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Centralized Industrialization in the Memory of Places. Case Studies of Romanian Cities

Author

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  • Radu Săgeată

    (Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, 023993 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Bianca Mitrică

    (Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, 023993 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Irena Mocanu

    (Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, 023993 Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

The paper highlights the impact of excessive industrialization during the centralized economy era on urban spatial identity, as well as the disruption of this identity through political-administrative decisions, a phenomenon characteristic of the Central and Eastern European region during the era of centralized economies. The tendency to rebalance urban territorial systems is achieved through deindustrialization, together with reindustrialization and tertiarization. All these changes affect functionality, physiognomy as well as urban culture, and can be quantified through the changes in the memory of places. Urban toponyms related to industrialization are disappearing and are replaced by toponyms that illustrate the historical past of the city and, in general, its spatial identity. The paper aims to contribute to the development of research on the impact of oversized industrialization on the memory of places, in the context of the transition from industrial to service-based economies, a process that affected the states of the former Communist Bloc after 1990. Based on bibliographic sources and field research conducted between 2008 and 2020 in two cities in Romania (Bucharest, the country’s capital, and Gala?i, the largest river and seaport and the main centre of the steel industry in the country), we have evaluated quantitatively these changes with the help of indices resulting from the toponymic changes resulting from these processes. The study shows that the functional disturbances due to the oversized industrialization that characterized the communist period only managed to a small extent to affect the correlation between the spatial identity of the two cities and their toponymy.

Suggested Citation

  • Radu Săgeată & Bianca Mitrică & Irena Mocanu, 2021. "Centralized Industrialization in the Memory of Places. Case Studies of Romanian Cities," Societies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-16, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:11:y:2021:i:4:p:132-:d:667929
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mihalis Kavaratzis & G. J. Ashworth, 2005. "City Branding: An Effective Assertion Of Identity Or A Transitory Marketing Trick?," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 96(5), pages 506-514, December.
    2. Garri Raagmaa, 2002. "Regional Identity in Regional Development and Planning1," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 55-76, January.
    3. Gregory J. Ashworth & Mihalis Kavaratzis, 2015. "Rethinking the Roles of Culture in Place Branding," Springer Books, in: Mihalis Kavaratzis & Gary Warnaby & Gregory J. Ashworth (ed.), Rethinking Place Branding, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 119-134, Springer.
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    1. Andreea-Loreta Cercleux & Jörn Harfst & Oana-Ramona Ilovan, 2022. "Cultural Values, Heritage and Memories as Assets for Building Urban Territorial Identities," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-3, November.
    2. Andreea-Loreta Cercleux & Radu Săgeată & Bianca Mitrică & Elena Bogan, 2024. "Urban Semiotics in Bucharest City Center Through the Analysis of Buildings’ Names and Commercial Signs," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-23, November.

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