Abstract
The objective of this study was to characterize the development regions in Romania and to measure spatial imbalances, starting from the national and the European Union aspiration to promote more economic and social policies adapted to the different regional particularities. For this purpose, we conducted a multifactorial analysis of the sustainability of the development regions in Romania at NUTS II level by constructing a synthetic index of socio-economic development for the regions that appreciate sustainability and have accepted structural and cohesion funds. The multi-criteria synthetic index was obtained by aggregating several sub-indices (economy, health, education, public utilities, and living standards). We used cluster analysis to identify patterns of regional development in Romania over time. For 1998 and 2006, the same cluster structure was obtained. However, due to economic and social changes that occurred after 2006 (negative impact of the global financial crisis as well as the positive impact of EU funds), in 2016, we recorded another structure of clusters, except in the Bucharest-Ilfov region which continues to present a number of unique features. In addition, we show that the polarized regional development model is increasingly strengthening and the network of urban agglomerations needs to be territorially balanced to boost their ability to “export” wealth.
Highlights
A series of challenges cross national, institutional and political borders: globalization, the mobility of the workforce, the climate changes, a strong demographic decline, the importance of the renewable energy sources, etc. some aspects of the EU regional policy are found in the Preamble of the Treaty of Rome, as the recognition of the need to reduce the disparities among the EEC countries and regions, this policy did not reach its current dimension until the end of 1980, becoming one of the priority policies in the European Union and replacing its initial objective to reduce the regional economic disparities, measured by GDP/capita, through another wider concept: economic and social cohesion [1]
Some aspects of the EU regional policy are found in the Preamble of the Treaty of Rome, as the recognition of the need to reduce the disparities among the EEC countries and regions, this policy did not reach its current dimension until the end of 1980, becoming one of the priority policies in the European Union and replacing its initial objective to reduce the regional economic disparities, measured by GDP/capita, through another wider concept: economic and social cohesion [1]
Continuing the multifactorial analysis of the effects of economic integration and of implementing the cohesion policy on the development regions in Romania, we propose the use of cluster analysis to identify some development patterns for the regions in time
Summary
A series of challenges cross national, institutional and political borders: globalization, the mobility of the workforce, the climate changes, a strong demographic decline, the importance of the renewable energy sources, etc. some aspects of the EU regional policy are found in the Preamble of the Treaty of Rome, as the recognition of the need to reduce the disparities among the EEC countries and regions, this policy did not reach its current dimension until the end of 1980, becoming one of the priority policies in the European Union and replacing its initial objective to reduce the regional economic disparities, measured by GDP/capita, through another wider concept: economic and social cohesion [1]. In this context, the cohesion policy was created in a strong relationship with other community policies, for example the competitive policy, the state aid policy, the protection of the environment, in the field of transport, promoting innovation or the development of the informational society. The challenge of an integrated approach based on regions for the improvement of the territorial and social cohesion, strongly promoted in the new Cohesion Policy and the European Agenda 2020, strengthens the scientific and technical debate regarding planning tools and practices [3], monitoring/evaluation systems, and governance patterns on a regional and sub-regional level
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