CHANGING THE PARADIGM OF LIVING IN BUCHAREST: THE ECONOMIC SEGREGATION OF THE URBAN PRIVILEGED

• Published in: Theoretical and empirical researches in urban management 2012-11, Vol.7 (4), p.35-52
• Main Authors: MIONEL, Viorel, MIONEL, Oana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Automobiles; Cities; Communities; Community; Democracy; Figure ground; Gated communities; High income; Houses; Public buildings; Residential areas; Residential segregation; Retirement communities; Segregation; Urban areas
• ISSN: 2065-3913; 2065-3921

An important element of the geographical segregation caused by rich and very rich people consists in the creation of distinct areas having certain spatial features inside the city. This is what we usually call: gated communities or fortified enclaves. So, new forms of urban living are permanently and continuously generated by city nature. Sometimes, some of that forms are characterized like a paradigmatic new ways of living styles. Part of this paradigmatic living style is also the golden ghetto of the elites that get a totally different look. This difference reveals the urban paradox of the globalized world where we live. These areas are positioned according to the plans designed by some urbanists or they are the result of the most irrational fantasies of the owners. In Bucharest the nineties brought a change of paradigm regarding the idea of living. Leaving the city has been a part of the first stage of the "urban democracy", trying to meet the need of a new living style: choosing big lands in order to be inhabited individually, which has led to a different approach of the area parameters with its public performance. One of the most wanted areas neighboring of Bucharest due to the various natural opportunities it provides is Pipera, and more recently Prelungirea Ghencea