The Planning of Rural Settlement in Romania

Throughout Eastern Europe the post-war years have seen a fundamental shift in the balance between rural and urban settlement. Sustained migration has left many villages with a reduced population and limited economic perspectives. But Romania has been unique in the formulation and implementation of a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Geographical journal 1991-11, Vol.157 (3), p.251-264
Main Author: Turnock, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural land
Bgi / Prodig
Collective farms
Communes
Demographics
Eastern Europe
Europe
Human geography
Industrial agriculture
Peasant class
Regulation
Residential buildings
Romania
Rural areas
Rural planning
Socialism
Socialist agriculture
Towns
Villages
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Summary:Throughout Eastern Europe the post-war years have seen a fundamental shift in the balance between rural and urban settlement. Sustained migration has left many villages with a reduced population and limited economic perspectives. But Romania has been unique in the formulation and implementation of a radical plan to consolidate rural settlement within designated perimeters to ensure adequate access to services and a range of employment. However, although the strategy of sistematizare was conceived in the context of modernization, it was implemented (especially during the last years of Nicolae Ceausescu's presidency) through coercive measures calculated to enhance the power of the state and erode the traditional individualism of the peasantry. This paper outlines and interprets the rural settlement programme through its various stages and concludes with a review of the prospects for change in the villages following the revolution of December 1989.
ISSN:0016-7398
1475-4959
DOI:10.2307/635500