ROMANIA’S GROWTH POLES POLICY AND THE EU FUNDING: RETROSPECTS AND PROSPECTS
ROMANIA’S GROWTH POLES POLICY AND THE EU FUNDING: RETROSPECTS AND PROSPECTS

Summary/Abstract: The growth poles theory developed by Perroux in the 1950s and translated into spatial planning terms by Boudeville in mid-1960s represented a fertile seedbed for the growth poles policy of the EU, as an important component of the territorial dimension of the cohesion policy. Romania has been engaged in supporting the urban policy from the very first programme period as a EU member state, 2007-2013, placing an important emphasis on the sustainable development of the urban growth poles within its Regional Operational Programme (ROP). Subsequently, the ROP 2014-2020 continues this support, with ERDF allocations via sustainable urban development axis, in an integrated manner. This paper proposes an inquiry into the continuities and discontinuities between the two programme periods with regard to this issue, aiming to examine to what extent the 2007-2013 lessons have been learnt in the current context and what are the messages for the post-2020 period. The analysis has envisaged the EU and Romanian relevant documents for the growth poles policy, the examination of the output and result indicators provided by the official evaluation reports and of data offered by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS) as well as by World Bank studies focusing on growth poles and competitive cities in Romania. The systematic interpretation of the results has generated useful conclusions with regard to the positive effects and shortcomings of the growth policy, opening the door for new approaches in the 2021-2027 programme period.

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