in the post-communist period, taking into consideration the divergent effects of periurbanization, urban sprawl or the restructuring/dissolution of urban space of Bacau municipality.