Criteriul economic – instrument de definire a oraşului. Studiu de caz: Bârladul la 1815
The Economic Criterion – Defining Tool for the Town. Case Study: the Town of Bârlad in 1815

Summary/Abstract: Based on an exceptional historical document, a registry compiled in 1815 which list all real estates (houses, other buildings but also vacant lots) in Bârlad, we discussed two aspects. First, we intend to analyse the urban or rural status of that locality, using the economic criterion. From the data supplied by the Bârlad registry, we constructed several indicators which allowed us to determine the urban or rural character of Bârlad. For example, we determined the percentage of heads of families employed in occupations belonging to secondary and tertiary sector (defining an urban area), and separately belonging to primary sector (defining rural world). Studying these indicators we found that most heads of families are engaged in economic activities related to secondary and tertiary sector, and that the vast majority of trades recorded in Bârlad were specific to urban world. The conclusion is that at the beginning of the 19th century Bârlad was definitely an urban dwelling.The second problem is methodological: in this article we demonstrate the limits of use of non-serial documents (such as buying or selling acts, or judicial documents) in the treatment of statistical topics.

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