Cities 28 (2011) 206–219

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Cities
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities

City profile

The new Bucharest: Two decades of restructuring

Mariana Nae a, David Turnock b,*
a
Department of Human and Economic Geography, University of Bucharest, B-dul.Balcescu 1, 010041 Bucharest, Romania
b
Department of Geography, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The Romanian capital became well-known under communism for major construction and redevelopment
Received 10 November 2009 projects. Bucharest’s post-communist reconstruction has seen a major sectoral change from industry to
Received in revised form 11 April 2010 commerce, backed by numerous building projects for housing, shops, offices and hotels. The urban land-
Accepted 24 April 2010
scape has changed in many parts of the downtown and outer suburban areas, especially with the intru-
Available online 3 August 2010
sion of tall buildings into areas of pre-communist development. The approach has been quite permissive
towards private enterprise, absent a clear vision of a 21st century city. Although development has not
Keywords:
been excessively chaotic, there is a clear case for more effective regulation as well as greater attention
Bucharest
Conservation
to infrastructure in privately-managed utilities and in the public transport system.
Functional change Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Metropolitan region
Planning philosophy
Postcommunism
Restructuring

Introduction
Bucharest is the capital of Romania, one of the largest East Cen-
tral European states, where radical post-communist restructuring
has created one of South East Europe’s leading business centres.
A previous city profile (Turnock, 1990) examined the expansion
of the city under communism, which culminated in the later
Ceausßescu years, when comprehensive redevelopment was carried
out across a large swathe of the central area. With Romania an EU
member since 2007, it is appropriate to review the way in which
this has affected the urban landscape.
In some respects the situation remains basically unchanged;
Bucharest, still the national capital, dominates the national urban
hierarchy, with a population in 2009 of 1.94 m (for an area, includ-
ing Ilfov County, which constitutes one of the country’s eight EU
development regions: see Fig. 1). While the general tendency in
Romania is for urban populations to fall, due to natural decrease
and migration abroad, Bucharest is now fairly stable, with a small
net in-migration. This comes after the rapid increase of the com-
munist years followed by heavy out-migration in the early 1990s,
as workers returned home during the recession of the early transi-
tion years. Bucharest has done relatively well throughout the post-
communist period, with growth in commerce that has broadly
compensated for the decline in industry: while jobs in industry de-
clined by 46.7% in Bucharest during 1992–2002 (37.5% nationally)
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 401162523826.
E-mail addresses: mirellanae@yahoo.com (M. Nae), dt8@le.ac.uk (D. Turnock).
the fall in the total working population was only 7.3%: less than
half the national rate of 15.5% (Popescu, 1999, 2000).
The city is the leading recipient of foreign direct investment and
much of it is now going into property; this started with offices and
extended to shops, hotels and housing. According to National Bank
statistics, 62.1% of a total foreign investment of €172.7 billion dur-
ing 2003–2008 went to Bucharest–Ilfov while the seven provincial
regions with a roughly comparable population gained only 3.2–
7.8% each. It is very much a boom city, underpinned by 8 years of
continuous national economic growth prior to the current reces-
sion: along with Ilfov (a rural/suburban county surrounding the
city) it accounted for 21.7% of national GDP in 2005 (compared
with 20.1% in 2000 and 12.0% in 1989).
This paper examines the salient characteristics of a dramatic
shift in economic emphasis from the secondary to the tertiary
sector, as well as the problems arising: the gulf between rich
and poor; the ‘ad hoc’ nature of urban landscape change; and
the infrastructural ‘catch-up’. Cohesion is also compromised by
the division of the city into six sectors or districts, each with its
own mayor (‘primar’) and council. As indicated in Fig. 2, these
sectors are numbered clockwise beginning with Sector One in
the northwest, Two in the northeast (though limited by the prox-
imity of Ilfov territory at Voluntari), Three in the east, Four in the
southeast, Five in the southwest and Six in the west. Although
there is a general mayor and council looking after the city as a
whole, individual sectors have their own budgets (based in part
on local taxation) and spending priorities, as well as development
strategies.

0264-2751/$ - see front matter Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.cities.2010.04.004
 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219
The communist dynamic
When the revolution occurred, Bucharest had already under-
gone particularly radical change in line with Ceausßescu’s personal
desires (Cavalcanti, 1992, 1997). He decided to combine the devel-
opment of apartment blocks in the suburbs, partly on greenfield
land and partly in areas with rural-type cottages (‘case de ßt ară’)
with redevelopment of the old central area, where change had oc-
curred piecemeal apart from the semicircular eastern highway
(Sßosea) of Mihai Bravu/S ß tefan cel Mare (marking the edge of the
19th century city) which acquired a new façade of apartments.
The 1977 earthquake displaced 40,000 people, and work was
started on an eight hectare site in 1983. The plan involved a new
east–west boulevard, Victoria Socialismului (now Unirii), flanked
by apartments for the communist ‘nomenklatura’, heading towards
to a massive, palatial structure at the foot of Dl.Arsenalului. This
330,000 sq m ‘Casa Poporului’ (now ‘Palatul Parlamentului’), is
reputedly the largest building in the world after the Pentagon.
The palace also lies close to the Dâmbovitßa which was an integral
part of the plan since the need for protection (after floods in 1972,
1975 and 1979) and better sewage disposal, spawned an elaborate
plan to canalise the river with an underground sewerage/flood
water conduit with a canal of relatively clean water on the surface
(Plate 1). Two large lakes were also excavated in the floodplain, one
at Crângasßi on the northeastern side called Lacul Morii (which still
exists) to hold flood water and another at Dudesßti to the southeast
which was intended as a storage for drinking water, transferred by
pipeline from the Argesß dam at Ogrezeni. Significantly, a parallel
metro route through the heart of the city was developed simulta-
neously, a long overdue innovation.
Hailed as ‘the great constructor’, the old dictator was also fasci-
nated by hydro projects of all kinds (Church, 1979). The transfor-
mation of Bucharest was combined with a Danube-Black Sea
Fig. 1. A general map showing the built-up area, transport systems and other aspects of post-communist development.
207
Canal to be followed by canalisation of the Argesß for navigation
from the Danube to the planned new town of 30 Decembrie to
the southwest of the capital. It was proposed that suburban growth
should be combined with substantial tree planting in the south to
moderate pollution (Săsărman, 1970); also that the wider region
should be integrated through ‘localitatßi satelite’ axes of develop-
ment extending over 20–30 km in all directions. However, neither
of these projects had really begun in 1989 although, the existing
settlement network certainly channelled its army of commuters
along the main roads and railways towards the city factories, e.g.
the Popesßti-Leordeni industrial estate on the southeastern edge
of the city (Vernescu, 1970). Four villages were promoted to urban
status just before the revolution: Bolintin Vale, Budesßti, Fundulea
and Mihăilesßti. However, beyond the intermediate belt of apart-
ment blocks, the peripheral area remained heavily influenced by
its rural origins (Iordan, 1964, 1973) apart from a number of indus-
trial estates and lakeland recreation zones such as Comana and
(above all) Snagov.
Changing step
The revolution brought an end to grandiose projects, although
expansion of the metro continued, albeit very slowly. New housing
was also disrupted by the financial crisis and the collapse of state
building companies. Priority was given to maintaining the indus-
trial establishment (along with public transport and other essential
services) albeit with reductions to the workforce and increasing
blight due to the lack of resources for modernisation. Rusted build-
ing cranes (‘macarelele’) became a major safety hazard with one
actually collapsing into the Dâmbovitßa during demolition in March
2007. Alternative public projects surfaced, notably to build a na-
tional cathedral, but the foundation stone has still not been laid.
Meanwhile, a private economy was reconstituted, initially based
208 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219

upon commerce, with street trading emerging partly as a survival
strategy. The established traditional markets were also available,
while kiosks appeared spontaneously on a range of ‘opportunity
sites’ and were subsequently regularised as the planning process
adjusted to the new realities.
Although the pressure for large new commercial buildings was
initially moderated by low spending power, the demand for more
office space was more insistent from privatised businesses and also
from foreign companies that were in some cases capitalising on the
city’s regional role (Unilever South Central Europe covered seven
states from Bosnia-Hercegovina to Moldova from its headquarters
in Bucharest). And after a decade of relative stagnation and inactiv-
ity, renewed economic growth, linked with political stability, the
prospect of EU accession, and rising domestic expenditure on hous-
ing and consumption goods, created an economic boom involving
new shopping malls, hotels and substantial housing projects, in
addition to further office developments. The changes being felt
on the edge of the city also had impacts upon the industrial zones,
where privatisation – typically by employee-management buy-out
(EMBO) occurred. After 2000, the growing pressure on inner-city
land gave a strong stimulus to relocate and take advantage of high
land values which now became the key asset for many enterprises.
This was further encouraged on environmental grounds to reduce
air pollution.

Fig. 2. Aspects of housing in 2002 by sectors and wards: (a) persons per dwelling and (b) living space per household as percentages relating to the median band of 41–
60 sq m.
 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219 209

Complementing the city’s recent changes has been a serious
poverty problem arising from unemployment and falling real in-
comes. Despite its relative affluence in many quarters the capital
swallows a fifth of all social protection funding. Reduced industrial
pollution is balanced by heavier traffic (many second-hand heavy-
polluting vehicles) and contributes another dimension to the city’s
stressful living conditions. Social tensions generated by transition
have been exacerbated by housing shortage (and soaring real es-
tate values). Areas with a large Roma population (e.g. Ferentari
and much of the southern industrial zone) have low incomes, poor
services and are perceived unfairly as prone to high criminality
(Dumitrache and Dumbrăveanu, 1998). However, a fundamental
issue is the lack of an up-to-date development plan combined with
firm ‘groundrules’ of urban planning (at least prior to the 2008 leg-
islation outlined below) which generated ad hoc redevelopment
and urban sprawl giving Bucharest the reputation of being the ‘Bei-
jing of the Balkans’.
Industrial change
In the early 1990s, industrial zones comprised 2400 ha: virtu-
ally a tenth of the city and an area only slightly exceeded by green
space (2500 ha) and transport routes (2900 ha) (Popescu, 1992;
Popescu et al., 1997; Tălângă, 1989) (Plate 2). Many closures and
relocations have taken place and further land will be made avail-

Fig. 2 (continued)
210 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219

able by the abandonment of some 50 separate railway sidings that
once served the factories. Industrial change constitutes a major
transformation and while the communist era does not evoke par-
ticularly happy memories there are aesthetic characteristics in a
fast-disappearing socialist landscape that merit documentation
and selective preservation of the industrial patrimony (Nora,
1984).
Office development
The demand for offices has been maintained since the first days
of transition although considerable capacity was generated by the
early privatisation of the monumental ‘Casa Scânteia’: a massive
printing house erected in the 1950s. Now known as Free Press
House and privatised as a ‘condominion’ in a manner similar to for-
mer state-owned apartment blocks, this is a striking example of
adaptation. The World Trade Centre – opened nearby on Bulevard
Expozitßiei in 1995 – became the headquarters for many Romanian
and foreign companies (Area II in Fig. 1): as a public–private part-
nership it encouraged the local business community to become ac-
tive in foreign trade through international strategic alliances while
also seeking foreign investment. Further office accommodation,
generally for sale or rent, followed, e.g. Bucharest Financial Plaza
before Samsung and Bouygues completed Victoria Business Plaza
in 1998 (Plate 3). In 1999, the French building company Campenon
Bernard started a €50 mln 18-floor business centre in Ptßa.Victoriei,
arising from the initiative of municipal authorities. At this time the
Calea Victoriei area (Area I in Fig. 1) became the most desirable
location for the office sector combining a city centre location with
rapid links to Otopeni airport and the main railway station with its
bus and metro connections (Plate 4). But after 2000, the pace of
development quickened in the run-up to EU accession and the

Plate 1. The canalised Dâmbovitßa in central Bucharest, where the housing is dominated by 1980s apartment blocks. Splaiul Unirii is the road running beside the river while
Bulevard Mircea Vodă can be seen on the left, with B-dul Mărăsßesßti in the foreground, crossing the river beside the 1990s-era glass-fronted building for the Romanian
Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Further to the right on the opposite side of the river another glass-fronted building can be seen: this is the tower block for the Muntenia
Investment Fund (‘Societatea de Investitßii Financiare Muntenia’) in which many Romanians have holdings as a result of the voucher privatisation of state-owned companies in
early 1990s. Most of the space is actually taken by other institutions, e.g. the bank Unicredit Romania.
 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219 211

main office developments moved northwards to Dorobantßi (Area
IV) and then exploded into the lakeland zone particularly Pipera
(Area III) along with Băneasa (Area VIII), Floreasca (Area VII) and
Tei (Area IX), with complementary growth around Ptßa.Unirii (Area
V) and other inner city areas, though less noticeably in the west
and southwest with its stronger industrial character. Currently to-
tal office space is estimated at 0.8–1.2 bln sq m but vacancy rates
are still low at around 3.0% while monthly rents stand at €20–
22/sq m (higher than Berlin, Prague and Vienna) with saturation
anticipated (prior to the recession) in 2010–2012. But develop-
ment has not always been well-coordinated with water supply/
sewerage provision and traffic management, though some Băneasa
road intersections are now being improved.
Many domestic and foreign companies are involved as develop-
ers, builders or property managers, although some (like Volks-
bank’s Europolis) have found it difficult to acquire the quality
portfolio they require and have adopted a development role with
land purchase for new projects. It is also evident that new business
properties have caused some conflicts when set alongside tradi-
tional townscapes. Bucharest Financial Plaza – a round-shaped
concrete and glass tower – was properly authorised but is widely
felt to be inappropriate in the city centre where it overpowers
the architectural jewels of the late 19th century (see below). Tall
buildings are arguably more appropriate for certain intermediate
areas with appropriate space and profile. Towers have certainly be-
come commonplace in recent years, with ‘steel monsters’ now
overshadowing important historical monuments like the Armenian
church and the Catholic Cathedral of St. Iosif. Rising land values
have forced buildings upwards and it is questionable how far
restrictions can be afforded. It is also interesting to see that major
developers, who acquire former factory sites, are diversifying by
combining office accommodation with commercial space (shops
and a hotel) and residential use. Thus offices are now just one facet
of a central area redevelopment for the Dâmbovitßa Center on the
‘Casa Radio’ site by Plaza Centers (owned by Europe Israel) that will
include two 145 m (40-storey) office towers (the tallest buildings
in Bucharest) as well as a 100 m giant wheel ‘Roata Bucuresßtiului’
on the Las Vegas/London Eye model.
Shopping facilities
While retail space has increased there is a fall in the number of
traditional food and hardware shops balanced by growth of the
clothing and footwear sectors; along with a tendency to diversify
into photocopy or money-changing services. Small operators are
pushed into the side streets and yards (Vlad-Popescu, 1993).
Bucharest’s luxury stores tend to cluster in Calea Victoriei, a tradi-
tional high-class commercial axis now constrained by one-way
traffic, limited parking and the creeping obsolescence of unre-
stored facades. Meanwhile Magheru Boulevard nearby has gained
in status, helped by its coffee shops and cinemas; while Calea
Dorobantßi has been adopted by many new up-market developers
as an élite residential area with embassies, restaurants and well-
maintained traditional buildings. However, the better shops are
increasingly to be found in the malls while five-star hotels embrace
small luxury malls with close control over tenancies (e.g. Vuitton)

Plate 2. A view in Str.Buzesßti on the western side of the CBD: an area with much inter-war development for mixed industrial, commercial and residential purposes. It is now
experiencing a further cycle of change: the buildings on the left have now disappeared while the Italian Generali (insurance company) building on the right is typical of the
new generation: the Italian company returned to Romania in 1993 and set up the company now known as Generali Asigurari with mixed Italian and Romanian capital.
212 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219

to retain the desired cachet. For more popular tastes, commerce
has also been attracted to public transport nodes, e.g. the metro
intersections of Dristor and Ptßa.Unirii as well as suburban stations
like Armata Poporului with Cora’s ‘Lujerului’ store in close proxim-
ity. Meanwhile the city’s traditional markets – numbering around
30 (see Fig. 1) – remain important for fresh produce and typically
attract a range of commercial functions in surrounding streets.
Some are now being modernised, e.g. the public–private partner-
ship for the €117 mln rebuilding of Ptßa.Obor which started in
2007 (Dobraca, 1994).
The development of hypermarkets, supermarkets and food
stores owned by discount companies is widespread. Carrefour
(France) arrived in 1999 and opened their first store at Militari in
the west in 2001, followed by Orhideea in the centre before moving
eastwards to Colentina and Vitan and northwards to Băneasa.
Meanwhile Cora (owned by Belgium’s Louis Delhaize Group)
started in the east at Pantelimon during 2001–2002 and then
moved west to Militari (‘Cora Lujerului’), since when the company
has expanded partly by acquisitions: taking over the Mega Image
network started by Greek investors in 1995 and more recently
the ‘La Fourmi’ chain which was actually the first supermarket
chain to start in the city (in 1992). Germany’s Köln-based Rewe
Zentral started their chain of ‘Billa’ supermarkets in 1999 with
stores in the centre, east and west and also acquired a small XXL
Mega Discount network with a store in eastern Bucharest at Funde-
ni. The same company is also developing Selgros ‘Cash and Carry’
stores while its ‘Penny Markets’ are suitable for the city suburbs.
Metro Cash and Carry, another German interest, started at Otopeni
in 1996, encouraged by the Romanian banking and insurance ty-
coon Ion Tiriac. A third German firm – Lidl & Schwarz Group –
opened one of their Kaufland hypermarkets in the east, at Obor
(Colentina Highway) in 2005, followed by a second in the centre
in 2006. Tengelmann (Austria) launched their ‘Plus’ stores in
2005 and the Profit chain has since been developed by the Delhaize
Group. The food market is not yet saturated even though the major
networks currently provide one store for 25,600 people on average
which is more than double the national average of 55,000. Refer-
ence should also be made to three Romanian store chains (Altex,
Domo and Flamingo) that have cornered the market for house-
hold/electrical goods where spending does not yet appear to be
high enough to attract foreign companies, although a Dutch com-
pany Bomenveld has now acquired the Altex chain, while Domo
is now owned by Lynx Property (Equest Investments Balkans).
And much the same applies for the furniture chains led by Mobex-
pert and smaller chains like Alpitex and Elvila. IKEA opened in
2007 (albeit a 26,000 sq m franchise project at Băneasa) and RTC
Holding has negotiated a Debenham franchise.
With monthly commercial rents of €100–150/sq m there was
little sign of momentum flagging (until the recession that began
in 2008) and on the basis of provision levels in other European cap-
itals experts think that Bucharest can support up to 24 hypermar-
kets which is double the present number. However, the current
recession has meant reduced sales for many stores and particular
problems for Romanian companies with debt: insolvency may pro-
vide further opportunities for foreign-owned chains to expand.
Meanwhile hotel space is continuing to grow with much recent

Plate 3. An aerial view looking north from the Dâmbovitßa showing Calea Victoriei climbing from the floodplain to the river terraces. The top of the ornate building
constructed before the First World War to accommodate the Savings Bank (CEC) can just be seen, but the view is dominated by Bucharest Business Plaza. Although properly
authorised this building was widely seen as inappropriate for the city core dominated by 19th century construction and subsequent office developments have been built
further away.
 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219 213

Plate 4. Pta.Victoriei with the new skyline created by the BRD (Romanian Development Bank) Building and another tower to the right – Bucharest Tower Center – under
construction (25 floors of which 22 are for letting: 600 sq m per floor). However, although the latter building was finished in 2008 and several companies are interested (e.g.
Philip Morris and the state electricity grid company Transelectrica) it has been empty throughout 2009 due to a contractual dispute between the shareholders of Tower
Center International and Alpha Bank which has so far caused losses of some €3.5 mln.

Plate 5. A large 1980s food market project in Rahova: one of several that remained unfinished in 1989. Known as ‘circles of fire’ (with a form reminiscent of metallurgical
furnaces) they were being dismissed ironically as ‘hunger circuses’ by the time of the revolution.
214 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219
progress in the four/five star sector: weekday occupation rates are
around 50% while prices are high but somewhat below the levels of
London, Moscow and Zurich. Many hotels have been privatised and
refurbished since the communist era but new capacity is continu-
ally being added.
Commercial outlets are now to be found in a growing number of
shopping malls which have become very popular, with the big
chains frequently playing an ‘anchor’ role. Several malls (Bucuresßti
Mall, City Mall, Liberty Center and Plaza România) have made use
of the sites of planned cirque-like communist-era food markets
(‘complexe alimentare’) likened to a metallurgical cupola and re-
ferred to ironically as circles of hunger (‘circuri ale foamei’) since
many were still unfinished in 1989 – given the priority for pay-
ing-off foreign debts (Plate 5). Malls effectively boost retail capac-
ity more comfortably than kiosks and relatively spontaneous open-
air suburban markets in a situation where conventional High Street
locations are limited. Moreover, Bucharesters seem to appreciate
the ‘one stop’ formula, especially given the scope for entertainment
and car parking. The big central ‘Unirea’ store of the communist era
(k in Fig. 1) has been privatised and subdivided on the mall princi-
ple while the first purpose-built mall was provided when Bayindir
Fiba (Turkey) launched the €35 mln Bucuresßti Mall (b in Fig. 1) in
CaleaVitan in 1999 as a joint venture with Banca Turco-Romană.
48,000 sq m of floorspace provide for over 70 shops along with res-
taurants and cinema halls: a 50% enlargement followed in 2006.
Another inner city development followed at Orhideea in the west
in 2003 (g) and City Mall in the south in 2005. In contrast to
free-standing supermarkets there was some reluctance by malls
to colonise the suburbs where the initially modest Militari Shop-
ping Centre (f) succeeded in the west in 2001 thanks to motorway
Plate 6. The uncompleted food market shown in Plate 6 has been redeveloped as the Liberty Center, one of a growing number of shopping malls completed since 2000.
access. However, this followed an earlier Romanian project to pro-
mote the ‘Prisma’ street market at Corbeanca (well to the north of
the city on the Ploiesßti road) as a shopping city (Orasßul
Cumpărătorilor) which proved grossly premature: only recently
has space been acquired by Hornbach of Germany for a large DIY
store and other developments may now follow (Dobraca, 1997).
The periphery has certainly become more viable in recent years
with Plaza România Mall (i) in the east while Băneasa Shopping
City (a) opened in the north after a relatively small project nearby
by Jolie Ville Invest. The south has been experiencing a surge in
capacity with Cotroceni Park (d), Liberty Center (e) and Sun City
(now Sun Plaza: j) all completed during 2008–2010 (Plate 6).
The opening of Cotroceni Park in October 2009, followed by Sun
Plaza in February 2010 (the largest malls in the country with shop-
ping areas of 76,000 sq m and 81,000 sq m respectively) is likely to
impact negatively on those already established in the southern
suburbs (though the recession has less severe impacts on shopping
in Bucharest than in the provinces). However, the Sonae Sierra pro-
ject for Park Lake Plaza Mall in Titan could represent a step too far
in recession since Bucuresßti Mall in Vitan is only 2 km away.
There is arguably a structure to the commercial development
with the network of some 30 traditional markets and a pattern
of higher-level nodes endorsed by the malls and hypermarkets.
But the major nodes are not all well-situated, e.g. the substantial
capacity now available in Băneasa is arguably situated too far to
the north; while the complexes tend to be too dispersed with indi-
vidual projects based heavily on land acquisition opportunities:
thus Carrefour at Orhideea arose from the opportunity provided
by the former ‘Plevna’ bakery, although redevelopment has given
rise to severe traffic congestion. Evidently the established develop-
 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219
ment policy against large commercial complexes in the urban core
has been too easily compromised and it is significant that ‘Pactul
pentru Bucuresti’ (see below), calls for commercial developments
within 2 years and in the meantime any new projects must respect
the local architecture. However, it should be noted that many of
the new supermarkets are not accommodated in malls and the
competition has been intense enough for all parts of the city to at-
tract new facilities.
Housing
Although there was a major shift to private ownership, which
conferred a degree of prestige on the former tenants, the depres-
sion of the early transition years meant that both municipal and
personal resources were insufficient to stimulate new housing on
any significant scale. With average monthly take-home pay of
€100, few newly-married couples could afford prices which ranged
from €6,000 to 17,000 (for one, two or three rooms) in the least
attractive areas to €10,000 to 20,000, €14,000 to 30,000 or
€20,000 to 45,000 in higher status areas working up to the most
popular area (Dorobantßi) by 1997. Under these conditions it
needed 10 years of work at the average wage to secure one room
in a relatively low-priced area like Titan. Prices continued to rise
in view of the growing need while supply was depressed by low
spending power and a lack of mortgage capital. The expatriate
community were catered for by the French Village (‘Satul Francez’)
as early as 1993: this was the capital’s first new (post-1989) resi-
dential area which arose from a deal between the city hall and
the Bouygues company based on the idea of a World Trade Centre
‘annexe’ in the Chinese Embassy area near Herăstrău Park. But
there was only symbolic provision for the indigenous population
until 1998 when city hall planned ‘affordable housing’ at a rate
of 600 flats annually in the eastern, southern and western areas.
However, as the economy returned to growth in 2000 there was
increasing optimism from 2002 with a powerful boost provided
when the incoming centre-right government of 2005 reformed
the fiscal system with a flat tax rate of 16% which boosted the stim-
ulus of rising wages fuelling demand over the years to 2008 when
the economy dipped into recession.
It soon became clear (from 2002) that the most profitable area
for real estate was central-northern Bucharest and the adjacent
rural fringe (especially Voluntari although this former commune
is now a town in its own right) and hence this was the preferred
area for real estate development. Foreign property funds began
to look seriously at Romania at this time of strengthening demand
in respect of both suburban villas and downtown apartments. 100–
250 sq m flats in old villas of architectural note commanded €300-
400/sq m in the centre and €600–800 in the north, while demand
for flats in pre-1990 blocks steadily weakened. In 2003, property
in the north was costing €500/sq m compared with €400 in the
centre, €250–350 further south (Ptßa.Unirii and Cotroceni) and
€200 elsewhere. Land values rose sharply especially in north
Bucharest with €25–125/sq m payable in the preferred Băneasa-Pi-
pera-Otopeni zone; followed by €20–40 in areas like Militari
boosted by the first hypermarkets as well as main road access. Real
estate transactions amounted to €6.5 billion in Romania in 2003
(with Bucharest in the lead) with house purchases rising by up to
30% annually.
Real estate projects, too numerous to enumerate, involved
domestic and foreign companies. Some 20,000 new homes were
provided in Bucharest and Ilfov during 2006–2008 of which 4000
were built by foreign companies. Many modest compound devel-
opments have been completed with groups of houses (sharing gar-
dens and other facilities) protected by substantial perimeter walls
and security gates. Construction in 2006 hardly narrowed the gap
215
between supply and demand, especially in the medium-income
segment supported by increased purchasing power and mortgage
availability. The northern lake belt retains its attractiveness but
prices have risen roughly 10 times in a decade (even more where
good supermarket access is available) and hence the urge to move
further into the rural areas where villas were costing as little as
€150,000 at Corbeanca in 2007. And with land much cheaper in
the south (€50–80/sq m) apartments could be acquired for €40–
60.000. At this point it should be emphasised that housing pressure
is being exerted on all sides of the surrounding county of Ilfov
which has become a residential buffer zone invaded by ‘gated com-
munities’ driven by real estate speculation and the necessity for
enclosure linked with brand image and social status as the basis
for a new urban identity (Plate 7). However, ‘amoeba’ type devel-
opment through urban sprawl is much more apparent in the north
than the south where is mainly restricted to Bragadiru and the sub-
urban town of Popesßti-Leordeni.
Quality of life
With so much emphasis on luxury housing for affluent families
is easy to forget that Bucharest has a significant poverty problem
with many poor people living in obsolete apartments in highly
congested areas (Matei, 2003). In 2002, it needed 66 months at
the average wage of €188 to buy a two-room apartment in Vitan
(€12,500); but in 2008 it needed 200 months at €460 to buy the
apartment for €90,000. While census data shows just 1.6 persons
per dwelling in the comfortable north-central area extending from
Ptßa.Victoriei (28 in Fig. 1) to Dorobantßi (11) and Aviatorilor/Primă-
verii to the lake belt, a much higher figure rising to 3.8 is frequently
encountered beside the decaying industrial zones of Rahova/Feren-
tari (29) and other communist-era neighbourhoods such as Berceni
(4), Colentina (23), Drumul Taberei (13) and Titan (33): see Fig. 2.
Research (Nae, 2009) in two relatively deprived districts with large
Roma population shows that relatively high unemployment gives
rise to many low-income families and the high density exacerbates
tension and stress between the generations within each family, But
it is also possible to see slightly contrasting strategies by the local
authorities, complementing the help given by the national govern-
ment through social aid (‘ajutorul social’) and minimum income
guarantees.
Several residential housing parks (some of them public–private
partnerships) are also being developed, with units selling as
‘affordable housing’ at an average price of €32,000, but wider
neighbourhood improvements are needed including market mod-
ernisation and underpasses to relieve traffic congestion at key
intersections. In Sector Five, Ferentari now has a free ‘Centrul de
Asistentßă Medico-Socială’ while the Sector Two ‘primar’ Neculai
Ontßanu is seeking EU assistance for further modernisation in Baic-
ului to include infrastructure, traffic management and green spaces
in the hope of attracting private property developers whose activ-
ities tend to the more attractive areas. But there must clearly be
more emphasis on social housing and to this end ‘Pactul pentru
Bucuresti’ makes provision for the creation of ‘land reserves’ in
each sector of the city. The state housing agency (ANL) is providing
new social housing, albeit at a slow rate, while there is also help for
first-time buyers through the ‘Prima Casa’ scheme, offering state-
guaranteed mortgages of up to €60,000.
Meanwhile, green spaces have suffered considerable erosion
and degradation since 1989 through illegal actions: tree cutting
(for fuel) and encroachment by kiosks and car parking, which exac-
erbates the problems of pollution. In 2000, park maintenance was
privatised in a bid to ensure a basic standard and childrens’ play-
grounds have been improved. Meanwhile some local develop-
ments have been attempted. Some development is being
216 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219
Plate 7. Lake View Residences Condominium: one of several secure ‘gated’ communities near to Herastrau Lake. Like the initial ‘French Village’ built in the early 1990s it
typifies the exclusivist ‘clubbing’ lifestyle shared by wealthy Romanians and the expatriate community.
attempted through tree-planting programmes which may help to
extend green space from no more than 3.0 sq m per capita towards
the international norm of 12.0. A Sector One initiative encourages
volunteers to ‘Adopt a Green Space’. Such an approach has resulted
in a transformation of the land in front of the Free Press House
where trees and bushes are being planted (and supported by an
irrigation system) with help from major companies. Planting in
the 14 ha Parcul Circului and water recycling and green space
improvements at Strandul Giulesßti have been noted. A ‘Copaculde-
hartßie’ or ‘trees from paper’ project (collecting waste paper to fi-
nance tree planting along the streets) has started on one street
(Strada Clăbucet) in the northwestern Grivitßa suburb.
Planning the post-communist city
Planning has become a highly-controversial matter as initia-
tives have been discouraged by an acute shortage of public fund-
ing. The local authorities gradually gained effective control after
a spate of illegal operations involving unauthorised and some
demolition of protected buildings. Communist-era legislation
could not anticipate the emerging mixed economy allowing indi-
vidual citizens not only to own their homes but participate in prop-
erty speculation. Progress over planning was very gradual (Berza
et al., 1994) and the city’s PUG (plan urbanistic general), setting
out the general directions of city growth, was elaborated during
1996–1998 when the pressures of the following decade could not
be visualised. It was allowed that private initiative (and not the lo-
cal authority) would determine the precise nature of change at the
level of the district plan (PUZ: plan urbanistic zonal) beyond those
envisaged by the PUG (and also determine the micro-scale PUD:
Planul Urbanistic în Detaliu at the level of an individual street).
This permitted ‘derogative urbanism’ through PUZ amendments,
where parts of the PUG could be deemed to disadvantage a private
actor, entrepreneur or the municipality (Mehedintßi, 2000). The
new system was enshrined in law 350/2001 which also placed
the planning process under the Ministry of Regional Development.
There was a natural pro-development consensus following the two
phases of negative economic growth during the 1990s, boosting lo-
cal authority income and generating resources for infrastructure.
There was only limited pressure in the early transition years, when
real estate did not attract foreign investment, there was no money
in the domestic sector and state building projects were put on ice;
it was perhaps inevitable that problems would arise with the real
estate boom as rapidly rising land values made for tall buildings
in areas with a traditional townscape: land prices reached
€3000–4000 during 2007 in the best areas like Kiseleff/Primaverii.
This was despite the attraction of sites on the edge of the city (and
in Ilfov County) as well as former inner-city industrial zones: in
2006 alone 110 ha of land were taken out of agricultural use on
the city boundary while a further 490 ha were similarly affected
in Ilfov County; this was accentuated by speculation in the vicinity
of the future Bucharest-Ploiesßti highway and the southern orbital
road that will link the Constantßa and Pitesßti highways and form
part of Eurocorridor Four.
A consistent overall view is to some extent obscured by the
division of the city into six sectors, each with its own mayor and
council, although (as noted) there is a general mayor and a prefec-
ture; while planning decisions are centralised with the city’s archi-
tect, a very influential position. There have been many local
problems. The speed of new development during recent years
has made it difficult to ensure that infrastructure keeps pace with
 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219
the builders: hence the cases of new residential areas emerging
without infrastructure. Urban ‘hysteria’ evident in the construction
of shopping malls, business centres and luxury apartments – con-
trasted with the relatively slow progress of social housing schemes
(almost universally overlooked by commercial developers) – con-
tributed to pressure for legislative change. Perhaps the greatest
controversy arises over the height of buildings as indicated by coef-
ficients that relate the physical area of a site to the total amount of
built space that it will provide: hence a high coefficient for a 20-
storey tower in comparison with the more moderate coefficient
for three- or four-storey building that is replaced (and similar
buildings that remain in the immediate neighbourhood) makes
for deep misgivings over the changing urban landscape. It was
widely acknowledged that a modern office building in Calea Victo-
riei was inappropriate for the city centre in the 1990s, but such
conflicts have subsequently multiplied as pressure has been placed
on the inner ‘villa suburbs’ of the late 19th and early 20th centu-
ries. Before the recession 200–300 district plan (PUZ) amende-
ments were being approved each year as derogations of the PUG
and around 100 of these approvals in 2007 involved high buildings
in traditional areas.
It is clearly necessary to strike a balance in the planning pro-
cess: the situation is hardly chaotic since all the plans are handled
centrally by a special ‘urbanism’ commission of the city’s general
council and the architect plays a key role. And although Law 350/
2001 enshrined the principal that each PUZ (and ultimately the
PUG) should be moulded by private interest, the city architect
may require modifications. An expert ‘Technical Commission for
Urban Planning & Territorial Arrangement’ was appointed in
1997 to work with the General Planning Department in processing
planning applications and review PUZ documentation (while the
US has helped with a computer-based system). The general mayor
inaugurated the Bucharest Urbanism Center in Str.Academiei near
the university to act as a bridge between the municipality and
developers; demonstrating precisely where building was going
on at any time. However, the scale of change – amply ‘overfulfill-
ing’ the provisions of the PUG – became excessive (driven in part
by bribery of potential objectors) and a better balance between
development and conservation is needed. Certain cases have
gained notoriety, e.g. Cathedral Plaza (75 m tall) which threatens
to dominate the cathedral of St.Iosif (already mentioned). There
has been much opposition to the PUZ proposals for Brezoianu near
Cismigiu Park (42 m), Bulevard Lujerului (116 m), Bulevard Polig-
rafiei (120 m) and most controversially the Dâmbovitßa Center
(135 m) already mentioned. Questions also relate to green space
threatened by restitution despite formal protection, e.g. the 80 ha
Parcul Tineretului which was planned in the 1930s but imple-
mented only during 1965–1974 on expropriated land; boasting a
substantial stadium for cultural and sporting events (today’s Sala
Ioan Kunst Ghermanescu), a large play area for children (Orasßelul
Copiilor) and a lake. Despite legal safeguards, 30 ha have been
transferred back to private owners and in 2005 a PUZ created a
zone on the edge of the park for residential development as com-
pensation for small properties dispersed across the core of the
park: it is suspected that by this loophole a disproportionate area
of the park was lost and that further encroachments could follow.
Party politics are obviously involved in development issues but
without any great consistency since the parties controlling the var-
ious city sectors are always looking for ways to expand their bud-
gets, while close links with developers always attract scrutiny from
opposition parties. Thus the centre-left PSD was very active after
2000 when private investment began to increase and EU funding
also grew rapidly in the run-up to accession in 2007. PSD elements
– along with the centre-right National-Liberal Party politicians –
expressed concern at the ease with which the general urban plan
(PUG) was contradicted by revised plans at the level of the individ-
217
ual zone (PUZ) approved in the interest of developers and promot-
ers; although they have broadly accepted the liberal governance
principles that evolved slowly during the 1990s, in order to get
development moving. Mounting criticism of ‘derogative urbanism’
came from the champions of traditional architecture (including
NGOs such as Eco-Civica), anxious to restrict tall buildings in the
central area. A report by the NGO ‘Asociatßia Salvătßi Bucuresßtiul’
talks of a planning disaster through haphazard growth undermin-
ing the general plan. Other flagrant irregularities have occurred,
including the demolition of listed buildings (‘clădiri de patrimo-
niu’) sometimes by illicit overnight actions. The lack of long-term
planning, linked with the intense pressure exerted by new com-
mercial development, means that the city is being stifled by its
own growth.
‘Pactul pentru Bucuresti’ (April 2008) was agreed by 34 NGOs
and professional organisations. The Pact says the city’s coherence
has been undermined by 1000 derogative PUZs approved in recent
years through pressures from private interests: the scandalous
phenomenon of ‘private urbanism’ was seen as being very costly
to the public interest and unique in Europe. But there has clearly
been insufficient regulation and the scale of change has seriously
undermined the general plan (PUG) so that a revised version is
now a pressing necessity. The ‘pact’ was accepted by the General
Mayor’s office (after evaluation by a technical commission) and
the six sector councils, leading to the amendment of 350/2001
which applies to all towns. Under the 2008 modification, the local
authority can reject the arguments of the applicant and develop-
ment will require a ‘preview notice of opportunity’ from the chief
architect (approved by the council) setting out the implications,
supported by a PUD if necessary. Thus in future a derogative PUZ
will have to be argued as being in the best interest of the city,
and no derogations will be allowed for land use coefficients greater
than four (meaning the built space must be no more than four
times the land area of the site). Moreover, any PUZ will apply only
to an individual land holding and not to the wider URD ‘unitati
teritoriale de referinta’ covered by the zone in question. There is
of course a need for a new PUG after full consultation to ensure a
‘harmonious mediation’ of the present situation and future needs.
Various specific measures are included in the ‘Pact’ (e.g. land re-
serves and commercial network planning) and it is agreed that
the new arrangements will operate throughout the current elec-
toral phase for local government (2008–2012). Illegal buildings
will be demolished, fines will no longer apply, while the prohibi-
tion (according to HG 1454/2004) against new malls or hypermar-
kets within the city will be strictly enforced. Green spaces and
sports grounds will be respected and there will be a special pro-
gramme formulated for historical monuments and protected areas,
funded by the allocation of at least five percent of each sector bud-
get for preservation and rehabilitation of the urban patrimony. The
‘Pact’ also seeks transparency in decision making, especially relat-
ing to planning matters and legislative changes; the land reserves
for social housing and additional parkland have already been
mentioned.
More effective planning control has coincided with a fall in the
number of planning applications due to the economic recession
starting in 2008. The purchase of homes is slowing down as loans
become more difficult. Many new projects are being rescheduled,
e.g. Ablon (Hungary) owned by Israeli Uri Heller have put their
Sunset Residences project on hold in Drumul Taberei where there
are also delays for industrial estate projects by Gran Via (Spain)
who intend to build 5000 apartments on the old Electrotehnica,
Frigocom and Tricodava industrial sites. The slowdown could be
especially difficult for companies who have paid high prices for
land (especially in areas lacking good infrastructure) in anticipati-
ion of quick sales. There are also problems for companies with un-
sold assets, e.g. industrial firms with inner city premises to sell:
218 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219
Cadbury have lots at their old Kandia-Excelent plant in Voluntari
while Overseas Bakeries have their old ‘Lujerul’ plant. Meanwhile
prices for old apartments are falling sharply (34% on average in
March 2009 year on year) which now fetch some €1370/sq m: even
the central areas are affected. The push into Ilfov has been moder-
ated by delays for the huge Tiriac Imobiliare investment (€500–
1000million) in mixed development for the 88 ha Metro site at
Otopeni; also the European Future Group’s residential develop-
ment at Buftea. But Opus Land Development (owned by the Turk-
ish Buyukhanli Group) proceeded with the €700million mixed
commercial/residential project for Sßtefănesßti de Jos (envisaging se-
ven phases to 2014) in the expectation that the property market
was to pick in the second half of 2009. There is also a €70million
4.4 ha ‘Archipelagos’ Ansamblul Residentßial project at Cernica for
2009–2010 (835 apartments in 18 blocks, with a supermarket,
sports facilities and a nursery) by Panhol Developments (Greece).
However, land prices on the eastern edge of Bucharest were 13%
down in March 2009 year on year at €82.6/sq m.
Any partial ‘breathing-space’ may allow for more thought about
the future urban landscape. While Sibiu has a ‘Comisia de Special-
itate’ with access to consultants in Germany helping with restora-
tion, little has happened regarding Bucharest’s proposed ‘Comisia
de Patrimoniu’. But as regards planning there is proposal for a ‘Con-
sultative Commission for Political and Strategic Development’
drawing on the expertise of planners and social scientists to pro-
vide a public forum for strategic urban development issues (includ-
ing revision of the PUG). There is also a clear need to catch up on
infrastructure (Erdeli et al., 2000; Gâsßtescu, 1998). Improved elec-
tronic access to public services is desirable and will be helped by
an ongoing programme of providing fibre optic cables. Traffic prob-
lems mount, as Bucharest has a 3 million daily population by day
which could rise to 4 million in 5 years) while the 1.3 million lo-
cally-registered cars increases by 400–500,000 vehicles bringing
commuters from the surrounding areas. An airport rail link is
now operating from the city centre (Gara de Nord) and metro
extensions are planned; while more futuristic schemes are coming
from young architects and other visionaries: e.g. an extended rail
service combining a total of six radial routes with the centura to
create a network known as ‘Tren Expres Regional’. Indeed urban
transport focussed on the railway and metro networks is an impor-
tant part of ‘Pact’.
The only official contribution to these visions involves an even
smaller central area where a ‘historic centre’ initiative first took
shape in 1997 when a ‘Zone of National Interest’ was declared,
with the aim of restoring the traditional commercial character of
this area, with buildings restored to their original functions: shops
on the ground floor and other business, including banking, up-
stairs. Shown as ‘B ‘on Fig. 1, the area extends northwards from
the Dâmbovitßa to Str.Doamnei between B-dul.Brătianu to the east
and Calea Victoriei to the west. It is fortunate that the former dic-
tator did not have time to impose his own modernising plans on
this historic trading area, which includes Str.Lipscani, named after
the city of Leipzig with which trade contacts were maintained in
the early modern period. It is now the intention to conserve the
area (with the insertion of a new Civic Centre) as a counterweight
to Ceausßescu’s monument a little further to the southwest where
the projected Orthodox cathedral will provide a further distraction.
A British company won the competition in 1997, reflecting the UK’s
experience of development agencies, but their involvement was
not sustained as the project became hampered by financial and le-
gal problems, with money in short supply and landowners refusing
to cooperate and pay their contributions. Instead Dutch coordina-
tion has been reported since 2006 in connection with a ‘pilot’ ren-
ovation in three old streets (Str.Gabroveni, Str.S ß elari and Pasaj
Francez) with a high development potential for shopping and
entertainment. Also, the sector authority launched a programme
of renovation, infrastructure and pedestrianisation in 2004–2005,
involving the displacement of some 10,000 people (testifying to
the high residential densities persisting in former socialist cities).
This was the basis for a revamping of the underground infrastruc-
ture followed by installation of new paving and lighting. It was
hoped that by 2010 the area would be recolonised by small entre-
preneurs, with one street earmarked for a ‘Bohemian Alley’ with
restaurants and terraced housing. In this way, the area should de-
velop its own identity and rehabilitation should proceed through
the whole district. The Spanish Sudesa company has been working
on the infrastructure since 2006 with financial assistance from The
Netherlands.
Conclusion
The paper has reviewed spatial change in Bucharest since the
revolution. There is no doubt that multiple transformations have
occurred, with a sharp change of direction evident in the shift from
industry to commerce and from large apartment complexes to
smaller projects involving considerable numbers of villas as well
as apartments. The inherited housing stock has been partially up-
graded and infrastructure has been significantly improved in some
respects. Cumulatively, the pace of change is similar to the later
communist years but scattered between a large number of small
projects when compared with the ‘gigantism’ of the Ceausßescu
era. Even so, the pace of change, with heavy dependence on private
capital to finance new building projects, has brought widespread
criticism over the pace to change without a sufficiently robust gen-
eral plan to ensure conformity to an agreed growth model. In this
sense, we conclude that while the system of regulation must
clearly be improved, growth has not been uniformly chaotic and
we point to elements of rationality in the new layout, influenced
as it is by the availability of opportunity sites and a degree of com-
petition between the six sectors of the city with their own local
governments. We also demonstrate that while Bucharest shows
plenty of evidence of affluence arising from almost a decade of
growth since 2000 (albeit currently stalled by recession) there
are also many poor families that have lost out in the declining mar-
ket for unskilled labour. Finally there remains a curious lack of
cohesion between the city and its immediate hinterland, very
apparent to urban specialists but apparently accepted as a ‘fact
of life’: a traditional town-country dichotomy that is well under-
stood and appreciated.
Acknowledgements
The authors greatly appreciate the editorial input by Andrew
Kirby and his predecessor John Leonard.
References
Berza, U-M, Barabasß, C and Bogdan, R (1994) Directßii sensuri ßsi intensitătßi de
dezvoltare ale Bucuresßtiului. Consiliul Local al Municipiului Bucuresßti, Bucharest.
Cavalcanti, MB (1992) Totalitarian states and their influence on city form: the case
of Bucharest. Journal of Architectural & Planning Research 9, 275–286.
Cavalcanti, MB (1997) Urban reconstruction and autocratic régimes: Ceausßescu’s
Bucharest in its historic context’. Planning Perspectives 12, 71–109.
Church, G (1979) Bucharest: revolution in the townscape art. In The Socialist City:
Spatial Structure and Urban Policy, RA French and FEI Hamilton (eds.), pp. 493–
506. Chichester, Wiley.
Dobraca, L (1994) Localizarea activitătßilor comerciale în Bucuresßti: tendintße
actuale. In The First Regional Geography Conference. Geographical Researches in
the Carpathian–Danube Space, P Udrea (ed.), pp. 264–289. Departamentul de
Geografie, Universitatea de Vest din Timisßoara.
Dobraca, L (1997) Schimbǎri profilul functßional al zonei periurbane a Bucuresßtiului
generate de dezvoltarea activitătßilor comerciale’. Buletin Geografică 1(1), 67–73.
Erdeli, G, Tălânga, C and Popescu, CR (2000) Development of public services policies
in Bucharest. In Integrated Urban Systems and Sustainability of Urban Life, I Ianosß,
D Pumain and JB Racine (eds.), pp. 475–486. Bucharest, Editura Tehnica.
 M. Nae, D. Turnock / Cities 28 (2011) 206–219
Dumitrache, L and Dumbrăveanu, D (1998) Crime perception and its influence on
social behaviour: case study of Ferentari estate. In Romanian–British
Geographical Exchanges: Proceedings of the Third Romanian–British Colloquium,
G Erdeli and D Dumbrăveanu (eds.), pp. 61–67. Bucharest, Corint.
Gâsßtescu, P (1998) Bucharest municipality: its periurban zone water supply
situation. In Socio-economic Changes in the Suburban Areas of Large Cities in
Romania and Poland, I Iordan (ed.), pp. 41–50. Academia Romană Institul de
Geografie, Bucharest.
Iordan, I (1964) The pre-urban zone of Bucharest. Revue Roumaine de Géographie 8,
245–248.
Iordan, I (1973) Zona periurbană a Bucuresßtiului. Editura Academiei RSR, Bucharest.
Matei, E (2003) Consideratii asupra stresului peceput de populatia din Municipiul
Bucuresti. Comunicări de Geografie 7, 239–242.
Mehedintßi, MC (2000) Mediul metropolitan al Municipiului Bucuresßti între
renaturare ßsi dezvoltare. Comunicări de Geografie 4, 519–524.
Nae, M (2009) Bucuresßti: dezvoltare urbană ßsi calitate vietßii. Editura Universitară,
Bucharest.
219
Nora, P (1984) Les lieux mémoiré. Gallimard, Paris.
Popescu, CR (1992) Recent industrial changes in Bucharest. Analele Universitătßii
Bucuresßti 40–41, 85–89.
Popescu, CR (1999) Bucuresßti: o metropolǎ în transitßie–caracteristici demografice.
Revista Geograficǎ 6, 62–72.
Popescu, CR (2000) Dinamici recente pe piatßa bucuresßteană a fortßei de muncǎ.
Revista Geograficǎ 7, 6–11.
Popescu, CR, Dobraca, L and Tǎlângǎ, C (1997) Schimbări recente în structura
activitătßilor de servicii ßsi industriale în Bucuresßti. Revista Geografică 4, 14–22.
Săsărman, Gh (1970) Bucuresßtiul anului 2000. Scînteia 11, 6.
Tălângă, C (1989) Repere geogrfice în dezvoltarea industrială a municipiului
Bucuresßti. Terra 21(2), 25–27.
Turnock, D (1990) City profile: Bucharest. Cities 12, 107–118.
Vernescu, D (1970) ‘Probleme ale sistematizării localitătßilor din jurul municipiului
Bucuresßti. Terra 2(1), 21–30.
Vlad, S and Popescu, CR (1993) Evolutßia comertßului bucuresßtean ca urmare a
trecerii la economia de piatßa. Analele Univsitătßii Timisßoara 2, 189–196.