Urban Regeneration in Romania: Ambiguity, Local Capacities and a Weak Urban Governance

Sixteen years and two EU Cohesion Policy programming periods have passed since Romania’s entry into the EU, and the issue of urban regeneration still remains central in Romanian cities. Skills and knowledge have grown, innovative and non-innovative methodologies have been tested, projects have been implemented and millions of euros have been invested, but we cannot yet say that Romania has acquired and structured knowledge within a well-structured and well-planned urban regeneration path. There are still no specific tools to support an urban planning based on the ability to create pacts and partnerships, the planning system remains anchored to regulatory tools, land use management and not strategic perspective, which cannot manage the complexity of participation, of the definition of integrated and sustainable urban development paths. There is still much to be done, especially in terms of policy design. Decision makers are the weak link, municipal technicians have gained experience, but are unable to move forward. Urban regeneration in Romania remains in the midst of innovative and experimental projects that have not been followed up in the mainstream of structural fund investment and are orphans of adequate public policies. There is a basic ambiguity between acquired capacities and the inability to regulate and facilitate the still unexpressed potential of Romanian cities, both in terms of administrative capacities and the offer that could be generated through sustainable local economies. Many decision makers continue to think of urban regeneration only as a technical action that carries out physical redevelopment, yet they fail to grasp its complexity as a driver for the recreation of relational networks of a socio-economic and cultural nature.