Integrated Urban Development Plan Central Area of Bucharest City

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SYNERGETICS CORPORATION RE-ACT NOW STUDIO

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IGLOO ARHITECTURE STUDIO BASAR ASTIL MACARIE OLOONEY ARCHITECTS SOARE&YOKINA ARHITECTI ASOCIATI REPUBLIC OF ARCHITECTS POLARH DESIGN KVB ECONOMIC

CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE URBAN ACTION AREA 1.1. Identification of the Urban Action Area and Justification of Choice 1.2. Historic Evolution of the Area 1.3. Analysis of the Built Environment and Urban Fabric 1.3.1. 1.3.2. 1.3.2.1. 1.3.2.2. 1.3.3. 1.4.1. 1.4.2. 1.4.3. 1.4.4. 1.5.1. 1.5.2. 1.5.3. 1.5.4. 1.5.5. 1.5.5.1. 1.5.5.2. 1.5.5.3. 1.5.5.4. 1.6.1. 1.6.1.1. 1.6.1.2. 1.6.2. 1.6.3. 1.6.4. 1.6.5. 1.6.6. 1.6.7. 1.6.8. 1.6.9. Built Environment Urban Fabric Structure Urban Action Area Sub-areas Urban Fabric Structure Transport by Private Car Public Transport Walking Bicycle Use Population Living in the Urban Action Area Green Areas Crime Incidence in the IUDP Urban Action Area Social Perceptions and Benchmarks Related to the Urban Action Area Central Area Definiton Central Area Promotion Central Area Use Central Area-related Problems and Requirements Workforce Employee Distribution according to the Field of Activity Employee Distribution according to the Weight of the Activity Economic Activity Volume Economic Activity Profile Company Dynamics Economic Activity Density Industry-specific Economy Innovation, Research and Development Added Value and Productivity North / South Space Analysis 2

1.4. Analysis of Urban Transport

1.5. Demographic and Social Characteristics of the Urban Action Area

1.6. Economic Characteristics of the Urban Action Area and Comparison with the City

1.7. Public services

1.7.1. 1.7.2. 1.7.3. 1.7.4. 1.7.5. 1.7.6. 1.8.1. 1.8.2. 1.9.1. 1.9.2. 2.

Transport Infrastructure and Mobility Technical-Urban Infrastructure Cleanliness Health Education Culture Public Investment Dynamics Private Investment Dynamics Development Needs Identified by the Sociological Survey Development Needs Identified by the Diagnosis Analysis

1.8. Investment Dynamics in the Urban Action Area

1.9. Development Needs Identified in the Urban Action Area

1.10. Urban Action Area Development Potential URBAN ACTION AREA DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 2.1. Importance of a Strategic Local Development Vision 2.2. Objectives 2.2.1 European Objectives and Principles regarding the Improvement of the Living Environment in the Urban Area 2.2.2. Objectives of the Regional Operational Programme 2.2.3. Objectives for the Integrated Urban Development Plan for Bucharest Centra Area 2.3. Development Priorities 2.4. Strategy for the Development of Tourism in the Central Area of Bucharest 3. ACTION PLAN 3.1 List of Projects and Estimated Budget for the Implementation of the Integrated Plan, according to Sources of Financing; Project Implementation Period 3.2 Urban Action Area Map including the Location of the Individual Projects within the Plan 3.3 Integrated Plan Implementation Management 4. 5. PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS FOR IUDP PREPARATION BENEFITS BROUGHT BY IUDP AND PROPOSED ACTIONS

ANNEXES Annex no. 1 List of Individual Projects Annex no. 2 Sub-areas Included in the Urban Action Area Annex no. 3 Historic Analysis Sources Annex no. 4 Stages of Evolution of the Central Area Sub-areas Annex no. 5 - Stages of Evolution of the Structuring Axes of the Central Area Annex no. 6 Sociological Survey Methodology Annex no. 7 Traffic Analysis for the Urban Action Plan Annex no. 8 List of the Pledged Streets within the Urban Action Area Annex no. 9 Investments in the Urban Action Area made by Bucharest Municipality

Context This project represents the first stage of the service contract MB no. 444 of 31.12.2010, for the preparation of the Integrated Urban Development Plan for the Central Area of Bucharest City (IUDP). The Integrated Urban Development Plan will be updated following the completion of the first three contractual stages, i.e. the completion of the list of projects following the public consultation process, of the design briefs and of the feasibility studies. In this context, this document may be supplemented following the final public consultation process which will take place after the completion of the prefeasibility studies. Furthermore, the information regarding the applicant will be updated following the approval of this work and of the next stages by the beneficiary.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I. The specific objectives of the Integrated Urban Development Plan (IUDP) for the central area of Bucharest City consist of: (i) bring into prominence the eclectic character of Bucharest central area as an identifying mark of the city, (ii) reintegrate and restructure the urban fabric, (iii) create an efficient circulation system, (iv) renew the public space network, (v) sustainable development, (vi) integrated urban regeneration of the areas having social-economic problems and (vi) ensure a diverse and safe social climate. The attainment of these objectives will result in the improvement of the quality of life of the people living in this area and also in the other areas of the city and in the enhancement of the attractiveness for investors and tourists, creating a vibrant, dynamic and attractive central area for the City of Bucharest, European capital. II. The actions proposed within the Integrated Urban Development Plan reflect a set of priorities: 1. (Re-)creation of a urban identity for the central area of Bucharest City. A clear and captivating identity of the city will attract tourists and investors, will create a positive brand, will develop a community and appurtenance feeling among the inhabitants of Bucharest City, enabling the support of the commercial and economic activities of the city. The actions proposed in the Integrated Urban Development Plan aim at bringing to prominence and extensively using the eclectic character of the city, by creating different areas with different identities, connected by routes mainly intended for pedestrians and bicyclists. 2. Renewal of the areas with different historic and architectural specificity, which constitute the central area of Bucharest City, without considering the historic centre just as Lipscani area. As presented in chapters 1.2, 1.5 and 1.6., the deconstruction of the city core and the social-economic imbalances generated by the insertion of the Civil Centre represent main problems of the central area of Bucharest City, and the Integrated Urban Development Plan aims at reintegrating these landlocked, segregated areas. The reconstruction of two bridges over Dmbovia river, for example, will reconnect the northern and southern parts of the historic centre, which will generate flows of visitors on the pedestrian and bicycle paths and will lead to the renewal of the areas in the southern part of Dmbovia, up to the Flower Market in RahovaUranus. 3. Increased efficiency of the circulation system in the central area by prioritizing the sustainable and alternative means of circulation. A route mainly intended for pedestrians and bicyclists will create a viable transport alternative. An integrated network of pedestrian and bicycle circulation in a large area of the centre is proposed, having not only circulation opportunities but also quality public areas. Furthermore, as regards the transport by bicycle, it is considered important to create a continuous and coherent network of concentric and radial bike lanes. The construction of this alternative route will not impair the traffic capacity and will not create parking problems in the area, because it will be performed in two stages. Within the first stage average underground and multi-storey car parks will be built, ensuring the necessary parking spaces and clearing the public areas for the works of subsequent rehabilitation. Given that large car parks lead to denser vehicle traffic in the central area, this strategy is not intended for this type of investments. 4. The sustainable urban renewal of the problematic zones within the urban action area. They shall undergo an integrated and coherent process of urban renewal, aiming at both rehabilitating the built-up land and the public spaces and strengthening the community and encouraging entrepreneurial activities. The recent social trends in Bucharest reflect an accentuation of the discrepancies between the different categories of population. A residential segregation process based on economic criteria takes place, contrary to the general European principles that promote social mixity. Bucharest shall not be developed as other parallel cities but it shall reflect the diverse and alive character of a European capital. This IUDP includes actions aiming at achieving social cohesion, such as the creation of cultural centres for the community, having
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social, educational and leisure function for the entire population. By rehabilitating the infrastructure, by creating pedestrian paths generating a continuous flow of visitors and by establishing a development and identity direction for each of the areas, both private investments and commercial activities will be stimulated. III. Proposed projects. In order to ensure the attainment of the aforementioned objectives, a set of projects and related subprojects, distributed on all sub-areas of the action area are proposed. Some projects are conditioned by land purchasing or by partnerships with different institutions, such as the Parliament. Furthermore, for certain high-complexity projects, such as the reconfiguration of the major public spaces having significant design and connectivity problems, it is recommended to organise solution bids. Please note that the list of actions proposed by IUDP will be completed by the Municipality of Bucharest City, according to the existing urban priorities, objectives and policies. Urban interventions will be divided in stages so that the works do not create major impediments in the circulation and performance of the activity in the central area (e.g. car parks will be built before reconfiguring the public spaces currently occupied by parked cars). IV. The premises on which the aforementioned objectives and action plan are based. 1. Identification of the urban action plan [chap. 1.1]. The specificity of the central area of Bucharest City is its heterogeneous character: In this area there is a combination of spaces very different in terms of building typology and urban morphology, functional profile and extent of use and their status in the mental geography of Bucharest inhabitants. The urban, demographic and social-economic analyses carried out indicate the essential need to develop a plan approaching urban development in a balanced and sensitive manner, as regards both the level of social-economic needs and the level of the diverse space problematic of the central area. The essential premise is that the central area of Bucharest City requires a holistic approach, promoting and bringing to prominence the diversity and heterogeneity of the central area and strengthening the space and functional relations between the areas, conferring an individual image and identity of the city, based on the principle of unity in diversity. The urban action area and nine analysis sub-areas have been defined. The methodology used is based on the urban morphology and typology of the buildings, functional profile and extent of use, historic function and last but not least the area image and status. Numerous pluridisciplinary analyses have been carried out in order to identify the needs, the development potential, the objectives and priorities of the urban area: historic, traffic, urban fabric accessibility and permeability, environmental, demographical, social and economic analyses. 2. The analysis of the historic evolution [cap. 1.2] indicates that the City of Bucharest experienced an organic growth, affected however by the urban works in the XIX and XX centuries, when new axes were marked out. The main problems resulting from the recent evolution of the area are the landlocking of certain sub-areas and connection cutting off once with the construction of the Civic Centre. The analysis of the urban fabric [chap. 1.3] indicated that the sub-areas in the southern part of Dmbovia river suffer from weak permeability and low local accessibility, which limit their development potential. The social [chap. 1.5] and economic [chap.1.6] analyses reflect the major differences between these sub-areas and the areas in the northern part of Dmbovia river. A solution for the space and social-economic disparities between the northern and southern parts of the central area of Bucharest represents one of the critical needs of the urban action area. 3. The economic analysis [chap. 1.6] indicates that the urban action area has an important economic role for the city. Nevertheless, the potential is not fully exploited. On the one hand, the commercial activity support potential on the streets with an important historic function is not exploited. On the other hand, the potential regarding the foreign investments is neither exploited. Bucharest City uses only a part of the brand potential, its image lacking positive recognition at a European level, as compared to the prediction developed based on its potential. The studies in the field of urban marketing indicate that the condition of the buildings and public areas contributes to
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the creation of the general external perception on a city and it influences, at its turn, the decision to invest in such place. The City of Bucharest currently needs to improve its urban image in order to become an attraction pole in a European (even global) competition of cities. Following the analyses carried out, a set of strengths, yet unexploited, have been identified, which constitute a significant development potential for the city. This includes the existence of a greatly varied architecture which may bring to prominence a brand of eclectic city, the existence of cultural resources which may be rehabilitated and promoted (Pasajul Vilacrosse [Vilacrosse Passage], Curtea Veche [Old Princely Court], Centrul Istoric [Historic Centre], Mnstirea Antim area [Antim Monastery area], Antrepozite-Rahova-Uranus area [Depots-Rahova-Uranus area]), and the presence of Dmbovia river, unexploited for the moment. Furthermore, the central area of Bucharest City needs high quality public spaces serving the community and strengthening the image of European metropolis. Both green areas and other types of public areas (squares, streets, sidewalks) currently have a deficient image and design and should be rehabilitated. 4. The analysis of the public investment dynamics in the area [chap. 1.7] indicated that most investments made by Bucharest Municipality have been intended for the transport infrastructure. The traffic-related problems [chap. 1.4] are indeed very important for Bucharest. Even if the street infrastructure is the same as it was in 1989, the number of cars in Bucharest is currently seven times higher than it was two centuries ago. The congestion has a negative impact on the travel times, on air pollution and parking lots. The city does not have sufficient parking lots in the central area, which results in parasite parking lots. At the same time, the alternative means of transport recommended by the EU, such as bicycle riding, are used a lot under the European parameters. Less than 2% of Bucharest inhabitants use bicycles as daily mean of transport, whilst by the Charter of Brussels of 2009, the European cities undertook to reach a percentage of daily travels by bicycle of 15%. Following the analyses referred to above and following the identification of the area needs and potential, the objectives and priorities that generated the set of specific actions proposed for the urban action area have been defined.

1.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE URBAN ACTION AREA 1.1. Identification of the Urban Action Area and Justification of Choice

In the context of the heterogeneous character of the central area of the city, there have been identified nine sub-areas having distinct urban character but which, from a historic and functional point of view, jointly constitute the central area of Bucharest City (Figure 1). Altogether, these sub-areas represent the Urban Action Area (UAA) of the Integrated Urban Development Plan proposed for the central area of the Capital. Please note that this IUDP impacts on a larger area, referred to as the zone of influence of the urban action area, represented by areas which are connected, from a historic or functional perspective, to the central area.

Figure 1: Location of the urban action area and of the zone of influence within the city The methodology by which the urban action area and the nine sub-areas were defined was based on the following elements: - Urban morphology: density, characteristics of the street network, degree of accessibility in the area; - Building typology: height, characteristics (style, materials), condition (wear level, refurbishment actions etc) ; - Functional profile: residential/commercial/industrial/administrative functions; - Extent of use: at city/local level, high/low; - Historic role - Image/status

SUB-AREA 6

SUB-AREA 7

SUB-AREA 1

SUB-AREA 3 SUB-AREA 2

SUB-AREA 5

SUB-AREA 4

SUB-AREA 9

SUB-AREA 8

meters

Figure 2: Urban action area and identified sub-areas

Description of the Sub-Areas within the Urban Action Area

Sub-area 1: Dense area, dominated by rather high-rise buildings, mainly interwar block houses having a large diversity of functions and public interest buildings (ministries, prefecture, theatres, high education institutions, hotels, local institutions). It is an area extensively used by the inhabitants of the entire city, with high road and pedestrian traffic and a very good connection to the public transport network. The functions are mixed- administrative, cultural, services, offices, commercial, residential. Within this sub-area there are certain public spaces relevant for the city: Piaa Universitii (University Square), Piaa Revoluiei (Revolution Square), Piaa Palatului (Palace Square), Piaa Roman (Roman Square), Parcul Cimigiu (Cimigiu Gardens), large boulevards.

SUB-AREA 6

SUB-AREA 1

SUB-AREA 2

Figure 3: Urban fabric of sub-area 1

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SUB-AREA 2

Figure 4: Urban fabric of sub-area 2 Sub-area 3: Part of the medieval core, similar, in terms of morphology and typologies, to sub-area 2, this sub-area did not undergo any urban renewal process. Even if, from a historic point of view, it formed a whole together with sub-area 2 (representing together the commercial centre of pre-modern Bucharest), it was separated from this sub-area by the NordSouth throughway (with a significant motor car traffic) and was not subject to the street rehabilitation conducted by the local authorities. Consequently, this area is mainly used locally and its extent of use is low; the commercial and public catering activities are less present as compared to the sub-area 2. Most of the buildings are deteriorated. The resident population has a modest social-economic level.

Sub-area 2: Generally described as the Historic Centre, this sub-area represents a part of the old commercial centre (medieval core), which has become in the last years the scene of urban renewal processes. Its rapid transformation, from a deteriorated area into the main leisure area in Bucharest, led to the greatest density of restaurants and cafs in the Capital. It is also highly used at city level and the pedestrian traffic is intense, being the single area in Bucharest with a pedestrian street network. The main morphological characteristic is the medieval, dense street network having narrow streets, continuous street frontages, specific for the commercial centres in the extra-Carpathian area. The buildings mainly have two or three storeys and are mostly built in the second half of the XIX century (there are also several isolated examples of buildings prior to this period, ones of the few still existing in Bucharest). The ground-floor is occupied by commercial areas / cafs / clubs, the storeys being residential or vacant. The resident population has a low social-economic level, a gentrification process appearing at the same time at a residential level.

SUB-AREA 3

Figure 5: Urban fabric of sub-area 3

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Sub-area 4: This area describes the Civic Centre, marked by a major discrepancy between the axis of Bulevardul Unirii (Union Boulevard) and the isolated enclaves of the old city. The general characteristic is given by rupture, discontinuity, contrast. The extent of use is very unequal within the area: on the one hand there is the commercial area of Piaa Unirii (Union Square), which acts as a hub of the city, on the other hand there are landlocked areas, extremely low used. The non-residential functions are grouped on Bulevardul Unirii (Union Boulevard), which has a low commercial function and a number of administrative buildings (ministries in the western part of the area, the Court of Justice and National Library in the eastern part). From a morphological point of view the monumental axis of Bulevardul Unirii (Union Boulevard) separates areas with an organic morphology, which in the past were connected The area typology consists of high buildings on the alignment of boulevards and of medium-rise houses, extremely deteriorated, located behind them.

SUB-AREA 3

SUB-AREA 2

SUB-AREA 4

SUB-AREA 8

Figure 6: Urban fabric of sub-area 4

Sub-area 5: This area is dominated by Palatul Parlamentului (the Palace of the Parliament). In its vicinity there is Parcul Izvor (Spring Park), with many large areas. From a morphological point of view, the sub-area consists of large surface urban islands. Pedestrian traffic is extremely low, whilst the motor car traffic is extremely high.

SUB-AREA 5

Figure 7: Urban fabric of sub-area 5

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Sub-areas 6, 7, 8: These areas are mainly residential, being locally used and having a low traffic even if crossed by circulated thoroughfares and with different functions. The sub-area 8 includes the area of the Romanian Patriarchy which is used by the inhabitants of all parts of the city. The area typology mainly consists of single-family dwellings, and in low-rise buildings with a low number of apartments. The proximity to the active and intensively used areas confers to these areas the perception that they are included in the central area.

SUB-AREA 6

SUB-AREA 1

Figure 8: Urban fabric of sub-area 6

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SUB-AREA 7

Figure 9: Urban fabric of sub-area 7

SUB-AREA 4

SUB-AREA 8

Figure 10: Urban fabric of sub-area 8 14

Sub-area 9: Another area impacted by the urban disruptions. The street network is truncated by the construction of the Civic Centre and of Casa Poporului (Peoples House), generating accessibility problems. The sub-area is characterized by a combination of residential functions (the population living in here having a modest social-economic profile) and industrial functions (factories, warehouses, most of them being closed down) and an increasing number of leisure facilities. The area is mainly used by the local inhabitants.

SUB-AREA 5

SUB-AREA 9

Figure 11: Urban fabric of sub-area 9

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URBAN FABRIC SUMMARY TABLE:

Area Urban morphology Building typology Functional profile Status/image (resulting from the sociological survey currently carried out) high Use (level) Extent of use

Area 1

high density streets from the pre-modern street network crossed by E-W and N-S axes medieval, dense street network, narrow streets continuous street frontages medieval, dense street network, narrow streets continuous street frontages the monumental axis of B-dul Unirii (Union Blvd.) segregates areas with an organic morphology, in the past connected large urban islands organic

block houses, inter-war dwellings and public interest buildings

Area 2

mainly buildings groundfloor+2 floors, most of them from the second half of XIX century mainly buildings consisting of groundfloor+2 floors, most of them from the second half of XIX century high-rise buildings on the alignment of B-dul Unirii (Union Blvd.); low-rise dwellings extremely deteriorated behind the boulevard

mixed functions: administrative, cultural, services, offices, commercial, residential leisure and residential functions residential

at city level

high

in transition from low to high

at city level

high

Area 3

low

local

low

Area 4

commercial (Piaa Unirii [Union Square]), administrative, residential

high

at city level / enclaves with local use

high/ enclaves with low use

Area 5 Area 6

Area 7

organic

Area 8

organic

Area 9

organic, accessibility problems because of the interventions carried out in the 80

Palatul Parlamentului (Palace of the Parliament) single-family dwellings, low-rise buildings with a low number of apartments single-family dwellings, low-rise buildings with a low number of apartments single-family dwellings, low-rise buildings with a low number of apartments single-family wagon-type dwellings and industrial buildings (warehouses, sheds, factories)

administrative residential

high medium

at city level local

low low

residential

medium-high

local

low

residential

medium

residential, industrial

low

local / at city level (Romanian Patriarchy) local

low

low

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Each of the sub-areas has distinct features when compared to the neighbouring sub-areas with regards to several elements. From a functional point of view, the center consists mostly of sub-areas 1, 2, 4 and 5, which comprise the majority of the administrative, commercial, service and cultural functions. From a historical point of view, sub-areas 2, 3 and 4 overlap the medieval center of Bucharest, concentrated in the commercial areas of Lipscaniei and Calea Mosilor and Piata Mare (now Piata Unirii), the administrative centers (Curtea Domneasc) and the spiritual centers of the city (Mitropolia, Biserica Domneasc, St. George Churh). The development towards the noth, along Calea Victoriei ( Mogosoaia Bridge) and also along the new North-South and East-West axes, turned sub-area 1 into the center of the city in the 19th century. In terms of populations perception, the sociological survey revealed that a number of objectives located at the ends of the urban action area are considered by the population as belonging to the center (see chapter 1.5), a fact which confirms the demarcation of the urban action area proposed by this document. The related sub-areas 6, 7, 8 and 9 are largely residential, but they are closely related from a functional point of view to the other sub-areas and they are perceived as central parts of the city. The insertion of the Civic Center in the 80s separated the sub-areas 8 and 9 from the rest of the urban area, these sub-areas being thus prejudiced not only from a functional point of view but also due to the fact that they disapeared from the mental geography of the inhabitants as parts belonging to the city center. The urban interventions recommended by this integrated plan address the imbalance between the southern and northern half of the Capital city center, as a coherent answer to the issues appeared following the division of the two parts as a result of the construction of the Civic Center. We underline the fact that the impact of the Integrated Urban Development Plan covers also areas outside the Urban Action Area, towards areas of influence functionally connected to the center, such as North Railway Station area, Parcul Carol area and the eastern area including Foiorul de Foc, Hala Traian, Piaa Alba Iulia. Although there are no actual projects being proposed for these areas, the impact of the action from IUDP and of the integrated approach will have an impact of these areas as well, which are important in their relation to the center of Bucharest. As a method statement for the analysis of the central area and in order to draft a strategy, a multi-criteria analysis has been elaborated, by a multidisciplinary team. This analysis was performed on several levels, in an attempt which would generate an integrated response for the whole central area, given its heterogeneity: Historical analysis Analysis of the built environment Analysis of the street network, focused on the following aspects: Urban structure, accesibility, permeability Analysis of the traffic, public transport and pedestrian flows Demographical and social features Economical features Dynamics of investments

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1.2. Historical development of the area The current configuration of the urban action area, both from the perspective of the street network, of the built area, and from the perspective of the socio-economical features comes as the result of extensive historical processes. For a comprehensive understanding of the urban action area and in order to provide urban solutions which would clearly reflect the needs and identity of the city, an analysis of the historical development is of utmost importance. Such an analysis was elaborated based on historical records and plans, old representations (photographs, paintings, prints) as well as observation of those buildings seen as architectural landmarks which managed to survive until now. (See Annex 3).

15th-17th century: Commercial center and princely residence; the town of outskirts 18th century - 1821: Phanariot city New axes in the modern city (1890-1935) Bucharest within the Town Planning limits of 1935 Industrial areas in 1935 Construction areas/ reinstared areas during the communist regime (1947-1989) Citys development after 1989

Figure 12: Historical development of the urban action area witin Bucharest Two separate entities contributed to the formation of the medieval town - Cetatea Dmboviei, a settlement for soldiers, with a strategic role in the defence of Wallachia and Trgul Bucuretiului, situated at the junction between the commercial road from Moldavia and Dmbovia. Before the first mentioning of the town in the charter issued by Vlad epe in 1459, one can reffer to Bucharest as a citadel and a seazonal commercial area, which can be approximately identified within the limits of sub-areas 2 and 3 from the urban action area.
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Cetatea Dmboviei becomes the summer residence of the court, and ends up replacing Trgovitei as capital of Wallachia. Starting with the 15th century, the Old Princely Court undertakes numerous processes of development and reinstatement as a result of repeated damage. Between 1545 and 1554, the Old Princely Court Church was built, being nowadays the oldest church in Bucharest. During the reign of Constantin Brncoveanu, the palace was reconstructed from stone, with marble stairs and the courts appartments were set. The current status of the Old Princely Court is the result of a series of earthquakes and fires which led to the ruin of the complex. The Old Princely Court is, undoubtedly, the most important political monument of the medieval Bucharest and its role for the identity of the city has to be emphasized. The other essential landmark of the medieval Bucharest consists of Ulia Trgului din Afar (currently Calea Moilor), which connected Trgul din Luntru, the hearth of the city aroud the Old Princely Court, with Trgul de Moi (Trgul din Afar), and which represented the structuring urban axes. The medieval Bucharest was made up of outskirts grouped around the numerous churches which were built between the 15th and 18th century, next to Mitropolie (1657) and monasteries, including Antim Monastery (1715). During these centuries a large part of the current street network of the central area was developed: Ulia Mare (1589, the current Lipscani Street), Ulia Curii (the current French Street), Ulia Trgului din Luntru (the current Smrdan Street), Craiova and Mehedintilor Road ( 16th century, later known as Podul Calicilor Bridge of Greedies and currently Calea Rahovei), which was connected to Ulia elarilor across Dmbovia, Trgovitei Road ( 16th century, the current Calea Griviei), Pitetilor Road ( which became Podul de Pmnt, then Calea Plevnei) and Mogooaiei Bridge (1692, the current Victory Avenue ). The outskirts cover sub-areas 1, 4 and 7. Although the current street network has many common features with the one from the pre-modern city, there are very few buildings which still exist from that period, given the numerous earthquakes, seiges and fires, as the base material used for construction was wood. Nowadays, the majority of buildings belonging to that period are churches, built in stone or brick. During the phanariot period (1718-1821), seventy new churches are built, thus the Englishman Benthan stated in 1785 that fewer are the cities which have such a number of churches in such a small area. Among these, one can mention Kretulescu church (1722), Stavropoleos (1724), Schitul Maicilor (1726 one of the churches which were relocated and isolated behind the blocks of flats from the Civic Center during the 80s), Domnia Blaa (1747-1751), Amzei (1810). During the same period, a large number of inns are being built, such as Hanul Gabroveni (1740) and Hanul lui Manuc (1801-1804). The city develops and comprises at the end of the phanariot period the whole urban action area. The first manufactures develop during this period, related to textile production ( cloth), glass, paper and food. At the end of the phanariot period, Bucharest is an oriental type city both in terms of morphology and buildings, and in terms of socio-economical life (Figure 13). During the war between Russia and Turkey from 1806-1812, Bucharest is occupied by the Russian army, which brings a new cultural model, inspired from the French one. Bucharest emerges from the Ottoman influence and makes the first steps towards the Occident. The first Regulations for the city embellishment is introduced by the Russian general Kisselef. This provided among other things for the drainage of ponds, the establishment of a theatre and of an architecture service. A great number of streets are paved in stone within the limits corresponding to sub-area 2. The fire from 1847 destroys over 1850 buildings, and in 1860 a census reveals that most houses in Bucharest are made of brick, the one made of wood having been replaces. Many of the new buildings are designed by French and German architects, such as tirbey Palace on Mogooaiei Bridgs (1852). The city expands a lot, being by far the largest south-eastern European city, after Istanbul (60.000 inhabitants in 1830, compared to 14.000 in Athen in 1836 and 13.000 in Belgrad in 1838). Bucharest becomes the capital city of Romania in 1861, and the occidental model, especially the French one, gains ground in the architecture and life of the city. From a city mostly dominated by churches and outskirts, Bucharest becomes a city rich in public buldings, parks,
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avenues, cultural buildings. The new occidental city overtakes the historical traditional one. The narrow streets and bridges of the medieval city turn into streets and avenues. Certain landmarks vanish during the process, and are replaced by new ones. On the location of churces and inns, grandious buildings following the occidental pattern appear. The route of the new avenues (East West Axes nowadays Elisabeta and Carol I Avenues and the North South Axes nowadays Lascar Catargiu Avenue and parts of Balcescu and Bratianu Avenues, dating back in the 1890s) breaks the traditional patter which leads to the extinction of certain landmarks (Figure 14). In such a context, the city center, and the interest area moves from sub-areas 2 and 3 in sub-area 1, around the junctions of the axes in Piaa Universitii. Dmbovia is improved and the landmarks change their relation with this natural element. Also, the first plotting and parcelling of land are made, such as Grammont parcelling (1893), Ioanid park (1900) and Filipescu plotting (1912). A large number of the private houses from sub-areas 6, 7 and 8 are built within this period mostly in French academic styles (Beaux-Arts) and the national reaction neo-Romanian style. Industrial areas such as Bragadiru Brewery and the public warehouses appear in sub-area 9. Bucharest between the two wars, as capital city of a country which was double the size and population as compared to pre-war Romania, continues its development. Modernism becomes popular in architecture and a large number of houses of such style, often tall, replace the one or two level houses from sub-area 1. In 1921 the first General Urban Plan has been elaborated, followed in 1935 by the first systematic Plan which describes the construction classes. North-South Axes continued cutting of Magheru i Blcescu Avenues, which determines the elaboration of a modernist built area (Figure 15). In paralel, new parcellation on larger fields appear, with urban scenic landscape compositions. The experience of the town-garden is approached as it is considered to be closer to the Romanian lifestyle (Cincinat Sfinescu). Towards the end of the 1930s, the reign of King Carol the 2nd is marked by plans and urban and architectural works.

20

Figure 13: Bucharests Plan in 1846 (Major Borroczyn) the urban action area before the systeming works of the 19th century.

21

Figure 14: Bucharest Plan from 1914 Urban action area after the drawing of N-S and E-V axes during the 1890s

22

Figure 15: Bucharest Plan from 1938 (Col. Ulysse Samboteau / Prof. cartograper M.D.Moldoveanu) Urban action area at the end of the interwar period

23

During the first decades of the communist era, the dynamics of the constructions and buildings in the urban action area drops dramatically in comparison with the interwar period. Except for the Palace Hall assembley (1960-1965) and of some filling buildings, which complete the hollows created by earthquakes and bombing during the Second World War (among which the Intercontinental Hotel - 1971 and the National Theatre 1973), the street network and the built area remain unchanged in the central area. Due to the property regime changes, many of the buildings gradually degrade and do not benefit from the renovation programmes. The regime focused until the 80s on the construction of blocks of flats outside the urban action area. In 1984 the reshaping of the city center begins following Nicolae Ceausescus wish. The urban morphology is broken by certain brutal interventions, performed with the purpose of building a new Civic Center. 485 ha of the traditional city are demolisehd (the entire sub-area 5, most of sub-area 4 and parts of subareas 8 and 9). Uranus Hill is leveled, villas, inns, public buildings, churches, synagogues, monuments are destroyed. A new East-West axes, represented by Victory of Socialism Avenue (nowadays Unirii Avenue) is imposed on the previous street network, the connections are cut, parts of the old city remain landlocked between the new constructions of the Civic Center (Figure 16). Parts of the old Bucharest landmarks are kept within these enclaves, landmarks which are nowadays no longer an active part of the urban life. Due to their isolation, these areas lost their importance within the city, they lost the exposure, and became problem areas. The churces disappear from the urban picture, being hidden behind tall buildings at the edge of the new avenues. The architectural language changes: while modernism dominated the 1930s and 1960-1970, a postmodernism style is now used, a style inspired from the eclecticism of two interwar buildings from the Senate Sqare (United Nations Square), which become, for Nicolae Ceausescu, models for the new Civic Center. The year 1990 represents a breach in the history of Bucharest: following a decade (1980s) of demolitions and construction of a new center, the central area will not have during the following two decades any major urban investment, nevertheless, numerous demolitions of private houses and the architectural fillings will change the traditional character of the sub-areas which had not been affected by the works for the construction of the Civic Center. In 2011 the works at the North-South Diametral Road start, the first major infrastructure work, which is tangentially connected to the urban action area. The analysis of the historical development of the city reveals the image of an organic growth, affected by the urban plans of the 19th and 20th century, which draw new axes and erect new buildings. The main issues which Arealul lucrrilor urbanistice din anii 1980 appeared during the historical evolutions of the latest decades are enclavisation and reduction Figure 16: Reshaping of the central area by of the connections between the areas which have developed together, caused by the means of the construction works of the Civic construction of the Civic Center. Thus, sub-areas Center 4, 5, 8 and 9 undertook important changes, with socio-economical and spacial effects to be analysed in the following chapters. Details regarding the historical development of each subarea in particular are presented in Annex 4. Important traditional axes have been interrupted or blocked and suffered important dissolutions which are presented in Annex 5.

24

1.3. Analysis of the built environment and of the street network Socio-economical processes within the city are closely related to the urban spacial configuration. In order to identify the needs and the potential of development of urban action area both the built environment and the street network should be analyzed. The street network outlines both the identity and the image of the area, and the parameters of accessibility and connectivity which are essential not only for the performance of economic activities but also for the quality of life. 1.3.1. The built environment The urban action area comprises a heterogeneous built environment in terms of density, typology of the buildings, height and style (Figure 17): buildings with commercial ground floor and floors with different functions, 1-2 levels 19th and 20th century, (rarely 18th): all sub-areas (except for sub-area 5) Single-family houses from the 19th and 20th century, 1-2 levels, Beaux-Arts, neoRomanian and Modernist styles: sub-areas 1 (rarely), 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9. Interwar blockhaus : sub-areas 1, 6, 7, 8 collective post-war housing estates, modernist style: sub-areas 1, 6, 7, 8 collective post-war housing estates, postmodernist style (Civic Center): sub-area 4 administrative / cultural / religious buildings: all sub-areas
LIMITS Bucharests Municipality administrative territory limit, according to the corrections mentioned in the sector reports (street limits are market based on the street plots) Bucharests Municipality administrative territory limit according to the Military Topographic Directorate Administrative territory limits for neighboring communes Bucharest Municipality built-in land limit, according to Project 132/1998 Neighboring communes built-in land limit Limit of the protected historical centre, according to GD 129 of 29 th August 1998 Protected area limit Archeological sites limits Baneasa Airport flight passage

FUNCTIONAL ZONIG Commercial and business centre area Area of municipal and dispersed supra-municipal public functions/Area of district and residential public functions Area of commercial activities, management, technical, professional, collective and personal services, restaurants, leisure, small production, households etc. Area of medium (P+3,4) and tall (P+4) collective households Area of small and individual collective households, built based on parceling (P-P+2) Area of small and individual collective households developed in time (PP+2) Area of semi-rural households Area with predominant industrial and storage functions Special destination area Major road structural frame/Road transport area Railway transport area Plane transport area Land permanently under water (canals, water courses and edges) Area of major technical infrastructure Communal town management area Cemetery area Area for nursery gardens, greenhouses and agro-industrial units Area for parks, gardens and public squares Area for specialized green spaces (Botanical Garden, Zoo) Sports and leisure area Forests in the built-up area/outside the built-up area Destructured areas, land under construction and non-productive land Areas of agricultural land in the built-up area

Figure 17: General Urban Plan typology of the central area of Bucharest
The central area of Bucharest has a pronounced eclectic feature, with a variety of architectural styles. Most of them date mainly from the 19th and 20th century, including styles such as Beaux-Arts/ French academism, neo-Romanian, Moorish, modernist, Art Deco and postmodernist. Most of the area consists of protected areas due to heterogeneity of the built environment and the high degree of architectural value of the component areas. In fact, the urban action area contains 56 of the 97 protected built areas of the capital city
25

(Figure 18). The protected areas have special regulations regarding construction or changes. These protected areas should not be seen as an impediment to urban development, but rather as having a great potential for shaping the identity of the city, for the creation of the image of an European city of a great eclecticism and with a quality diverse architectural legacy. The studies of urban branding mention the quality of the built environment and the existence of an old and valuable architecture as key factors in creating a positive brand to attract tourists and investors alike. Therefore, the protected areas must be seen as a strength of urban action area, their traditional character needs to be emphasized through urban interventions and the lack of accessibility in some of these areas needs to be sorted out.

Figure 13: Protected built areas approved by HCGMB no. 279/2000

26

27

All sub-areas contain protected built areas (with the notable exception of sub-area 5, where the Palace of Parliament has replaced the whole old built area). If the protected areas in sub-areas 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 (center and north of Splaiul Independentei and Calea Calarasilor) form a continuous area, easily accessible by the visitors, the remaining protected areas are isolated by the Civic Center infrastructure. In particular protected areas 64, 75, 76, 80, 89 and 90, all belonging to sub-area 4 are segregated as they are hided behind blocks of flats. In order to achieve their potential to shape an attractive identity and image for the city, these areas must be reinstated in the city. Distribution of the protected areas in the subareas of the urban action area:
Sub-area 1 : 4 6 16 23 28 34 42 81 Sub-area 2 : 26 27 1 8 22 30 36 25 64 75 76 80 86 89 90 b 2 6 10 12 16 23 28 29 35 43 44 94 97 Magheru Brtianu Elisabeta Koglniceanu Calea Victoriei tirbei Vod Amzei Pitar Mo Brezoianu Parcul Cimigiu Lipscani Stavropoleos Calea Moilor Hristo-Botev Mntuleasa Colei Negustori Mreti Parcelarea Mamulari Strehaia Biserica Mihai Vod - Sapienei Radu Vod Antim Criului Bucur Brtianu Calea Griviei Elisabeta Koglniceanu Calea Dorobani Lascr Catargiu Calea Victoriei tirbei Vod Amzei Nicolae Iorga Bibicescu Coblcescu Temiana Caderea Bastiliei Occidentului
28

Sub-area 7 :

5 13 17 18 20 21 31 32 33 34 39 40 41 70

Sub-area 3 :

Carol Dacia C.A. Rosetti - Maria Rosetti - Popa Petre Vasile Lascar Batitei Jean-Louis Calderon - Polon Caimatei Vasile Conta Thomas Masaryk Pitar Mo Armeneasc Icoanei Silvestru Parcelarea Parcul Ioanid Regina Maria 11 Iunie Mreti Parcelarea Inter (Filaret) Parcelarea nvoirii Parcelarea Tacu Intrarea Viilor Parcelarea Oelul Rou Dealul Mitropoliei Parcul Carol Principatele Unite Parcelarea Gramont Regina Maria

Sub-area 8 :

Sub-area 4 :

9 11 25 63 66 67 68 69 79 82 87 88 9

Sub-area 9 :

Sub-area 6 :

1.3.2. Structure of the urban texture 1.3.2.1. The urban action area The positioning within the context of the city network has a powerful impact upon the use of the space. The manner of connecting the street network determines the capacity of using such, the relevance for the economic operations and the quality of life of the inhabitants. The analysis of the urban texture can be carried out at the scale of the entire city, determining those important axes which attract flows, especially vehicle traffic flows. These axes are meant to accommodate functions of major interest because they do not depend on occasional passers-by; they are based on the need of the users to visit them (important institutions, Universities, shopping centres). They are many times crowded streets, where the mass transportation networks can also be found. Following the analysis of the overall accessibility (figure 19), the high accessibility streets have been emphasized at the level of the entire city - Regina Elisabeta Boulevard, Carol I Boulevard, Magheru/Blcescu Boulevard, I.C. Bratianu Boulevard, Unirii Boulevard, Regina Maria Boulevard, Victoriei street, Lascr Catargiu Boulevard, Moilor street, Buzeti street, Berzei street, Dacia Boulevard. It is noticed that the boundaries of the proposed urban action area as well as of the subareas described are represented by streets with a high overall accessibility. Some of these streets go across the subareas, ensuring movement flows which may be attracted from the entire city.

Accessibility/Hierarchy of routes

high

low

Figure 19: Global accessibility in the central part of Bucharest

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The analysis of the urban texture can be carried out at a local scale (400-1,200 metres, the equivalent of a 5-15 minutes walk) in order to underline those spaces which have the potential of becoming or which already operate as local centres, with proximity, trading activities and services, based on a constant pedestrian flow. Based on the analysis of the accessibility and local connectivity (15 minutes walk), high accessibility areas can be noticed, being segregated in certain situations by boundary areas, such as Unirii Boulevard and Libertii Boulevard (figure 20). The high accessibility poles are very strongly connected to the existence of the local services and trading points, and also to a constant pedestrian movement. The areas play the role of local centres, being represented by the Historic Centre, Unirii Square, Universitii Square, important axes at a global level: Victoriei street (partially), Carol Boulevard, Vasile Lascr street, Buzeti street, Dacia Boulevard, I.C.Brtianu Boulevard and by axes of local importance such as Brezoianu street and George Cobuc street. These areas are very important for the further development of the local economy, because they have the potential of attracting the pedestrian flows and trading activities together with the services which are dependent on such. In this case, it is essential to approach the public domain in the sense of giving priority to the existing and potential pedestrian flows.

Accessibility/Hierarchy of routes

high

low

Figure 140: Local accessibility in the central area of Bucharest

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When certain urban area benefit from a good accessibility both at global level and at local level, they have the capacity of creating interest centres, with a mixed audience and various activities such as the Historic Centre, Universitii Square or the South segment of Victoriei street. From the point of view of the structure of the urban texture, the studied area has a heterogeneous character, a direct consequence of the various stages and manners in which this area has developed over time. If the subareas 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 seem to be well structured due to their organic development in time, the other subareas have been affected by the interventions carried out in the 1980s, which generated a destructured urban texture. The analysis of the urban permeability takes into account the sizes of the urban islands which have the capacity of influencing the use of the urban texture, especially at a pedestrian level. The smaller the size of the urban island, the easier it is for the pedestrian to use a certain area. An increased permeability facilitates the pedestrian movement and maximizes the area of exposure of the business points. The historic centre, for example, is such an area with an increased level of permeability, which facilitates the pedestrian flows and by default the trading and the leisure related activities (figure 21).

Figure 21: Permeability of the urban texture in the centre of Bucharest The major part of the urban islands in the urban action area is of medium size. In the subareas 4, 5 and 9, the urban operations for building the Civic Centre have generated a texture with a reduced permeability, consisting of large urban islands. The demolition of the bridges which crossed Dmbovia river - Mihai Vod bridge and the bridge which connected the old trading centre
31

(Smrdan street) to Rahovei street -, the development of large urban islands around the Palace of the Parliament and the Romanian Academy as well as the erection of the wall around the Palace of the Parliament generated a reduced permeability of the urban texture, having thus a negative influence over the continuity of the routes in the central area. This situation is enhanced by the existing industrial areas such as Rahova-Uranus and the large boulevards such as Unirii Boulevard or Splaiul Independenei. Moreover, the urban action area is surrounded by areas which are mostly impermeable especially towards the South and the West.

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1.3.2.2. Subareas Subarea 1

Accessibility/
high

low

Figure 22: Global and local accessibility and permeability in subarea 1 Figure caption: Accesibilitate accessibility Ridicata high Redusa low Subarea 1 is crossed by the major traffic routes in Bucharest, respectively North-South axis, represented by the following boulevards: Magheru, Blcescu and Brtianu (and its older version, Victoriei street) and the East-West axis, represented by Regina Elisabeta and Carol I Boulevards. There is a high degree of global accessibility and local accessibility which is reflected in the dynamic business texture in the area. The crossroads in Roman Square and Universitii Square benefit from a high level of accessibility. The two squares are representative for the citizens of Bucharest as reference points in the city and used as meeting and socializing places. The important tourist attractions such as the National Museum of Art (the former Royal Palace), the Romanian Atheneum, the National Theatre or Cimigiu Park benefit from a high/medium accessibility level at global level but also from a local perspective, a fact which ensures that they are frequently visited. The permeability is high in the most part of the area, except for the space in the area of the Palace
33

Hall (Sala Palatului). The underground stations and the mass transportation stops ensure an important flow which brings the pedestrian in the area. Strong points - High global and local accessibility - Increased permeability Weak points - Failure to carry out the rehabilitation/modernization works of the public areas Opportunities - Business and leisure activities are encouraged by the accessibility and permeability of the area Threats - The unfriendly pedestrian environment limits the achievement of the potential of frequently visited area.

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Subarea 2

Accessibility/
high

low

Figure 23: Global and local accessibility and permeability in subarea 2 Figure caption: Accesibilitate accessibility Ridicata high Redusa - low The area has a medium/low degree of accessibility at a global level, but an increased accessibility is noticed regarding the peripheral routes of such, respectively Blv. I.C. Brtianu, Victoriei street, Doamnei street, which supports the economic development. The permeability is good and ensures that access of the pedestrians in the area. The recently rehabilitated streets offer a public space dedicated to the pedestrians, thus encouraging the increase in the trading texture. The tourist attractions in the historic centre, the pedestrian areas correlated with a proper permeability and a medium accessibility ensure the dynamic nature in the sense of using the space for economic purposes. Strong points - Increased global accessibility of the Opportunities - The accessibility and the permeability of
35

boundaries of the area - Increased permeability which encourages the pedestrian traffic Weak points - Some streets have a reduced local accessibility, the potential for using the area is not capitalized upon in an equal manner

the urban texture encourage the pedestrian flows and the business activities Threats - The delay in the interventions and the lack of a coherent long and medium term strategy

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Subarea 3

Accessibility/
high

low

Figure 24: Global and local accessibility and permeability in subarea 3 The peripheral routes (Carol Boulevard, Mntuleasa street, Corneliu Coposu and I.C. Brtianu Boulevards) ensure an increased accessibility at global level, although the inner part of the subarea has a low level of accessibility. At a local level, the streets Armand Clinescu and Hristo Botev boulevards have a high level of accessibility. The permeability of the subarea varies from increased values in the West to lower values in the East. The boundary of the area features dynamic economic/business operations.
Strong points - Increased local accessibility - The increased global accessibility of the boundaries of the subarea - The increased permeability of the western part of the subarea Weak points - Reduced global accessibility inside the subarea Opportunities - Proximity to the subarea 2 and increased local accessibility might support the regeneration of the area Threats - I.C. Brtianu boulevard operates as a barrier which separates the subarea 2, which is vibrant and dynamic, from subarea 3, whose potential has not yet been exploited.
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Subarea 4

Accessibility/
high

low

Figure 25: Global and local accessibility and permeability in subarea 4

The global accessibility is increased in the area of Unirii Square, and it is reduced towards Constituiei Square. The local accessibility is decreased, except for Unirii Square. From the point of view of permeability, only the separated areas between the blocks from Splaiul Independenei to Unirii Square have an increased permeability, the other parts of the area featuring a reduced permeability, especially East of Unirii Square. The separated areas have a reduced accessibility, which lowers the pedestrian flows. The high vehicle traffic flow on Splaiul Independenei separates the area of Dmbovia Quay corresponding to the Palace of Justice in the same radical manner in which the river course separates Sfinii Apostoli street from Smrdan-elari streets. The sidewalk adjacent to the Dmbovia river bank is empty and completely ignored both by the pedestrians and the bicyclists, due to the small size and the increased vehicle traffic nearby. Strong points - The global accessibility is increased in Unirii Square Weak points - Reduced global accessibility in the western part - Reduced permeability, especially East of Unirii Square Opportunities - The subarea may use the increased level of global accessibility in order to underline its role of city hub Threats - The poorly connected areas and the separated areas are characterized by risks regarding the safety of the citizens.
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Subarea 5

Accessibility/
high

low

Figure 26: Global and local accessibility and permeability in subarea 5 Although Izvor Boulevard and 13 September Boulevard have an increased global accessibility, the subarea is defined by a reduced local accessibility. The area is crossed by the vehicle traffic which connects the various parts of the capital, but is of limited interest for the pedestrian traffic and does not support intense commercial operations. The pedestrian traffic is also discouraged by the much reduced permeability, the urban islands being by far the largest in the urban action area. The subarea is actually made up of two urban islands Izvor Park and the park of the Palace of the Parliament.
Strong points - High global accessibility Opportunities - On the boundaries of the area, the accessibility is higher. Carrying out new connections shall lead to the development of a better structured and efficient urban texture Weak points Threats - Reduced local accessibility and - The subarea has the risk of remaining an isolated permeability, an area with a reduced space and an obstacle for the pedestrian flows in the potential for pedestrian use and street centre of the city trading operations
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Subarea 6

Accessibility/
high

low

Figure 27: Global and local accessibility and permeability in subarea 6 The subarea is well connected at global level featuring arteries with an increased global accessibility such as Lascr Catargiu, Iancu de Hunedoara, Dacia Boulevards, Victoriei, Berzei and Buzeti streets. At local level, the accessibility is medium. From the point of view of permeability, the area is heterogenous. The area between Calea Victoriei (Victoriei street) and Calea Griviei (Griviei street) is emphasized, in which the urban islands are larger on average. Consequently, the subarea does not have the same potential for generating pedestrian flows and business operations like subareas 1, 2 or 3, yet it does not have the problems which occur in subareas 4 or 5. Strong points - High global accessibility Opportunities - The level of the accessibility and permeability does not support the same pedestrian flows and business operations like other subareas, but it establishes the identity of central residential area Weak points Threats - Reduced permeability in the northern - The lower permeability does not support part business operations at the level of other central subareas
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Subarea 7

Accessibility/
high

low

Figure 28: Global and local accessibility and permeability in subarea 7 Unlike subarea 6, this area has a lower global accessibility, but an increased local accessibility. Subarea 7 is not crossed by routes of global importance, but it is enclosed by such, ensuring towards its boundaries a proper connectivity with the rest of the city. From the point of view of their permeability, the urban islands are of smaller size, especially towards the South, having the (yet unachieved) potential of supporting pedestrian flows and business operations. Strong points Opportunities - Increased local accessibility - The South part may support pedestrian - Contact with arteries having an increased flows and business operations global accessibility - Increased permeability Weak points Threats - Reduced global accessibility - The global connectivity being more reduced, the area has the risk of not achieving its potential of central area

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Subarea 8

Accessibility/
high

low

Figure 29: Global and local accessibility and permeability in subarea 8 The subarea has an average accessibility, both on a global and a local level. A reduced accessibility can be noticed for the Patriarchate which, although it is an objective of national interest, does not benefit from a proper connectivity with the city and the rest of the subarea. The subarea has an average permeability, which might support pedestrian flows and business operations, but it is affected by the fact that it is surrounded by impermeable areas. Strong points - Medium permeability Weak points - Reduced accessibility of the Patriarchate - The subarea is surrounded by impermeable areas Opportunities - The subarea may support pedestrian flows and business operations Threats - The presence of impermeable areas towards the boundaries of the area renders the traffic flows more difficult

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Subarea 9

Accessibility/
high

low

Figure 30: Global and local accessibility and permeability in subarea 9 Except for the Regina Maria Boulevard, the arteries in subarea 9 show a reduced global and local accessibility, the area being isolated and secluded due to the destructuring of the urban texture during the construction of the Civic Centre. From the point of view of permeability, although the area also has urban islands of small size, inherited from the pre-Communist texture, there are problems due to the existence of large urban islands which accommodated industrial operations in the past and also due to the fact that the area is surrounded by impermeable areas. Strong points - Increased permeability of the urban texture remaining after the construction works of the Civic Centre. Weak points - Reduced global and local accessibility - Reduced permeability caused by the existence of the extended industrial areas - Area surrounded by impermeable areas Opportunities - By reconnecting the subarea to the centre of the city, the increased permeability of the urban texture may support pedestrian flows and business operations. Threats - The area may remain segregated and isolated if no action is taken to change the urban texture

43

1.3.3. The structure of the urban texture In the urban action area a high number of objectives of public interest can be found, especially in the subareas 1 and 6. Subarea 2 has the highest density of monuments. By contrast, subarea 9 does not have objectives of public interest. A series of such objectives of public utility do not capitalize on the space in the benefit of the community. In a city with small possibilities of carrying out sports activities outdoors, the sports fields of the education establishments remain most of the times closed after class hours although they could be used by the community. In a similar way, more spaces, such as auditoriums, libraries and similar buildings could be used more for the benefit of the community by opening them for local activities and initiatives.

Source: Information taken from the urban database of the City Hall of Bucharest Figure 151: Objectives of public interest in the urban action area
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1.4.

Analysis of Urban Transport

1.4.1. Transport by Personal Car Although road infrastructure is the same as in 1989, the number of cars in Bucharest is seven times higher today than two decades ago (1.2 million cars, compared to 180,000). The data collected to carry out The Transportation Master Plan highlight the following structure of car mobility: The total number of travels by car on the roads of Bucharest is an average of 910,681 per business day, out of which 70% represent travels to and from locations in the administrative area of Bucharest, and 30% represent travels to and from locations outside Bucharest. The volume of traffic on the boulevards leading to the city centre can reach 50,000 cars per day, on both directions of traffic. Total number of travels by taxi is an average of 90,621 per day, out of which 90% represent travels to and from locations in the administrative area of Bucharest, and 10% represent travels between locations in Bucharest and outside areas. With regard to freight transport, the daily average is of 99,157 freight transport vehicles, out of which 22% represent travels to and from locations in the administrative area of Bucharest, and 78% represent travels between locations in Bucharest and outside areas. The saturation degree (the demand/capacity ratio) of the main arteries (the northsouth axis, the east-west axis, the urban central ring) is over 70%, which causes long travel time, high fuel consumption and high polluting emissions. Also, the congestions that appeared in traffic affect negatively the performance of the surface public transportation, where it has no separate traffic line. The congestion points are located in the major intersections along the inner traffic ring, in the central area and along the north-south axis. The congestion has a negative impact on the travel time, air pollution and the parking spaces. Because of the problems mentioned above, the average daily travel speed of the vehicles in Bucharest is about 30 km/h, and the average travel speed of the surface public transportation means is estimated at 16km/h. The number of hours spent in traffic amounts 220,000 hours for cars, 18,300 hours for taxies, 31,700 hours for freight transport vehicles and 854,800 hours for public transportation means. The total average daily volume of the monitored traffic is of 7,132,400 vehicles/km for cars, 582,700 vehicles/km for taxies, 1,052,100 vehicles/km for freight transport vehicles and 13,664,300 passengers/km for public transport. According to the estimations of the Transportation Master Plan, the monitored traffic in Bucharest generates an average noise level of 62.8 dB and daily emissions as follows: 2 tonnes of NOx, 10 tonnes of CO, 1.2 tonnes of unburned hydrocarbons/particles, 357 tonnes of SO 2 and 1,113 tonnes of CO2. The quantity of emissions generated by the monitored traffic is shown both for traffic arteries and for areas/neighbourhoods as well. The presented estimations are made for cars and taxis. The effects on human health are harmful. In the event no projects or development measures are implemented, the traffic congestion will reach a very high level between 2013 and 2027, thus blocking the main street network of Bucharest. Car Transport, Pollution and Human Health time: The pollution caused by the big number of cars in traffic will affect the human health, in
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 Air pollution: the accumulations exceeding the maximum concentration allowed for NO2, SO2, PM10 can cause: acute poisoning (which appear only accidently in case of industrial damages, in case of damage of tanks with irritant pollutants), affecting the breathing ways and eyes acute bronchitis exacerbation; significant increase in mortality and morbidity by respiratory and cardio-vascular affections accumulations above the maximum allowed CO concentration can lead to disorders caused by hypoxia or anoxia, depending on the carboxyhemoglobin percentage with an increase in morbidity by CNS and cardio-vascular disorders the accumulations above the maximum allowed Pb concentration can cause, in time, neuropsychiatric disorders, blood disorders (anaemia), cardio-vascular disorders (high blood pressure), kidney disorders, especially in children. Noise pollution: creates discomfort and it has become disturbing and even harmful on certain traffic arteries of Bucharest. The Air Environmental Factor The air pollution in Bucharest has a specific character, due to the emissions, respectively the existence of many sources, to the different levels of pollution sources as well as to a unequal distribution of these sources, spread throughout the city. In the analyzed area, the air pollution sources come mainly from the road traffic. The largest impact occurs in built-up areas with traffic congested roads, where the dispersion of pollutants is difficult. The air pollutant concentrations are higher in traffic areas surrounded by compact tall buildings, which prevent the dispersion. The data on the air quality in Bucharest (the measured pollutants being: SO 2, NOx, CO, O3, benzene, PM10, PM2,5, Pb) are provided in real time including to the public and come from the 8 automatic stations. The emissions in Bucharest in 2010 were as follows: SO2 emissions came mainly from the CET (combustions in the energy industry) and road traffic; there was no exceedance of the alert threshold in any of the monitoring stations. VOC emissions came mainly from road traffic and from use of solvents and other products. dust emissions came mainly from road traffic and combustions in the manufacturing industry; the annual concentration exceeded the limit allowed in all monitoring stations. Lead emissions came mainly from combustions in the manufacturing industry, from treatment and waste disposal; the annual average Pb concentrations were below the limit. NO2 emissions exceeded the limit value at Military Circle (in the urban action area), Mihai Bravu and Drumul Taberei stations, mainly due to road traffic. CO2 emissions didnt exceed the limit values (10 mg/m, an average calculated for 8 hours). benzene emissions didnt exceed the allowed limit values. The images 32 and 33 indicate the analyzed area as a concentration pole for CO and PM10 emissions. The Noise In the analyzed area, the main source of noise is the road traffic (estimated to be the cause of approximately 70% of the noise pollution). The traffic noise is a disturbing phenomenon, which has an important effect on people living or working near intense traffic arteries. Recent studies have shown that the risk of heart and circulatory diseases is significantly increased by a traffic noise level of 65-70 dB (A) or higher. This is due to increased pulse and blood pressure. The digestion is also slowed down and the muscle tone is increased, which are clear symptoms of stress. The noise from road traffic in urban areas where speeds are generally below 60 km/h comes mainly from engines and exhaust facilities, and in areas where the traffic speeds are running over 60 km/h, it comes from the interaction of the tires with the road surface. Analyzing the noise map in the central area (image 34) we can notice that the noise level in the large boulevards area is of 70-80 dB(A).
46

The costs of using the cars for urban communities: Environment Smog Large emissions greenhouse gases Noise Economic External costs out of accidents, pollution Congestion costs, even considering a sustained road construction Infrastructure costs Loss of productive rural land by building houses out of town, which are accessible by car Social Loss of dynamic, human character of the streets Weakening of community Isolation in the urban projects away from the rest of the city Access problems for people without cars/people with disabilities

of

47

Source: Intergraph processing information from the urban database Image 16: The CO emissions map

Source: Intergraph - processing information from the urban database Image 17: The PM10 emissions map

Source: Enviro Noise Map in Bucharest 2010 Image 18: The noise map for the central area of Bucharest
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The map of the parking spaces in the urban action area

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Another problem related to the transportation by private car is the excessive parking in the central area. The city does not have enough parking spaces in the central area, which leads to the "parasite" parking spaces (on the roadside). The street parking reduces the efficiency of traffic and it can sometimes be an obstacle to the passing cars and pedestrians. Some cars are parked perpendicular to the street. When a car enters or exits a parking place, the traffic is stopped during manoeuvres. The drivers tend to park very close to their final destination, and the vehicles are parked for long periods of time (the average is over 7 hours).

Image 19: Example of parking on the roadside and on the sidewalk in the city centre In order to examine in detail the road traffic and the impact on the traffic produced in the main streets and intersections by the IUDP projects, a traffic study was prepared for the urban action area. Within the traffic study for IUDP central area, we can distinguish the following main components: The update of the Bucharest transport model for the morning - AM and afternoon PM rush hours, for the basic year 2011, and the analysis of traffic and public transport performance for the basic year; The forecast of demand for private transport and public transport for 2016 and the estimate of car traffic flows and passengers flows for the public transport for the year 2016, for the IUDP scenarios. Since the traffic study is attached in full in Appendix 7, in this chapter will be summarized: The analysis of traffic and public transport performance for the basic year 2011, for the morning - AM and afternoon PM rush hours, based on the update of the transport demand and traffic flows for 2011; The conclusions on the forecast of demand for private transport and public transport for the year 2016, for the IUDP scenarios. The analysis of the traffic and public transport performance for the basic year 2011 Bucharest's road network has a radial and circular distribution and has a total length of about 1,900 km, being mainly divided into two concentric traffic rings (central and peripheral). The distance between the main streets in the centre area (the inner traffic ring) is about 1 km on the eastwest axis and 2-3 km on the north-south axis. The volume of traffic on the nine boulevards that converge from the inner ring to the city centre - Unirii Square may reach 50,000 cars per day, on
50

both directions of traffic. The congestion points are located in the major intersections along the inner traffic ring in the central area and on the north-south axis. The traffic management in the city is currently performed by using the traffic light system, covering 240 intersections (it works adaptively on the main thoroughfares only) and by one-way traffic system implemented in the central area. For the detailed analysis of the urban action area, it was necessary to detail the road network, intersections, public transport stations and connector networks. Also, the parking places available in the area were taken into account. The traffic light cycles in the main intersections of the Urban Action Area (UAA) were taken into account as well. The Images 36 and 37 show how this particularization was made, specifying the movement direction; for this purpose, the traffic reviewed in 2011 was considered, in order to adjust the origin-destination (OD) matrices for morning - AM and afternoon PM rush hours (based on the transport model in the Master Transport Plan 2007).

Street network, connectors and public transport stations Transport model for Bucharest 2007 rush hours

Image 20: The structure of road network, zoning, connectors and public transport station network for Bucharest transport model 2007 - AM and PM rush hours
The structure of the street network and zoning - transport model for Bucharest and the movement directions considered for the adjustment of OD matrix 2011

Image 21: Details of road network, zoning, connectors and directions of travel for the adjustment of OD matrices Bucharest transport model for AM and PM rush hours, 2011
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A study of the existing street network in the UAA was conducted in order to define the attributes of the streets from the transport model. This includes the number of lanes for each direction of travel, speed limits, technical category of the street, number and direction of their ways, bus/tram lanes or priority, street parking. The conclusions of the study on the street network are the following: The road network in the UAA and in the area of influence of IUDP is characterized by the presence of thoroughfares and connecting roads, with major traffic flows. The thoroughfares and collector streets are traffic routes that cover the largest region of the study, connecting the larger areas of the village. They provide the transit traffic and the city public transport. The study area is served by a series of collector streets (of 3rd technical category) or of local use (of 4th technical category). Here, the traffic is regulated by one-way signs. The most important problem of the 3rd and 4th technical category streets is the inadequate and unregulated parking along the arteries, fact that decreases considerably the traffic capacity (Images 38-40).

Image 22: Illegal parking, occupying a part of the driveway, on Pitar Mo Street, at the intersection with Arthur Verona Street

Image 23: Cars parked on Episcopiei Street, occupying a part of the driveway and of the sidewalk
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Image 24: Cars parked on Clemenceau Street Due to the arranged parking spaces or to the illegal parking on the driveway space, it remains only one traffic lane. In the traffic model, the considered traffic capacities were the real ones, in order to take into account the limitations of the driveway due to the vehicles parked. Also, by parking the vehicles on sidewalks, the pedestrian traffic is obstructed. The transport demand analysis was based on the origin-destination (OD) matrices adjustment for public and private transport, taking into account the traffic flows noticed in 2011. The method applied is detailed in the Annex. The Images 41 and 42 below show the transit of cars, taxis and pick-up trucks, generated and attracted by each area, at the AM and PM rush hours, expressed in standard vehicles (cars) per hour. The Images 43 and 44 below show the public transport transit generated and attracted by each area, at the AM and PM rush hours, expressed in number of passengers per hour. It can be noticed that the UAA attracts a greater number of travels by public transport than it generates, in the morning rush hour - AM, and it generates a greater number of travels than it attracts in the afternoon rush hour - PM, the values being about 50-100% higher than the number of travels by car. This aspect is also reflected by the total number of travels by car and public transport in Bucharest, at rush hours, as shown in the table below. Table 1: The transit in the urban action area
Type of transit Generated/attracted travels by private transport - total OD matrix (at the entire city level) Generated/attracted travels by public transport total OD matrix (at the entire city level) Generated/attracted travels by private transport in the central area Generated/attracted travels by public transport in the central area Morning rush hour AM 90,148 234,443 16,421 43,181 Percentage of the total number of travels for the morning rush hours 27.7% 72.3% 27.5% 72.5% Afternoon rush hour PM 87,559 168,083 21,228 28,761 Percentage of the total number of travels for the afternoon rush hours 34.1% 65.9% 42.4% 57.6%

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General and attracted travels by car and taxi Morning rush hour AM, final adjustment 2011 The central area of Bucharest

Image 25: Generated and attracted travels by car Bucharest transport model 2011, AM morning rush hour
General and attracted travels by car and taxi Afternoon rush hour PM, final adjustment 2011

Image 26: Generated and attracted travels by car Bucharest transport model 2011, PM afternoon rush hour

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General and attracted travels by public transport Morning rush hour AM, final adjustment 2011 The central area of Bucharest

Image 27: Generated and attracted travels by public transport Bucharest transport model 2011, AM morning rush hour

General and attracted travels by public transport Afternoon rush hour PM, final adjustment 2011

Image 28: Generated and attracted travels by public transport Bucharest transport model 2011, PM afternoon rush hour

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Analyzing the transit, we can notice that the public transport travels are predominant. At the entire city level, the public transport represents 66% -71% of the travels, while the percentage of private car travels represent 29% -34%. At the AM morning rush hour, the city centre, corresponding to the IUDP study area, generates in average: 6,176 travels by car, representing 6.9 % of the total number of travels generated at the morning rush hour, at the entire municipality level; 4,133 travels by public transport, representing 1.8 % of the total number of travels generated at the morning rush hour at the entire municipality level; and it attracts in average: 10,245 travels by car, representing 11.4 % of the total number of travels generated at the morning rush hour at the entire municipality level; 39,048 travels by public transport, representing 16.7 % of the total number of travels generated at the morning rush hour at the entire municipality level. At the PM afternoon rush hour, the city centre, corresponding to the IUDP study area, generates in average: 10,234 travels by car, representing 11.7 % of the total number of travels generated at the afternoon rush hour, at the entire municipality level; 24,344 travels by public transport, representing 14.5 % of the total number of travels generated at the afternoon rush hour, at the entire municipality level; and it attracts in average: 10,994 travels by car, representing 12.6 % of the total number of travels generated at the afternoon rush hour, at the entire municipality level; 4,417 travels by public transport, representing 2.6 % of the total number of travels generated at the afternoon rush hour, at the entire municipality level. The volume/capacity ratios (traffic flows/traffic capacity) represent the proportion of the estimated traffic flows and the traffic capacity of each street. The traffic capacity is the maximum number of vehicles that can pass in a time unit through a road section, on a lane and it depends mainly on the following factors: the geometry of the road, visibility distance and design speed; the relief conditions; the flow-speed relationship for the respective road category; the length and traffic characteristics of road sector. For the volume/capacity reports greater than 90%, the traffic queues grow very fast (there is an exponential growth), leading to a dramatic drop in traffic capacity. The traffic capacity is expressed in the hourly flow of standard vehicles (cars). The factors influencing the traffic capacity, which were listed above, in conjunction with the traffic intensity determine the conditions for the road traffic, respectively the level of service, at some point, of the road or the considered road sector. The level of service is a quantitative estimate of the operational traffic conditions, expressed by the speed, duration of movement, traffic comfort and safety. In practice, there are 6 levels of service, marked with letters from A to F. It can be noticed that the service levels in the central area are mostly in C and D categories. There are some areas (Victoria Square, Lascr Catargiu) where the movement capabilities are low. The level of service is characterized by the following:
Characteristic elements Ensured conditions for the traffic flow A Free flow B Steady flow C Steady flow Level of service D Almost unsteady flow E Unsteady flow F Forced flow

56

Service flows Low 420 (standard vehicle/hour) Speeds High corresponding to maximum service flows Drivers freedom manoeuvre Movement comfort Full Very good

Medium 750

High 1200

of

High, but on certain areas they are limited, due to the traffic Almost full Partial limited by the traffic Good Medium

High, with Capacity considerable 2800 fluctuations 1800 Medium, Medium Low with many speeds with restrictions, large due to the fluctuations traffic Little, Almost limited by inexistent the traffic Sufficient Insufficient

Under capacity

Very low

Inexistent Traffic congestion

Volume/Capacity ratio, in % Adjustment for the basic year 2011 morning rush hour AM Transport model for Bucharest

Image 29: Volume/capacity ratio, AM morning rush hour, basic year 2011

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Volume/Capacity Ratio, in % Adjustment for the basic year 2011 afternoon rush jour PM IUDP area Transport model for Bucharest

Image 30: Volume/capacity ratio, PM afternoon rush hour, basic year 2011

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Passengers flow for the public transport, in passengers/hour Adjustment for the basic year 2011 morning rush hour AM Transport model for Bucharest

Image 31: Public transport traffic flows, expressed in passengers/hour, AM morning rush hour, basic year 2011
Passengers flow for the public transport, in passengers/hour Adjustment for the basic year 2011 afternoon rush hour PM IUDP area Transport model for Bucharest

Image 32: Public transport traffic flows, expressed in passengers/hour, PM afternoon rush hour, basic year 2011

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The Appendix presents the results of traffic flows expressed in vehicles/hour at rush hours, the volume/capacity ratio at rush hours, the level of service in intersections at rush hours, and the passenger flows by public transport at rush hours. The analysis of traffic data shows a decrease of the average traffic speed from 37 km/h on Lascar Catargiu Boulevard to 11 km/h at Universtii Square. Because of the higher traffic flows in the South - North direction (Unirii Square - Victoriei Square) than the North - South direction (Victoriei Square - Unirii Square), the average traffic speed is lower in the South North direction. Taking advantage of the one-way roads, the average speed is higher on Calea Victoriei than on the parallel route, Victoriei Square - Unirii Square, via Roman Square.
VITEZA MEDIEDECIRCULATIE(KM/H) 40 35

AVERAGE TRAFFIC SPEED (KM/H)

25

AVERAGE TRAFFIC SPEED (KM/H)

VITEZA MEDIEDECIRCULATIE(KM/H)

Viteza medie (m)

25 20 15 10 5 0 490 1045
P Rom ta. ana

Viteza medie (m)

Average speed (m)

30

AM PM

Ave rag e spe ed (m)

20 15 AM 10 5 0 PM

2387

2598
Universitate

3123 Distante cumulate (km/h) Cumulated

525

736
Universitate

2078

2633

3123

distances (km/h)

Distante cumulate (km/h) Cumulated distances P Rom ta. ana (km/h)

Image 33: The average speed on Victoriei Image 34: The average speed on Unirii Square Square- Roman Square University Square - Universitii Square - Roman Square Unirii Square Victoriei Square
VITEZA MEDIEDECIRCULATIE(KM/H)

AVERAGE TRAFFIC SPEED(KM/H)

35 30

Viteza medie (m)

Average speed (m)

25 20 15 10 5 0 805 1450 1885 2150 2690 Distante cumulate (km/h) Cumulated distances (km/h) AM PM

Calera Victoriei / Ion intersectia Calea Victoriei / Ion Cam pineanu Campineanu crossing

Image 35: The average speed Calea Victoriei (from Victoriei Square to Splaiul Independenei) From the basic scenario analysis (year 2011), we can draw the following conclusions: The central area is experiencing high traffic flows, which, under the current growth rate of the car fleet, will lead to permanent traffic jams in the future. It is therefore necessary to provide alternatives to the north-south traffic through the internal ring, median ring and the ring road of Bucharest. The streets and boulevards in the centre must serve as far as possible the local traffic only, which should support commercial, cultural and leisure activities, the essential characteristics of a European city centre. Another problem that occurs both in the central area and the rest of Bucharest is the lack of parking spaces. Moreover, the drivers tend to park very close to their final destination,
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and the vehicles are parked for long periods of time. The presence in the centre area of a large number of public institutions, cultural institutions and leisure sites leads to overcrowding and excessive use of streets as parking space, including the dedicated pedestrian sidewalk areas, fact that creates a general discomfort. There should be an integrated medium-sized parking space system (under 500 places), which should be connected to major public transport nodes and to the artery network with priority for pedestrians and cyclists. The public transport is not sufficiently developed and prioritized. Many European cities focus on a new transport policy where no private cars, but the public transport connections, cycling and pedestrians are favoured. Studies are needed on the improvement of the public transport connections in the centre, such as new tram network connections. The works on the new subway lines must become a priority. A fast, efficient and comfortable public transport will be more attractive than the use of private car. Conclusions on the forecast for private and public transport demand for 2016

We estimate that the transport demand will be higher in 2016 than in the basic year 2011, both for private transport and public transport, at both AM and PM rush hours (see Appendix 7). The traffic model anticipates that the traffic flows will be redistributed for the private transport due to the implementation of several major projects for Bucharest. The speed is expected to increase by 3-5 km/h on Calea Victoriei, Victoriei Square Ion Cmpineanu Street. One of the identified critical points is in Victoriei Square, where the level of service in the major traffic lights points is unsatisfactory. To be noted that the new Uranus Boulevard brings an important traffic flow from/to Victoriei Square and the construction of this boulevard will determine a speed decrease on Elisabeta Boulevard. The implementation of the IUDP projects has no significant influence on the traffic in the main thoroughfares of the capitals city centre. The influences on the traffic capacity will be mostly at local level by variations in the average traffic speed. The levels of service and the traffic flow/capacity reports remain unchanged. For the morning rush hour is further expected a triple number of passengers with private cars (an average of 12,756), compared to public transport (an average of 4,597) in the studied area. The central area is an urban magnet. The transit traffic overlaps the traffic flows having the central area as origin or destination; the transit traffic makes a pressure on the capacity of movement. The volume/capacity reports for 2016 (with and without project) are expected to be over 70%, with negative influences on the traffic flow. The attenuation of the transit traffic in the central area, concomitant with the public transport development, should be encouraged in the whole city. Solving the acute problems which the central area is facing cannot be achieved by infrastructure projects only. Other measures are also needed: Review of transport policy in Bucharest by: regulating the access of personal cars in the central area; regulating the ad-hoc parking in the central area and the establishment of parking fees to discourage maintaining vehicles in the central area for long periods of time; establishing tariffs for public transport, which could provide savings to users; establishing routes with dedicated lanes for the public transport and taxis; Institutional and organizational measures: Development of the metropolitan area; Development of fast connections between Bucharest and the surrounding localities.

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1.4.2. Public Transport Regarding the public transport, there is a daily average of 2,514,637 personal travels, out of which 84% are from and to locations in the administrative area of Bucharest, and 16% are travels between locations in Bucharest and outside areas. The arisen traffic congestions adversely affect the performance of surface public transport, where it has no separate traffic lane.
Public transport users

Subway and RATB

RATB

Personal car

Sub way

Comp any car

Other

N/A

I dont know/I dont answer

Source: SNSPA - The social mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Image 36: The transportation mean most used by the inhabitants of Bucharest. The sociological studies conducted in 2010 and 2011 by SNSPA indicated important data in order to understand the mobility of Bucharests inhabitants. The data show that a few over a quarter of Bucharest inhabitants mainly use their personal car when going through the town, a figure which has dropped to 20% in 2011 (Image 52). Instead, the public transport is used by most people. Only 39% of people who have a car use the car to travel to work/elsewhere. Almost half of those who own a car use both the surface public transport and the subway. The people who own a car but use the surface public transport exclusively are less than people who dont own a car. The subway has identical rates, which proves that it is the main alternative to the car. In order to invest in a sustainable and attractive transport, the subway appears as the most popular alternative to the car. Most respondents to the survey said they used one or two transportation means, which may indicate a high level of efficiency in the organization of public transport network. Yet, it is not known how many of the 29% who dont use the public transport chose not to use it due to their preference over car, bicycle or walking, or due to the lack of convenient transport links.

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How many transportation means do you use when going to job/school?

1 transportation mean 2 transportations mean 3 transportations mean Not applicable

I dont know/I dont answer

Source: SNSPA - The social mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Image 37: The number of transportation means used by Bucharests inhabitants The sociological study was conducted on a representative sample of Bucharests population; therefore the residents of the neighbouring area of the capital were not included in the study, which, to their turn, travel through Bucharest. They can be divided into a group mainly using common transport (public or private, as there are several private transportation companies) generally older population of rural and urban centres in the metropolitan area and a group of people who use the car - generally the population of the new real estate developments around Bucharest. The lack of convenient public transport links to the metropolitan area creates a greater pressure on the road traffic coming from this area. The urban action area is generally well served by the public transport, by three main subway lines (stations: Unirii Square 1 and 2, Izvor, University, Roman Square, Victoriei Square 1 and 2) and a large number of bus, trams and trolley lines. There are a number of terminus tram stations in this area (Sf. Gheorghe Square, Calea Plevnei), trolley stations (Sf. Voievozi Square) and bus stations (Roman Square, Magheru Boulevard, Sala Palatului, Izvor), and intermodal terminus stations (Sf. Vineri Square - buses and trams, Rosetti Square - buses and trolleybuses, Unirii Square - tram, bus, trolleybus).

63

Source: Regia Autonom de Transport Bucureti Image 38: The public transport network in the centre of Bucharest

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There are areas poorly served by the public transport in the urban action area. Subarea 9 has not been crossed by transportation means since the demolition communist times, when the lines serving the area and using Uranus Street were cancelled. There are also areas in the sub-areas 1 and 7 which are not close to the stations served by public transport lines as the spaces around Calea Victoriei or Maria Rosetti Street.

Source: processing information from the urban database the City Hall of Bucharest Image 39: The public transport stations in the urban action area Analyzing the current public transport network, we can notice the lack of necessary connections in the subareas no. 4, 5 and 9 (Image 56): Public transport connection Unirii Square - Constituiei Square, with stations on Unirii Boulevard; Public transport connection Regina Maria Square - Izvor, with stations on Libertii Boulevard; Connection between Chirigiu Square and 13 Septembrie - Hadeu, with stations on Calea Rahovei, Uranus Street;

Connection for trams over Unirii Square, which should thus connect the tram network on the NE-SW direction.

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II. 2 CURRENT PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Current tram line Current bus line Current trolleybus line III. LACK OF CONNECTIONS

Image 40: The lack of necessary connections in the public transport network in the urban action area 1.4.3. Walking Walking is the oldest form of human mobility and it is now again in the light, as the pedestrian mobility in a city is considered a priority. The desire to better understand how the inhabitants of Bucharest move in the central area led to the comprehensive analysis of pedestrian flows in 14 areas in the city centre. The methodology was to initial establish "observation points" in each of the places from which it was intended to collect information, the passengers being counted for 5 minutes per hour, for an eight-hour period, in each observation point. These data were extrapolated to reach an hourly average which may be consistent and comparable in terms of statistics. The representations below mention the counts results:

66

Hourly average pedestrian flow

Roman Square

Amzei - Verona

Calea Victoriei - Sala Palatului

Elisabeta Boulevard

67

Hourly average pedestrian flow

S tr. o Tud r A rg i hez

St

St
r. B

o Nic r.
i ste ati

lae li p Fi cu es

S tr. o Tud r A rg i hez

S tr. Io

n C am

pinea

nu

S tr .T ud

or

A rg

he

zi

olae l. Nic B du

S tr.

B is

er ic a

Ene i

B alc esc u
rol I

S tr.

E dg

ar Q

uine

B dul

. Ca

Gh ic

r.I o

St

emiei Str. Acad

B dul gin . Re

abeta a E lis

.Io S tr

hic nG

om a S tr.T

iei Str. Academ

B dul. . B ratia Ion C

Universitii Square

Armeneasc
68

g Cara iu
S oa tr.D ei mn

nu
Str.Colt ei

Hourly average pedestrian flow

Hystorical Centre - Lipsanos

Brtianu (Cocor) old Calea Moilor

Unirii Square Hystorical Center (Hanul lui Manuc)

Unirii Square (South-West)

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Hourly average pedestrian flow

Izvor

Flower Market - Uranus

Image 41: Pedestrian flows in points of the urban action area The pedestrian flow analysis indicates the fact that the analyzed areas are different in terms of pedestrian traffic: Areas with the highest pedestrian traffic: Universitate, Roman, Unirii Area with high pedestrian traffic: Centrul Vechi, Magheru Blvd., Brtianu Areas with pedestrian traffic: Izvor, Elisabeta Blvd. Areas with low pedestrian traffic: Armeneasc, Sala Palatului, Piaa Revoluiei, Uranus Flower Market Among the most intense traffic areas of the City Center we can name: Unirii Boulevard crossing 3,660 persons/hour Unirii Square sidewalk (SW) 3,144 persons/hour Roman Square (columns) 2,328 persons/hour Magheru Boulevard (columns) 2,280 persons/hour Bridge over Dmbovia, Unirii 1,728 persons/hour Universitii Square sidewalk in front of the Faculty of Geology 1,512 persons/hour Izvor 1,392 persons/hour Magheru Boulevard, the crossing with Tache Ionescu Street, 1,356 persons/hour Universitate Subway entrance - uu 1,320 persons/hour Universitate Subway entrance - TNB 1,272 persons Brtianu Boulvard exit of Sf. Gheorghe Lipscani passage 1,248 persons/hour Universitate Subway entrance - Colea 1,260 persons/hour Blcescu Boulevard near the University artesian well 1,200 Brtianu Boulevard between Cocor and Unirii 1,200 Universitii Square Book Street sidewalk 1,200
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Following the analysis of the pedestrian flows on the North-South axis, it was noticed that the largest flows were in the north end of Magheru Boulevard, immediately in the south part of Roman Square (2,292 pedestrians per hour in the columns area) and at the exits of the University subway (1,800 pedestrians per hour at the University subway exit, 1,320 pedestrians per hour at the uu Palace exit, 1,272 pedestrians per hour at the National Theatre exit, 1,260 pedestrians at the Colea exit). The flows decrease between Roman Square and Universitii Square, with a minimum of 444 pedestrians per hour recorded on the western side, between Biserica Amzei Street and Tache Ionescu Street and 708 pedestrians per hour on the east side, in the front of the Scala Cinema. South to Universitii Square, the flows remain high on both sides (about 960 pedestrians per hour on the west side and 1,080 pedestrians per hour on the east side), due to the connections with the leisure streets (west) and the connections with the tram lines end at Sf. Gheorghe Square (east). The difference between southern and northern parts of Universitii Square can thus be explained by the public transport organization as well, whose stations are absent on the eastern side of the northern axis from Universitii Square to Roman Square. The pedestrian flows on the historical alternative of the axis, Calea Victoriei, are much lower and reach a similar level to the minimum levels in Magheru Boulevard only in the "historical centre" (720 pedestrians per hour in front of Zltari Church). They decrease in the north of the National Military Circle, reaching only 120 pedestrians per hour in front of the National Museum of Art and 240 pedestrians per hour in front of the Hilton Hotel, decreasing to the north. These data indicate that the pedestrian activity in Calea Victoriei is not among the highest in the city centre, in contrast with its traditional role of promenade street. A possible cause is the unfriendly character of pedestrian spaces (narrow sidewalks with cracked asphalt). By comparison with Magheru and Blcescu Boulevards, it can be concluded that the absence of public transport in Calea Victoriei might be a cause for the lack of important pedestrian flows. The streets in the Pilot Area of the Historical Center have high flows of pedestrian traffic in Magheru Boulevard (the crossing with Batitei Street - 996 persons/hour, similar to Smrdan-Lipscani crossing) or in Roman Square (between Cderea Bastiliei Street and Dacia Boulevard 1,080 persons/hour, similar to elari - Splaiul Independenei crossing). In terms of distribution by age groups, approximately 50% of the registered pedestrians are adults. There are areas frequented by young people (16-30 years) more than the average of the studied areas, the difference being statistically significant. Thus, in the north of the Roman Square, 66% of pedestrians are young, in the south area of the market, the young people represent 51%, and in Magheru - Amzei-Verona area they represent 48%. In Hanul lui Manuc area, 49% are young people, but Lipscani - Smirdan area do not record greater youth flows than the average, being intensively used by adults as well. Some areas are frequented by young people under the average in the areas studied (statistically significant difference) such as Calea Victoriei - Hilton (27% young people), Armeneasc area (27% young people) and the Cocor Store Calea Mosilor (25% young people). Regarding children, they remain at the average of 3%, except Uranus - Flower Market area, where they represent 9% of the pedestrians.

Image 42: Distribution by age of the pedestrians registered B old people (over 65 years), A adults (30-65 years), T - young (16-30 years), C - children (under 16 years)
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Total

10:30-11:30

12:00-13:00

15:00-16:00

08:00-09:00

09:00-10:00

13:00-14:00

16:30-17:30

Image 43: Numeric evolution, by hours and age groups of the pedestrians In certain areas, the pedestrian mobility respects the average evolution model presented in Image 59. Constant flows throughout the day: Sala Palatului, Hilton, Armeneasc, Lipscani, Unirii Square SW, Izvor, Uranus, Batitei, Teatrul Naional, University artesian wells Pedestrian flows decreasing in the evening: Brezoianu, Cercul Militar Naional, Universitate-Edgar Quinet, Roman North, Cocor, Colea Pedestrian flows increasing in the evening: Roman South, Amzei-Verona, Hanul Manuc, Ion Ghica-uu In contrast to the area between Brtianu and Victoriei Boulevard which is used throughout the day, there are areas with potential such as Elisabeta Boulevard-Victoriei-Brezoianu and the historical centre area in the east of Brtianu which face a decrease in terms of pedestrian use in the evening, indicating the need for reactivation operations for these areas. In terms of correlation of the pedestrian flow study with the local accessibility, we can draw a conclusion: the low pedestrian flows in Armeneasc area and the relatively low pedestrian flows in Elisabeta-Brezoianu and the old Calea Moilor do not correspond to the high local accessibility of these areas, resulting that the pedestrian route design should be analyzed to identify obstacles. The study conducted in Izvor area reveals a lack of connections over Dmbovia towards the northeast where pedestrian flows are moving, after they must make a detour at Izvor Bridge. 75% of the interviewed people in the sociological investigation agree with the enforcement of speed limits for road traffic in the centre of Bucharest (Image 60). The agreement for this type of restriction is correlated with the intention to delimiting a space in the centre of Bucharest, having a cultural and commercial character rather than a transit one.
Would you agree the enforcement of speed limits for cars and public transport in the central area of Bucharest?

Yes Yes

No No

Dont answer/Dont know

17:30-18:30

18:30-19:30

72

Source: SNSPA - The social mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Image 44: The extent to which the Bucharests inhabitants agree the enforcement of speed limits for the traffic in the central area

83% of Bucharests inhabitants share the idea of a strictly pedestrian area in the Capital (image 61). From social point of view, the promenade areas are designed to enable artistic, cultural and social events, which express the life of a city and offer identity. The respondents mention Unirii area and the great boulevards (Magheru, Calea Victoriei) as areas that could become pedestrian areas, in addition to the already popular Historical Center (image 62).
To what extent would you agree the arrangement of pedestrian spaces in the central area of Bucharest?

To a very great extent

To a great extent

To a little extent

To a very little extent

I dont answer/I dont know

Image 45: The extent to which the Bucharests inhabitants agree the arrangement of pedestrian spaces in the central area of Bucharest
Name an area/boulevard/street in the city center where you would like a pedestrian space be arranged

Historical Center

Roman Square Magheru Boulevard The Cimigiu Park City Center I dont know/I dont answer More than 80 locations were named, each of them representing less than 1%

Image 46: Areas with acceptance potential for becoming pedestrian area

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1.4.1. Use of bicycles The study conducted by SNSPA in Bucharest in 2010 highlighted the fact that less than 2% of respondents use the bicycle as daily mean of transportation, while, through the Brussels Charter in 2009, the European cities committed to bring the percentage of daily trips by bicycle to 15%, because the use of bicycles entails the following advantages: represents the most efficient transportation solution in terms of energy consumption and CO2. contributes to improving population health through prevention of coronary diseases; does not create traffic jams. The bicycle is not a popular mean of transportation in Bucharest, first of all because of unfriendly traffic conditions. European cities have developed general bicycle networks on which a large number of cyclists travel daily, unhindered. Bucharest, however, has a less extensive network, characterized by inappropriate design, with many obstacles for bicycle users (figure 63). The network is discontinuous, not maintained, without signalling and traffic light, with a very small width, often occupied by parked cars or pedestrians. However, the existing network can be used as a catalyst to set up a new continuous and coherent network.

Figure47: Lanes dedicated to cyclists, often hostile, occupied by obstacles In parallel with pedestrian flow analysis, a cyclist flow analysis was performed during a business day (July 2011). This analysis was carried out in areas marked on the attached map, on which were noted only cycling flows exceeding 5 cyclists during the day (Figure 64). This can be considered a pilot study for an analysis of cycling flows, to be achieved for the entire city, including possible origin-destination queries to study the flows connected at the level of
74

Bucharest. The main conclusion of this study is that, except more intense circulation of cyclists conducted on the north-south axis, the more significant flows are recorded on arteries / in points where there are large surfaces dedicated to cycling circulation, such as in the park at Piaa Unirii or on Bulevardul Unirii. This supports the initiatives to create lanes dedicated to cyclists, in order to encourage this form of sustainable mobility (Figure 65).

Figure 48: Bicycle flows in selected areas in the urban action area (bicycles/h)

"shared space"

on the road

75

on the sidewalk

"shared space"

Source: blogs dedicated to urban cycling Figure 49: Examples of layout of bicycle lanes

SWOT Analysis of the existing cycling network Strengths - a first step in introducing the notion of bicycle specific infrastructure in Romania - intensive exposure for bicycle icons, which helped to raise awareness of bicycles/cyclists as road traffic participants - encouraging novice cyclists and those who re-discover cycling after many years, children and retired persons Weaknesses - discontinuity - incoherence - very small width - lack of maintenance - without signalling and without traffic lights - without protective physical separation - very often occupied abusively by parked cars, or used by pedestrians just as abusively - very poor quality of the work: expensive materials used on an inappropriate surface Opportunities - initiating discussions on specific infrastructure themes - analysis of possible continuous and coherent networks that can be made to continue the existing network - develop an initial thematic map, which contains all the necessary resources to encourage citizens to use bicycles as an alternative means of travel Threats - continued placement of the lanes on the sidewalks, which contravenes to any modern and intelligent urban transportation strategy, - lack of planning of budgets and maintenance works for the lanes, which will entail a perception of lack of purpose of the investment

76

SWOT Analysis of accessibility, permeability and transport in the urban action zone Strengths - boulevards and streets with high global accessibility in the city (Calea Victoriei, Bulevardul Magheru, Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta, Bule vardul Carol I, Splaiul Independenei) - high permeability of the sub-urban fabric in the sub-zones located north of Piaa Unirii Opportunities - prioritizing public transport and alternative routes mainly for pedestrians and cyclists will decrease the level of congestion - construction of bridges over Dmbovia will help reconnect the destructured urban tissue Threats - the increase of the number of cars and traffic in the central area - the lack of action in the respect of modifying the current trends will lead to city blocking - the concerns related to the security of the Palace of the Parliament reduce the possibility of certain urban operat ions in Sub-zone 5.

Weaknesses - The Civic Centre developed during the 80's (Bulevardul Unirii, Bulevardul Libertii) is a barrier zone which distinguishes and separates certain areas - industrial areas such as Rahova - Uranus also reduce the permeability of the urban tissue - impermeable spaces surround the south-west of the urban action area - the limited number of bridges over Dmbovia reduce accessibility - the intense traffic flows represent obstacles for pedestrians (Splaiul Independenei, Calea Victoriei)

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1.5. Demographic and social characteristics of the urban action zone 1.5.1. Population1 The demographic profile of the urban action zone of action is the result of the typology of low buildings often present, which dominates the central area of Bucharest (as opposed to the collective housing complexes in the outskirts neighbourhoods), of the concentration of collective housing complexes along grand boulevards and of the complex functional role of the centre, which groups a large number of functions. The stable population recorded by the General Directorate for Persons Records of Bucharest in July 2011 for the urban action zone is of 87.844 persons (4.52% of the total stable population registered in Bucharest), but it is important to note that the role of central zone determines the use of the perimeter under study by much of the population of Bucharest. Therefore, the integrated plan has a greater impact, not only for the population of the urban action zone. The most populated sub-zones are north (1, 6 and 7), amounting to 61% of the population of ZAU PIDU, while they account for 49% of the ZAU PIDU. By reference to the entire urban action zone, the density of stable population is higher that the Bucharest average. The average density in ZAU PIDU is of 9,276 inhabitants per square kilometre. Table 2 shows that the values below the average Bucharest density (8,938 inhabitants per square km) are found in sub-zone 4 (Parcul Izvor and Palatul Parlamentului), sub-zone 5 (Bulevardul Unirii - Piaa Unirii) and sub-zone 9 (where there are former industrial areas, and significant areas of unused land). Figure 69 suggests concentrations of population along the major boulevards, where collective housing buildings are located (Calea Victoriei, Bd.Magheru, Bd. Unirii, 13 Septembrie). Sub-zone 7 has the highest population density. (An area in which the population of large housing complexes along the major boulevards defined within the sub-zone will be excluded from the analysis. For sub-zone 7, thus restricted, it resulted an average population density of 10.913 inhabitants/km2, by approximately 20% lower than the one calculated for the entire sub-zone 7, but still above the Bucharest average.2).

When drawing up this chapter, the ascending method was used, starting from relative information of the resident units (data on population by number, age and sex for each postal address in the ZAU PIDU). Data were processed in geographic information system using Intergraph platforms 2 There is the perception, sometimes even the professional environment, that the central area is less populated. The average density of population in ZAU PIDU is higher than the the average for the entire city.

78

Repartition of population on sub-zones

Sub-zona 1 Sub-zona 2 Sub-zona 3 Sub-zona 4 Sub-zona 5 Sub-zona 6 Sub-zona 7 Sub-zona 8 Sub-zona 9

Source: Processing of data provided by the Directorate General for Persons Records of the Municipality of Bucharest Figure50: Distribution of the population by sub-zones in the ZAU PIDU (July 2011) Table 2: Density of stable population in ZAU PIDU (July 2011)
Zone Sub-zone 1 Sub-zone 2 Sub-zone 3 Sub-zone 4 Sub-zone 5 Sub-zone 6 Sub-zone 7 Sub-zone 8 Sub-zone 9 Total ZAU PIDU Surface of the zone (km2) 1.39 0.27 0.50 1.19 0.84 1.92 1.36 0.90 1.12 9.47 Number of inhabitants (July 2011) 15,331 2,766 5,510 7,977 20,595 17,807 9,779 8,079 87,844 Average density per km2 11,050 10,309 11,097 6,721 10,736 13,135 10,860 7,207 9,276

79

Source: Processing of data provided by the Directorate General for Persons Records of the Municipality of Bucharest

low density high density Source: Intergraph - processing of INSSE data Figure 51: Population density in Bucharest Source: Processing of data provided by the Directorate General for Persons Records of the Municipality of Bucharest (July 2011) Figure 52: Population density in ZAU PIDU

Source: Processing of data provided by the Directorate General for Persons Records of the Municipality of Bucharest

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Figure 53: Population concentration in the PIDU Urban Action Zone (July 2011)

Table 3: Distribution of population by sex and age groups in ZAU PIDU (July 2011)
ZAU PIDU Age group/Sex Total Male Female 0-14 years Male Female 15-20 years Male Female 20-29 years Male Female 30-44 years Male Female 45-69 years Male Female 70 and more Male Female Number of persons 87,844 39,679 48,165 8,834 4,514 4,320 2,819 1,443 1,376 10,510 5,200 5,310 20,439 9,564 10,875 27,924 12,662 15,262 17,318 6,296 11,022 percentage of population 100.0% 45.2% 54.8% 10.1% 5.1% 4.9% 3.2% 1.6% 1.6% 12.0% 5.9% 6.0% 23.3% 10.9% 12.4% 31.8% 14.4% 17.4% 19.7% 7.2% 12.5% Bucharest Number of persons (thousands) 1,944 908 1,036 235 121 114 90 46 44 327 162 166 496 239 257 594 267 328 202 74 127 percentage of population 100.0% 46.7% 53.3% 12.1% 6.2% 5.8% 4.6% 2.4% 2.3% 16.8% 8.3% 8.5% 25.5% 12.3% 13.2% 30.6% 13.7% 16.9% 10.4% 3.8% 6.6%

Source: Processing of data provided by the Directorate General for Persons Records of the Municipality of Bucharest

All the studies in the European countries suggest that prices of properties are higher in areas where there is a higher percentage of

81

Repartition of population on groups of

ages

Source: Processing of data provided by the Directorate General for Persons Records of the Municipality of Bucharest Figure54: Distribution of population by age groups (July 2011)

From the point of view of age groups, the urban action zone has a higher proportion of elderly population than other parts of the city (the population of more than 70 years represents 19.7% of the total population in ZAU, compared to 10.4% in the entire municipality) and a lower proportion of children (10.1%, compared to 12.1%) - see Figures 71-74. From the total population of ZAU PIDU, 45.2% are males and 54,8% are females (the masculinity ratio is of 82.4%-meaning that a number of 82 men correspond to 100 women). The percentage of female population is 1.6% higher in the ZAU PIDU than the average of the city. Analyzing gender distribution in each age class, we observe that older female population is larger, confirming the higher life expectancy (75 years compared to 68 years for men). More than half of the population of ZAU PIDU (51,5%) is aged of more than 45 years, while the corresponding percentage in Bucharest is of 40.9%. The demographic dependency ratio (indicator characterizing the population's activity potential and measures the pressure of the inactive population - young and elder - on the active population - adult population) has a value of 573,6 for ZAU PIDU. This means that 1,000 people aged 15-64 correspond to approximately 574 young (0-14 years) and elderly (65 and over) people. The demographic dependency ratio is 533.8 in Bucharest, meaning that an active person in ZAU PIDU maintains several inactive persons by reference to the whole city. The youth dependency ratio represents the ratio between people aged 0-14 years and adults aged between 15-64 years and has a value of 153.3 . This indicator has a value of 163.9 for the whole city. Percentage
public green spaces.

of

working

age

population

(15-64

years)

is

66.3%,

below

82

the Bucharest average.

Source: Intergraph - processing of INSSE data Figure55: Density of children population (0-14 years) in Bucharest

Source: Processing of data provided by the Directorate General for Persons Records of the Municipality of Bucharest Figure56: Concentration of children population (0-14 years) in ZAU PIDU (July 2011)

Source: Intergraph INSSE data

- processing

of Source: Processing of data provided by the Directorate General for Persons Records of the Municipality of Bucharest
83

Figure57: Density of population aged of more Figure58: Concentration of population aged than 70 years in Bucharest over 70 years in ZAU PIDU (July 2011)

1.5.2. Inhabiting of the urban action zone The housing stock of ZAU PIDU comprises approximately 6,200 buildings, both individual dwellings and collective housing complexes. A rate of 43.1% of the population resides in individual dwellings and 56.9% of the population lives in collective dwellings. The individual dwellings are mostly in sub-zones 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Individual dwellings Collective dwellings

1 level 8 levels and more

Source: Synergetics - data collection (inventory) of the functions of buildings - July 2011 Figure59: Distribution of population by type of dwelling (July 2011)

Many of the collective housing complexes have exceeded the period of length of service. The situation of building consolidation requires special attention. Most of the buildings affected by seismic risks, subject to expertise are concentrated in the central area of Bucharest (Figure 76), predominantly in sub-zones 6, 7, 2 and 8.
84

Table 4. Statistics for buildings subject to seismic risk expertise Seismic risk category RsI - public hazard RsI - constructions with high risk of collapse in case of earthquakes having intensities corresponding to seismic calculation areas (design earthquake) RsII - constructions for which the probability of collapse is reduced, but for which major structural damages are expected when a design earthquake occurs RsIII - constructions for which major structural damages that do not significantly affect the structural safety are expected, but for which the damages of the non-structural elements may be important RsIV constructions assigned to emergency classes, not included in the appropriate risk class Total number of constructions subject to expertise out of which consolidated constructions Number of building s 92 Constructio n year (average) 1933

134

1892

121

1935

23 2 833 1,205 15

1935 1897 1920 1919 1897

Source: Processing of information from the urban database of the City Hall of Municipality of Bucharest

85

Source: Processing of information from the urban database of the City Hall of Municipality of Bucharest Figure 60: Distribution of constructions subject to technical expertise from the point of view of seismic risk (Bucharest)

Source: Processing of information from the urban database of the City Hall of Municipality of Bucharest Figure 61: Distribution of constructions subject to technical expertise from the point of view of seismic risk (ZAU PIDU)

Buildings density in sqkm

86

Source: Processing of information from the urban database of the City Hall of Municipality of Bucharest Figure 62: Distribution of constructions subject to technical expertise from the point of view of seismic risk in ZAU PIDU

Source: Processing of information from the urban database of the City Hall of Municipality of Bucharest Figure 63: Concentration of population affected by seismic risk in ZAU PIDU (July 2011)

Only 20 constructions subject to technical expertise from the point of view of seismic risk have been consolidated. Among the buildings of particular importance that have been consolidated, it may be mentioned the "Athenee Palace" hotel, the Nehoiu hotel, part of the Romanian National Art Museum and the Telephone Palace. If the provisions of the normative acts implementing safety for the stock of buildings in the 1st class of seismic risk will apply, the entire action requires more than 50 years at the current rate and costs amount to hundreds of millions of euro. Approximately 41% of the buildings subject to seismic risk of the 1st degree have 4 floors or more. Figure 79 shows the concentration of the affected population in the event of an earthquake of high intensity, calculated depending on the number of persons recorded in each building and the density of the buildings (Figure 78). Another major issue is the need for thermal rehabilitation of collective residential buildings. So far, only 45 buildings included in programs run by the City halls of districts 1, 2, 3 and 5 have been rehabilitated in the action area.

Affordability of the dwellings in ZAU PIDU

The residential market has fluctuated significantly in recent years. If, by the end of 2007 and early 2008, the prices increased from week to week, in 2009 and 2010 the situation has reversed. The financial crisis reflected in the decrease in salaries or even the loss of jobs, matched by the lack of confidence in the country's economic development have led to a significant decrease in demand and, implicitly, of the prices of residential units with up to 30-50% in certain peripheral locations of Bucharest. Centrally located units were also affected, although in a more moderate manner, compared to those located in semi-central or peripheral areas. The financial institutions, which have tightened financing conditions, also contributed to this decline. Also, the increase of the VAT rate by 5 percentage points to 24% from July 1st, 2010 affected the sale prices of residential units. Thus, corporate owners had to bear this increase. In terms of offer of old apartments, it is around 750,000 units in the capital city. As a preference among consumers, about 40% of buyers are interested in central and downtown areas, the others opting for the semi-central and outskirts areas. Starting with 2004-2005, new apartments in residential complexes started to add to the stock of existing residential units. Although the percentage of stock of new apartments is only about 2% of the total number of apartments, the emergence of this concept on the Romanian market has brought a desire among Romanians for a better quality housing. These complexes provide decent living conditions and multiple facilities, such as modern construction standards, own underground parking lots, elevators connecting the underground parking lots and the apartments, security, landscaped green spaces, playgrounds for children, spa centres or swimming pools.
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From the real estate perspective, the zone under analysis is predominantly a residential one. In most sub-zones, this feature is given either by blocks of flats built during the communist era or by the numerous pre-war or post-war villas (Dacia, Grdina Icoanei - sub-zone 7, "old" Calea Mosilor - sub-zone 3, Tudor Vladimirescu - sub-zone 9, Mircea Vulcnescu, Lascr Catargiu - sub-zone 6, tirbei Vod - Cimigiu - sub-zone 1). From the standpoint of market attractiveness and, hence, of the demand it generates, blocks of flats may be classified depending on the year of construction, seismic classification, construction standard, sub-zone 4 being one of the most popular. This is due to the fact that, in terms of building quality, the Unirii area provides safety. Another aspect that determines demand on the residential market is the proximity to specific points of interest. The central area of Bucharest covers most of the administrative buildings in Bucharest, numerous office buildings, educational institutions and other public interest objectives. As a result, this area is very sought after among buyers, about 40% of the market demand focusing on this part of the capital city. A high demand equals higher prices and, if the supply is constant. For this reason the centre was the least affected by the crisis in terms of decrease of the selling prices. The average selling price per square meter for old flats in the analyzed sub-zones range from EUR 1,250 per sq m in zones 3, 6 and 7 and EUR 1,400 per sq m in zone 4, with values of EUR 1,300 per sq m in zone 1 and 8 and EUR 1,350 per sq m in zone 5 (the market average in the whole city is now approximately EUR 1,100 per sq m). The prices presented above are averages of each sub-zone, referring to 2-bedroom apartments located in standard blocks of flats for each zone. These prices can be higher or lower, depending on the specific characteristics taken into account. The residential units of the type house/villa in the sub-zones concerned may be classified into two categories: historical, impressively-sized villas, refurbished, used for various commercial and institutional (restaurants and coffee shops, embassies, offices of companies) and old, smallsize houses in advanced stage of impairment. In the first category, the demand is relatively high, the selling price per square meter reaching at times more than 3,000 Euros. In the second case, some of these buildings can be renovated and used for various commercial or residential purposes, but there are situations where such buildings are purchased either to be demolished in order for development or are incorporated in a future wider project. In this case, the purchase price is referenced to the development potential of the land and not to the existing buildings. Most of the developments of small apartment buildings (average 3-4 levels) shown in Figure 167 are made in the absence of available land on the site of former houses. A large real estate development potential is represented by sub-zone 9, where there still is unused land. In the urban economic development, housing can play a key role in regenerating underperforming areas or those affected by the lack of investments, but considered to have growth potential. On the other hand, the successful rehabilitation of collective buildings (for example the one subject to seismic risk located on the front side of main boulevards or in the downtown area) may attract long-term investments by the private sector, also leading to long-term viability of the spaces. Especially the highly skilled workforce is drawn to locations in stable and coherent communities, with strong transport links, to well maintained areas of the city, having a strong cultural identity.

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1.5.3. Green spaces Green spaces infrastructure is more than a statistic of green land, involving a spatial vision of the network of public spaces, parks, public and private gardens, sport grounds, recreation complexes, squares, street alignments. The development of this infrastructure is the result of a public policy implemented throughout a long period. Green spaces provide added value to the urban environment by increasing its diversity and providing socio-economic and environmental benefits. Many studies emphasize the social benefits of green spaces. From a social perspective, green spaces can provide a greater diversity of land use and opportunities for a wide range of activities, with significant influence on the social health of the city. Well-managed green spaces contribute to strengthening social justice by increasing social inclusion, providing a neutral framework, freely available to everyone, so as to create the basis for interaction among the various social categories, both through direct contact and by participating in community events. The cultural life is enriched by the fact that green spaces are venues for social and cultural events (festivals, theatrical or cinematographic activities, exhibitions, celebrations and other similar events). Green spaces can be a safe playground for children, whose behaviour is influenced in respect of physical, mental and social development. They can also play an important role in basic education of children about nature and the environment. In addition, health benefits of green spaces are extremely important and worth emphasizing. They encourage a healthier lifestyle, through various exercises (walking, running, cycling). They also have psychological effects, through the way in which they allow to escape from daily stress in a more peaceful, relaxing place. There are studies indicating that the main value of green spaces lies in their role of recovery of the "well-being" of people who often go there. In terms of environmental benefits, urban green spaces are a true moderator of environmental impact of human activity, contributing to improving the urban physical environment by: Reducing pollution. The process of photosynthesis consumes carbon dioxide and releases oxygen. During the day, a green area of 25 square meters provides the necessary oxygen for one person. Green spaces can absorb other pollutants as well (e.g. particles and dust), contributing to maintaining a healthy urban environment by cleaning air, soil and water; Maintaining a balance of the urban environment, especially by moderating the extremes of urban climate. The constructions and concrete surfaces in cities creates a specific urban environment, with higher temperatures and limited air circulation, which leads to the socalled "heat islands" (see Figure 80); Mitigating noise. Well landscaped green spaces can be effective barriers against noise, contributing significantly to reducing their level, particularly during the growing season; Improving the efficiency of water drainage in the urban environment; Conserving the local natural and cultural heritage and maintaining biodiversity. Green spaces also have a great importance in terms of aesthetics. Through the value of landscaping, green spaces give identity to the built environment. Many times, they can function as a visual screen against spatial uniformity. The economic benefits include both direct benefits (workforce employed in the management of public spaces, as well as income generated from this activity) and less tangible
89

benefits, such as effects on the price of the neighbouring properties 3, helping to attract economic activities in the area or their role in attracting tourists. A high quality network of green spaces linking residential areas to areas of economic activity increases the accessibility and attractiveness of local residences and jobs in the area, including by encouraging the inhabitants to walk to work safely, on foot or by bicycle. A pleasant environment always helps create a positive image of urban centres and thus can increase the attractiveness for investments and new job offers. Generally, the presence of green space, through the benefits it ensures to the inhabitants (in terms of aesthetics and health) determines the increase of the value of the areas. In conclusion, the existence of well-maintained green spaces contributes to the quality of life. Research has shown that the inhabitants attach high value to the areas where quality green spaces.

Source: Intergraph - processing of ANM data Figure64: Heat poles map of Bucharest In the perimeter under study, the entire typology of green spaces (public parks, public gardens, squares, planted alignments) may be found. The total area of green space in ZAU PIDU is of 66.4 hectares, and the balance regarding the existing and required green space is shown in Table 5. According to the census made by the "green cadastre", the number of isolated trees is 45,411 and the number of trees in the compact green space areas (parks, gardens) is 7.612.

Table 5: Existing and required green spaces in ZAU PIDU Category of green space Green area surface Green space surface m2 Minimum recommend ed surface Green space deficit m2/inhabit Green space deficit
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(m2) Parks Alignments, squares Total 371,922 292,354 664,276

/ inhabitant 4.23 0.79

(m2) 6.00 1.50

ant 1.77 0.71 2.48

(ha) 15.5 6.3. 21.8

Source: Processing of data in the "Green Cadastre" - urban database of the City Hall of the Municipality of Bucharest

The landscaped parks in the urban action area are listed in Table 6. According to sociological survey detailed in Chapter 1.5.5, between 79% and 82% of Bucharest inhabitants believe that the parks are representative elements for the centre of Bucharest (see Figure 86). Long walks in the parks of the urban action zone are the main motivation for 24% of the Bucharest inhabitants going in downtown Bucharest (Figure 94). Cismigiu Park, Unirii Park and Carol Park are among the favourite walking areas of the Bucharest inhabitants (Figure 98). Considered a leisure behaviour, walks in the park are not affected by social, economic or political events, being determined by individual availability and weather conditions. Only half of the Bucharest inhabitants go to the park every week (Figure 81)

Table 6: Parks in the urban action zone PIDU Surface (m2) Cimigiu 209,474 Libertii (Carol I) 64,521 Izvor (Hadeu) 12,219 Ion Voicu (Ioanid) 7,761 Grdina Icoanei 3,236 Unirii 3,070 Nicolae Iorga 2,710 Sala Palatului 1,816 Sf. Gheorghe Nou 1,437 Ateneul Romn 979 I.C. Brtianu (Colea) 786 Cazzavilan 692 Universitate (National Theatre) 651 Total 309,352* *The difference up to 371,922 square meters is represented by green landscaped surfaces under the form of parks in the area of housing complexes. Park Pro-social policies recommended at European level aim at increasing the number of parks and green spaces in urban areas and encouraging people to spend as much free time in such places. The information in the sociological investigation shows that the main reasons why people use green spaces are: relaxation (whether active relaxation - walking through the park, sporting activities, or a passive one - for instance, participating in various events held in the park), socializing activities (either with friends or to meet new people) and going with the grandchild/child to play (Figure 82). The main barriers that prevent people to use urban green spaces are: the absence of facilities (including play areas for children), the presence of other people considered undesirable in the park (also related to concerns about personal safety), lack of
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cleanliness, and access difficulties (especially for older people). The factors that encourage people to use green spaces more are cleanliness, the increase of personal safety, a better management, better facilities, more events in the park, better accessibility and proximity of a dwelling to green space.
What is the main reason you go in the park?
to relax I take my child/grandchild to play to meet my friends to meet/tals to other people N/A NA/Don't answer

How often do you go in the park?

Every week 1-2 times a month once in 1-2 months several times a year 1-2 times a year less than once a year I don't go

Source: SNSPA - "Social mapping of Bucharest", 2011 Figure 65: The frequency with which Bucharest inhabitants go to the park Figure 66: The motivation for the Bucharest inhabitants for going to the park

For analysis of the green space infrastructure, the most comprehensive set of indicators appears in the Interdisciplinary Catalogue of Criteria, developed in the FP5 URGE project (Framework Programme 5 - Urban Green Environment), which establishes the following groups: a) group of quantity (availability) indicators of green areas: surface, fragmentation, isolation from other green spaces, connectivity of green spaces, green spaces offer accessibility, integrated internal/external system; b) group of quality indicators of green spaces: species diversity, habitat diversity, protecting cultural and natural heritage, the ability to improve the quality of the environment, city identity, awareness of the physical and emotional benefits derived from the impact of urban green space; c) group of indicators regarding the use of green spaces: recreation, sports, education, culture, production, employment; d) group of indicators for planning, development and management of green spaces: green urban policy and its legal context, planning tools, administration responsibilities, the integration of private green areas, budget for the urban green system, waste management, citizen involvement. Calculating the main indicators at the level of the urban action zone, we find that the proportion of green spaces in the total administrative area is 7%, and the surface of green spaces per inhabitant is of 4.23 m2/inhabitant, calculated depending on the surface of the parks and 0.79 m2/inhabitant, calculated based on other types of green spaces (Table 5). According to the World Health Organization, the standard of green space for an inhabitant must be 50 m2 (9 m2/inhabitant is the minimum recommended). At EU level, where the urban environment is the habitat of about 70% of the population, standards regarding green spaces are at least 26 m2/ inhabitant (with a recommended minimum of 6 m2/inhabitant).
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Therefore, the existing green space in ZAU PIDU does not provide the minimum standard per inhabitant needed to raise the quality of life in accordance with European recommendations. The average of trees per inhabitant is of 0.6 in the urban action zone, lower than the Bucharest average (0.88) and well below the level of the UE recommendation of 3 trees. In conclusion, one of the great failures of the ZAU PIDU is the insufficiency of green spaces. The adoption of public policies for the purpose of remedying this problem is urgent. To increase the quality of green spaces, an updated database is needed first of all. The City Hall of the Municipality of Bucharest has completed the "Green Cadastre", the data being structured as a geographic referencing system. Secondly, green spaces planning policies should be developed to meet local needs. Thirdly, an integrated approach, accompanied by a community involvement is needed to develop and manage green spaces through partnerships between local authorities, the business environment and NGOs. Fourth, the increase of quality, quantity and accessibility of green spaces is needed in a vision of urban space. The integration of green spaces in the urban regeneration process should be done inclusively by attracting investments in the area (as a result of the increase of the attractiveness of the urban landscape) and by using green spaces (especially parks) as starting points for local regeneration initiatives. The level of satisfaction of the urban population depends on the way in which the quantitative (spatial) and quality aspects of the green space system are performed. As for Bucharest, it falls into the category of cities where public perception of environmental quality (in which green spaces are also included) is low.

Source: Processing of data in the "Green Cadastre" - urban database of the City Hall of the Municipality of Bucharest Figure 67: Green spaces in ZAU PIDU 1.5.4. Crime in PIDU urban area Crime and civil disobedience are factors that encumber local economic development, to the extent that sustainable development is harmed by social phenomena that affect the personal safety or the trust of citizens.
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After assessing the statistics regarding crimes, we can notice the following: The increase of street crimes is determined by various factors, out of which we can highlight the decrease of the standard of living and the fact that a part of the population tries to obtain resources using illegal means, but also the fact that the community is tolerant towards antisocial and law-breaking behaviour. Proliferating street crimes is enhanced also by the fact that the members of the community are not enough preoccupied with their own safety and of the goods they detain. Committing street crimes is also enhanced by the impossibility of the public order forces to cover the territory, due to the lack of police officers, which is why it is imposed to continue the actions to increase the employees of the public security forces. There is a series of trends that can be favourably influenced by the implementation of PIDU. The total number of crimes tends to grow in the last 5 years. At the level of rates/area, we can state that the incidence degree of the crimes that took place within the area of operation has been significantly increased in 2007, compared to the situation in Bucharest, and then it slightly decreased. Unlike last year, in 2010 the crime in the PIDU area has decreased, while at the level of the city there was a general increase. But we can notice an almost 10% increase of the crimes against the patrimony in the PIDU area, in 2007. After a decrease registered in the subsequent year, the incidence of these reported crimes presents an increasing trend. Inclusive, the increase of the total crimes reported is greater in the PIDU area (135% in the last four years), compared to the situation in the capital city (121% for the same period). Even if most of the street crimes are decreasing in the PIDU area (robberies, thefts, rapes in absolute value or analysing their incidence degree), the reports are alarming concerning the abuse crimes, respectively the disturbance of public order. Having significantly decreased in Bucharest (45% decrease), these crimes have increased by 43%, in the period 2007-2010, in the area of the project. Although the population in ZAU PIDU only represents 4.52% of the total population of Bucharest and the analysed area represents only 3.97% of the area of Bucharest, between 15% and 17% of the total reported crimes take place in this area. The crimes reported for 1,000 inhabitants (total crimes, as well as street crimes) are three to four times greater than the average mean of Bucharest. Table 7: Total statistics of the reported crimes Indicator Area 2006 2007 2008 Total reported crimes, out of which: Bucharest 81,227 80,153 82,272 PIDU 12,888 13,384 12,440 - crimes against a person Bucharest 15,660 16,928 17,513 PIDU 465 376 536 - crimes against the patrimony Bucharest 46,618 46,394 46,359 PIDU 8,259 9,174 8,365 - other crimes Bucharest 18,949 16,831 18,400 PIDU 4,164 3,834 3,539 Crimes reported for 1,000 Bucharest inhabitants 42 41 42 PIDU 148 153 142 Source: Data provided by the General Directorate of Bucharest Police 2009 96,260 14,848 19,257 768 59,205 10,171 17,798 3,909 50 169 2010 98,679 14,785 15,925 500 62,639 10,292 20,115 3,993 51 168

Table 8: Statistics regarding the street crimes reported Indicator Area 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Total reported street crimes, out of Bucharest 18,925 15,449 16,177 18,029 20,325 which:
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- crimes against a person (robberies, thefts, rapes) - street thefts - other street crimes (abuse, disturbance of public order) Street crimes reported for 1,000 inhabitants

PIDU Bucharest

3,737 1,058

2,866 929

2,827 1,138

2,661 1,387

3,044 1,419

PIDU 283 234 233 256 250 Bucharest 16,021 12,695 12,984 15,718 17,887 PIDU 3,314 2,483 2,398 2,191 2,552 Bucharest PIDU Bucharest 1,837 138 10 1,818 149 8 2,046 196 8 911 210 9 30 1,002 238 10 35

PIDU 43 33 32 Source: Data provided by the General Directorate of Bucharest Police

Percentage of total crimes reported in Bucharest, committed in ZAU PIDU

Percentage of crimes against patrimony reported in Bucharest, committed in ZAU PIDU

Percentage of crimes against persons reported in Bucharest, committed in ZAU PIDU

Percentage of other crimes reported in Bucharest, committed in ZAU PIDU

Crimes reported for 1,000 inhabitants

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Percentage of total street crimes reported in Bucharest, committed in ZAU PIDU

Percentage of street crimes against persons reported in Bucharest, committed in ZAU PIDU

Percentage of street thefts reported in Bucharest, committed in ZAU PIDU

Percentage of other street crimes reported in Bucharest, committed in ZAU PIDU

Street crimes reported for 1,000 inhabitants

Street crimes reported for km

Source: Data provided by the General Directorate of Bucharest Police Figure 68: The evolution of crime in PIDU area and a comparison with the city The policies of the city leaders in Europe provide us valid examples of urban strategies that have been used to control the illegal behaviour of the population. With regard to the type of intervention requested by the findings resulted from the analysis of the crime statistics in the central area of Bucharest, the integrated project of urban development is recommended, including in order to discourage and prevent street crime. Firstly, the analysis presented highlighted the great per cent of abuse crimes and disturbance of public order. Taking into account that all other crimes in this area have been maintained under control, we can state that a better management of the territory would be effective to fight against this type of crime. It is considered that a greater access and a nonlimited mobility within a space can lead to the decrease of the crime rates. The increase of the permeability or of the access within a space implies the increase of the effectiveness and of the visibility of police officers in the area. Moreover, the surveillance is also improved by a well96

structured and maintained space. On the other hand, order and efficiency, opposed to disorganization and instability, are preventive factors that discourage the crime behaviour. Parallel with discouraging the illegal behaviour, encouraging social forms of pressure that fight these manifestations can be an additional method to secure a space. Recent studies suggest the existence of a determinant liaison between the attractiveness of a space and the mobility of the community for civic actions. Through the measures proposed by the integrated plan, the increasing trend of the total reported crimes can be negatively influenced. The security of the community became an explicit objective of urban policies, which are presented as main control vehicles of the population and which are included in the governing principles of the local community. As a result, the integrated plan proposed supports the discouraging of crimes, by a more effective management and surveillance of the territory and by enhancing a civic spirit, including by proposing individual projects concerning the security of the population.

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1.5.5. Perceptions and social landmarks related to the urban action area A complex sociological study was conducted to understand how the Bucharest people relate to the central area, and what the issues, needs and priorities of the area are in both uptown residents view and those of the city as a whole. The survey had a wide, multithematic character and was conducted with the support of the teachers, PhDs, MAs, and the students from the Faculty of Political Sciences of NSPAS (National School of Political and Administrative Studies), in the annual research program Social Mapping of Bucharest. The research, a quantitative one, used the sociological survey method on a representative sample of the Bucharest population of over 18 years of age, with a total volume of 1116 persons and a theoretical margin of error of +/-2.93 to a 95% confidence level. The questionnaire design was based on several research dimensions: perceptions, attitudes and representations on the quality of life; current issues of the city and country; crime and anomie; perceptual evaluations of the city at an architectural and urban, social and cultural level of the urban processes dynamics. Information on the methodology used is provided in Annex 6. In the following, the study results interpretation is presented, highlighting the aspects relating to defining the center, center valorization and use. Regarding the transportation aspects, they were presented in the section allocated to the urban transport (Chapter 1.4). 1.5.5.1. Defining the center One of the sociological research dimensions was to define peoples perception on the center, through image analysis and center Bucharest identity for the city residents. One of this analysis first components was to define the elements of the center, which are representative for the Bucharest people. For more than a quarter of the respondents, the University Square is the main symbolic center of Bucharest. This is because the University Square, compared with all others, is an important place for the social memory with civic character, being the only place of spontaneous manifestations in the Capital. All other areas, although loaded with political, historical or commercial symbols, have yet failed to assimilate sufficient social symbols (Figure 85).
Which of the following areas/ squares/ boulevards you think are the most representative for the Center of Bucharest?

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 69: The most representative areas for the Center of Bucharest

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The elements of the urban landscape considered as representative for the center by the Bucharest people were also analyzed. Respondents of all ages emphasized that the historical buildings, monuments and parks are primarily representative for the center of Bucharest (Figure 86). The young respondents found that the bars, cafes and restaurants are also representative for the central area. Yet, the administrative and office buildings are not considered representative for the center of Bucharest. This emphasizes that for the majority of the population, the identity of the city center is given by the built heritage and parks, thus explaining many peoples animosity on the increasing presence of the office buildings in the downtown area (referred to as a problem of the center by a number of respondents).
Do you consider historical buildings as being representative for the center of Bucharest? First of all Not at all
66+ years between 56-65 years between 46-55 years between 36-45 years between 26-35 years between 18-25 years

Do you consider historical monuments as being representative for the center of Bucharest? First of all Not at all
66+ years between 56-65 years between 46-55 years between 36-45 years between 26-35 years between 18-25 years

Do you consider parks/open buildings relaxing Do you consider historical areas for as as being representative for the center of being representative for the center of Bucharest? Bucharest? First of First of all Nota t all at all Not all 66+ years
between 56-65 years between 46-55 years between 36-45 years between 26-35 years between 18-25 years

Do you consider restaurants/coffee houses/shops as being representative for the center of Bucharest? First of all Not at all 66+ years
between 56-65 years between 46-55 years between 36-45 years between 26-35 years between 18-25 years

Do you consider administrative buildings as being representative for the center of Bucharest? First of all Not at 66+all years
between 56-65 years between 46-55 years between 36-45 years between 26-35 years between 18-25 years

Do you consider economic centers/business centers as being representative for the center of Bucharest? First of all Not at all 66+ years
between 56-65 years between 46-55 years between 36-45 years between 26-35 years between 18-25 years

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 70: Elements considered as representative for the center of Bucharest The building the most representative for the Bucharest people is the Palace of Parliament (The House of People). The House of People is followed at a distance by the Romanian Athenaeum and the Intercontinental Hotel. The House of People is considered by a
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third of the population also the most beautiful building in the capital, while other 11% of the people think its the ugliest of the buildings. More than half of the respondents say that in case of a tour of Bucharest for their foreign friends, they would certainly include The House of People. The suburbs and, in general, the streets covered with garbage are the areas that shouldnt be shown to strangers. Some of the respondents mention the historic center as an area to be avoided by the potential tourists. A quarter of respondents did not mention any building to be beautiful, while more than a half none to be ugly. Equally interesting is the fact that no building built after 1989 falls in the top 20 most beautiful buildings of Bucharest. As a matter of fact, only two buildings built after 1989 a mall and the Victory Square BRD building figure in the first 60. A large part of the objectives the Bucharest people are proud of are in the urban action area: Cimigiu Park, the historic center and the Romanian Athenaeum. Another component of the demarche was related to the peoples perception analysis on certain points of the city, which the survey participants were asked whether they are part of the center or not (Figure 87). A mental map of the center indicating locations that are part of the collective image of the center, as well as places for which opinions are divided, or whose belonging to the center is challenged, was thus obtained.
In your opinion are the following areas/objectives part of Bucharests center? Yes No Ive never heard of this area Dont know Dont answer

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011

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Figure 71: The perception of different areas on belonging to the center of Bucharest The mental map resulting from mapping the responses obtained shows the respondents perception on the center: the places perceived by an absolute majority as being central bind on the North-South axis between Victoria Square and the Patriarchate and on the East-West axis between Koglniceanu Square and Rosetti Square. Areas in the vicinity have a certain degree of challenge, but are still considered as part of the center, as Dacia Boulevard, Antim Monastery, Marriott Hotel, old Calea Moilor, Carol Park. Other points in return, such as Uranus, Buzeti, Gemeni Square, Traian, Mntuleasa are already considered outside the center by a relative majority of respondents (Figure 88). An important aspect is the proportion of respondents who havent heard of some areas. Uranus, the Flower Market, Antim Monastery or Mircea Vod Boulevard areas, all located in the area where the interventions related to the Civic Center have been made, are unknown for almost a quarter of respondents, which reveals the impact of urban dissolution produced by the operations of the 80s on the image of the center. Isolated behind the curtains of blocks and the boulevards of the Civic Center, these points seem to have disappeared from the mental map of the Bucharest center.

areas that the majority of the respondents do not consider part of the center

areas that the majority of the respondents consider part of the center areas that a high percentage of the respondents have not heard of

The sursa: processing data from NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 72: The Mental Map of the center of Bucharest 1.5.5.2. Valuing the center The analysis of the way in which the Bucharest people relate to the center was another dimension of the sociological study. The attachment to the center is much smaller than that to the city or to the neighborhood (figure 89). It is no surprise that the attachment to the familiar space, neighborhood is higher, but the difference between the attachment to the city and that to the center reveals a problem in the Bucharest inhabitants relationship to the center.

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How much do you appreciate ? Very fond of Fond Not so fond of Very little fond of/Not fond at all Dont know Dont answer
The neighborhood you are living The center of the town The center of the Bucharest

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 73: The inhabitants attachment to the neighborhood/center/city The center is the most desirable area of Bucharest. The North is considered the best neighborhood, which includes the regions north of Victoria Square, Dorobani, Kisselef, Aviaiei and Bneasa (Figure 90).
In your opinion which is the best neighborhood from Bucharest?

Center

The source: NSPAS- Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 74: Ranking neighborhood by desirability The residents of the center place their own area on a relatively modest position in relation to other areas of Bucharest. They grant on average a 6.90 grade, 10 representing the best residential area, the center being thus advanced by the perception of residents in several neighborhoods, including Bucuretii Noi, Crngai Giuleti or Berceni (Figure 91).

Other Dont know/Dont answer

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The self positioning of own neighborhood on a scale of 10 units 1- the worst neighborhood 10- the best neighborhood

Center

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 75: The self positioning of own neighborhood The center does not represent a popular option to live for the other inhabitants of Bucharest either. Three in four Bucharest inhabitants say they would not choose Bucharest downtown as residential area. This is a natural tendency characteristic of most metropolises, the center being defined either as part the business and/ or the tourism, or, because of overcrowding and pollution, as inauspicious housing area. For Bucharest, after the excessive centralization of the communist period, also associated with the prestige of living in central area, the horizontal expansion trend manifested with a relative difficulty, especially in the North area, due to a poorly structured urban growth strategy. Although the big cities central areas are not generally used as residential areas, the trend in recent decades in the big cities is to increase the popularity of the center as residential area.
If you had the possibility to settle in the center of Bucharest would you choose to live in this area?

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 76: The attractiveness of the center of Bucharest as residential area

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1.5.5.3. Exploitation of the center The center is an area frequently used by a majority of respondents (Figure 93). 40% of the Bucharest people, in particular the active people, often go downtown. The main motivations of the active people are related to work/school, shopping and leisure. These types of activities bring to the fore the issue of the parking, only partly solved for some of the commercial units in the central area. Most of the public or private institutions (from institutions with a public/administrative character to restaurants) lack of parking spaces proportional to influx of people they require.
How often do you go to the center of the Bucharest irrespective of the reason you go there?

Dont know/Dont want to answer at 2-3 months dont go once a month several times a year daily 2-3 times a week 2-3 times a month

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 77: The frequency of going out downtown in Bucharest
Most of the time you go to the Center

Dont know/Dont answer I live in the center For walks in park For spectacles (theatre, cinema, music) To go to restaurant/bar/coffee/club For shopping/markets I work/go to school in the center

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 78: The motivation for going to downtown Bucharest In terms of the commercial role, the traditional propensity to the center, as a place of acquisition prestige, is permanently reduced because of the emergence of malls and shopping centers, relatively similar in offer, in residential neighborhoods. For non-food products, the most Bucharest people opt for proximity as the main criterion for selection of the point of purchase.
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Usually, most Bucharest people go to the market or small shops in the housing area, including stores like supermarket in markets or from ground floor (41%). Approximately 18% of the Bucharest people most often buy products from the small stores near the house. Also, almost half of the Bucharest people said they had bought products from traditional products fairs organized in Bucharest, mostly located in the center. One can say that there is a revaluation of the traditional products.
If you were to thing to think about the things you buy other than those representing food products what would you prefer?

A shop from the neighborhood you live A shop from the center of the town It doesnt matter, it can be anywhere in Bucharest Dont know/Dont answer

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 79: The Bucharest people preferences for non-food shopping stores locations The Bucharest people do not often go out to restaurants, bars or cafes. Among the Bucharest people, the young aged between 18 and 35 years are those who go out downtown weekly to a significantly greater extent than all other age groups. This leisure practice is becoming less and less common with the advancement in age. Of course, one of the factors that determine this type of leisure behavior is the individual income level: the data reveal that as the individual income increases, the greater the frequency with which the Bucharest inhabitants go out becomes. Correspondingly, most of those who never go out to town are in the low income groups (up to 1500 RON).
How often do you usually go out, at the restaurants/bars/coffee houses?
Dont know/Dont answer Daily Once a couple of months Once a month

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Daily Weekly Once a month Once a couple of months Only on a special occasions Dont go

18-25 years 26-35 years 36-45 years 46-55 years 56-65 years 66-75 years over 75 years

Daily Weekly Once a month Once a couple of months Only on a special occasions Dont go

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 80: The frequency with which the Bucharest people go out to restaurants/ bars/ cafes Higher education people would rather go out in the center of Bucharest, compared with those without higher education. The habit of going out to town in the area close to work is present in a greater extent to the active population (26-45 years). In general, a big attraction of the young and adult population for the city center, in terms of leisure options is noted. Attraction is strongest at young people between 18-35 years (over half of them use to go out downtown). The better the financial situation, the more the Bucharest people go out downtown. In terms of individual income, it appears that this practice of going out downtown the capital is more common for the categories with a more than 1500 RON income. Some of the people with no income are the young who prefer the central urban targets with major symbolic capital.
Where are you usually go out, at restaurants/bars/coffee houses?
Without higher education With higher education

Without income

over

In the neighborhood Near the workplace

In the center Another situation Dont know

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 81: Where Bucharest inhabitants go out to restaurants/ bars/ cafes
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According to the Cultural Consumption Barometer (CCCDC, 2009), there is a decrease in the culture consumption in Bucharest compared to previous years. More than half of the Bucharest population says that they havent been to the theatre, cinema or museum in the last year (NSPAS, 2010). According to the CCCDC study, the consumption of elite culture (theater, museums, exhibitions) decreased in the population with secondary education and has remained relatively constant among the loyal public and with higher education. Going to the cinema is the most common activity of the mass cultural activities. Also, the average consumption of events/ local festivals decreased in the segment of people with university and postgraduate studies in Bucharest. Non-cultural activities, such as walking in the park, have increased among the population, probably because leisure in the park does not vary depending on the economic factors and does not require economical resources (Figure 98). In CCCDCs point of view, for ameliorating the effects of the crisis on the cultural consumption, measures have to be taken on three dimensions: financial, socialization and innovation. The financial measures, especially applicable to the show institutions and museums, could consist of discounts on tickets, offers, special programs. New shows adapted to the publics needs could increase the level of cultural consumption, as a compensation for people not spending much for fun and leisure. Secondly, show institutions, such as theaters, operas, museums and cinemas can take measures of socialization such as laying out spaces like bars or cafes in their premises for the public that attend them (CCCDC, 2009). The restaurants the most cited as favorite are those located in subzone 1. Bucharest peoples preferences generally focus on targets with a historical resonance. In terms of cafes and bars, preferences are much more diversified, no bar having a score greater than 4%.
Name one area in Bucharest where you like to walk

Dont know/Dont answer

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 82: Bucharest people preferences for walking areas 1.5.5.4. Problems and needs of the center The trend in Bucharest is largely perceived as wrong, in direct correlation with how the trend of the country in general is perceived. The data reveal the existence of a pattern, i.e.: the people originating in Bucharest have the tendency to believe that things are going in the wrong direction, while the people originating from another locality tend to believe that the direction in which things work in Bucharest is good.
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Do you think that in Bucharest things are going well or bad? Wrong

Well Dont know/Dont answer

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 83: The Bucharest people perception on the direction in which things work in Bucharest In Bucharest peoples opinion, the main issues of the center are the traffic and the parking spaces, followed by cleaning, the condition of roads and old buildings (figure 100). The traffic and the parking spaces are considered the most serious issue for the center, to a greater extent than they are for the whole city (26% versus 9%, and 15% versus 5% of respondents), resulting thus the need to act in the central area for improving the situation. The issue of parking spaces in downtown Bucharest is mostly mentioned by the active young and adult population (18 to 45 years). The issue of the parking spaces is present to a greater extent among those with higher education than among others. Among the main problems of the city, cleaning is mentioned to a greater extent with age, being of lesser importance for the young population, for example for those of 18-25 years (8%), compared to those of 56-65 years (14%).
If you think about the center of Bucharest, in your opinion, which is the most serious problem that should be solved?
Traffic Parking spaces Town cleaning Road conditions The look of the old center/consolidating the buildings Delinquency/infractionality Insufficient green spaces/green spaces maintenance Public transportation The contrast between new and old buildings Others Dont know/Dont answer

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 84: The main issues to be handled in the center of Bucharest If the analysis narrows down to the central area residents, the main issue for them is represented by the lack of the parking spaces (Figure 102).

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Which is the most serious problem in Bucharest that should be solved?

Road condition Town cleaning Condition of hospitals, policlinics Traffic Delinquency/infractionality A lack of dwellings for young people Work places Parking spaces Condition of footwalks Insufficient green spaces/green spaces maintenance Public transportation Sewage Maintenance cost Dwellings, school construction Public lighting Dont know/Dont answer

He source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 85: The main issues to be handled in Bucharest The main issues of the Bucharest people remain constant in recent years. The condition of the roads and the cleaning of the city are in the top among the interviewees, as in 2010, along with the traffic and crime. A significant aspect is the presence in the top of the local issues of the condition of hospitals and polyclinics as a result of the decentralization of the health system, but also of the impact of media that the policy, as well as the accidents in healthcare had in the last year.
But if you think about the neighborhood/area you live in, which is the most serious problem which should be solved?
Parking spaces Town cleaning Road condition Delinquency/infractionality Traffic Sewage Water supply Condition of footwalks Public lighting Stray dogs Work places Public transportation Others Dont know/Dont answer

Insufficient green spaces/green spaces maintenance

The source: NSPAS - Social Mapping of Bucharest, 2011 Figure 86: The issues of the center from its inhabitants perspective The citizens perception on the security level in the areas they live is rather negative. Half of the respondents say they dont feel safe after dark in the areas where they live. The police officers interviewed in the qualitative survey conducted by NSPAS say that in the central area of Bucharest, crime is mostly present in the Roman area and the North Station. The areas with the highest crime level are related to several streets in subzone 9, Rahova- Uranus. Subzone 1 and subzone 6 of the intervention area are on the map of Bucharest drug sellers. Also subzone 6 and subzone 7 are on the map of Bucharest prostitution. Ravova Uranus area (which includes subzone 9) is negatively valued by the population. Crime is the main issue of the inhabitants, followed by the lack of cleanliness and the condition of roads.

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SWOT Analysis Demographic and social characteristics Strenghts - density of stable population, with average superior to the whole city - satisfactory percentage of the population of children - increased interest of the investors for the area in question - numerous transport links - very well equipped with social, health and educational infrastructure Oportunities - the potential of a consolidation and renovation project of the buildings with seismic risk and unitary management of implementation - the area restructuration and development allow a better surveillance of the area, resulting in a decreasing crime incidence - private investment attraction/ stimulation in the regeneration/ rehabilitation of buildings for collective dwellings - the cultural landmarks of the area can serve as a catalyst for the community cohesion Threats - the potential of the working age population is inferior to the situation of the whole city - large number of buildings assigned to seismic risk - street crimes are increasing in the action area - lack of social integration programs of the disadvantaged population results in the growth of socio-economic disparities

Weaknesses - high rate of dependence of the inactive population in relation to the active population, superior to the Bucharest average - high percentage of elderly population - the presence of social disparities - poverty and pauper living in some subzones - large number of buildings that require thermal rehabilitation - high price in the residencial sector and difficult access to funding sources - insufficiently developed green spaces, in relation to the EU approved standards - reduced local accessibility for some subzones

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1.6. Economic characteristics of the urban action area and comparison to the city 44 The purpose of this chapter is: to provide an understanding of the economic conditions of the urban action area and how they affect the welfare of residents and businesses; to identify how the evaluated area relates to the city economy in general; to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the local economy, and the nature and form of the economic challenges and of the opportunities of the urban action area; to identify the obstacles to economic development and local employment, as well as the risks related to the ingeneration of economic sustainable growth The financial, institutional framework, and the way of developing the policies concerning the economic development in the urban environment are going through profound changes. Budget reductions confirm that financing investments with impact in economic development will be reduced in coming years. Also, the productivity will be affected in the next period, and the acute growth of the public debt will intensify the competition for the access to resources. In this context, the public authorities understanding the form of local economic development and influencing the public service provision in a way to help meet the needs of the residents becomes extremely important. Deepening the economic context in which companies operate is fundamental to identify the ways in which they can be supported, such as effective public policy formulation, investment targeting and decision suitability. The urban action area should be understood in its relation to the whole city. Future prospects for business in the UAA (Urban Action Area) depend, at least partly, on the growth form and patterns in Bucharest, just as other areas of the city are influenced by the UAA. But there are specific features of the UAA economy, unique in Bucharest, and they can only be treated from an overall perspective. First of all, the UAA defines the center of the capital of Romania and is therefore a matter of importance both national and international. On the other hand, even if the urban action area is the center of the capital, part of the subzones/ neighborhoods suffer from both poverty and worklessness. 1.6.1. Workforce In 2010, the IUDP (Integrated Urban Development Plan) of the UAA had an official number of 103 962 employees, of which 29 245, representing about 28% of the total, in the public sector (central and local authorities, education, health, culture) and 74 717, representing approximately 72% from the total, in economic activities. 1.6.1.1. Employees distribution according to the field of activity In 2010, 74.717 people were reported as engaged in economic activities in UAA, representing an estimated 8.8% of employees in Bucharest. According to Table 9, most employees were in the field of professional and technical services, of support services for businesses and other services (about 23 thousand), in the fields of trade and repairs (about 10,6 thousand) and in the field of hotels and restaurants (around 6.5 thousand).
4

In preparing this chapter, we used the ascending method, based on the relative information of the resident units (data from the financial statements of all businesse registered in the IUDP of UAA, in geographic information system, using Intergraph platforms were processed)

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Comparing to the figures in the entire city enables the identification of those sectors that are locally important (have a concentration of employment or growth potential). In this respect, a specialization index is calculated as the ration between the percentage represented by the number of employees in a particular field to the total number of employees, for the UAA, and the percentage calculated in the same way for all Bucharest. Results are shown in Table 11. It is noted that the index exceeds the unit value for the fields of real estate (2.7) and of professional, technical services, and other services (1.7), which shows a specialization in these sectors of the urban action area. Moreover, it appears that the employees in these fields are a significant percentage of the total employees in the whole city (27.3% for real estate transactions, respectively 17.1% for services). Also from Table 10, we notice the high percentage of the employees in the UAA in total employees, in the fields of hotels and restaurants (44.6%) in 2006, this percentage decreasing four times within five years (which means that presently, the UAA no longer has the employment concentration in the respective field it had the past, with the development of investments in hotels and restaurants in other parts of the capital, which could offer available base). The specialization index calculated for the agriculture sector is not relevant, whereas the headquarters of some large companies in the field are in the UAA, and most employees work in their local bodies and not in the studied area. The analysis of employment specialization in the UAA does not indicate conclusive data either for the financial intermediation and insurance sector, as employees are reported at headquarters and not at local branches. Empirically, there is a concentration of bank headquarters and of financial institutions in the UAA. Table 9: Number of employees on fields of activity the IUDP of the UAA Number of employees Field of activity 2006 2007 2008 2009 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 1.009 907 805 712 Industry 18.139 17.693 17.117 15.308 Constructions 10.759 11.567 12.974 10.011 Trading, repairs 10.770 11.690 12.760 16.568 Hotels and restaurants 7.042 7.506 7.726 6.166 Transportation and storage 2.253 2.681 3.055 2.925 Informations and communications 3.043 3.523 3.892 6.303 Financial intermediation, insurance 539 474 751 605 Real estate transactions 2.598 2.709 2.829 2.183 Professional services and other services 18.495 21.487 25.463 23.308 Public administration, education, health, culture 1.133 1.095 1.584 1.624 Total 75.780 81.332 88.956 85.713 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register

2010 565 14.531 8.050 10.618 6.522 3.096 3.627 548 1.793 23.699 1.668 74.717

Table 10: Total percentage of employees working in the IUDP of UAA Bucharest, on fields Procent salariai Domeniu de activitate ZAU-PIDU/Bucureti 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 10,4% 11,1% 35,0% 35,6% N/A Industry 10,9% 11,1% 12,3% 12,2% N/A Constructions 12,1% 11,8% 12,2% 9,5% N/A Trading, repairs 7,2% 7,2% 7,0% 9,6% N/A Hotels and restaurants 44,6% 13,6% 13,8% 11,5% N/A Transportation and storage 4,3% 14,3% 12,5% 13,2% N/A Informations and communications 7,5% 8,4% 5,6% 9,8% N/A Financial intermediation, insurance 1,6% 1,3% 1,7% 1,3% N/A Real estate transactions 43,3% 38,7% 24,6% 27,3% N/A Professional services and other services 17,3% 17,5% 18,3% 17,1% N/A Public administration, education, health, culture 0,8% 0,8% 1,5% 1,5% N/A The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register, Statistical Yearbook Bucharest 2007-2010
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Table 11: Employment concentration Specialization index Specialization to Bucharest

Calculated Calculated index to Tendency index to national Bucharest

level Agriculture, forestry and fishing NO 3,5 0,03 Industry NO 1,2 0,81 Constructions NO 0,9 1,49 Trading, repairs NO 0,9 1,54 Hotels and restaurants NO 1,1 4,03 Transportation and storage NO 1,3 0,69 Informations and communications NO 1,0 5,53 Financial intermediation, insurance NO 0,1 0,53 Real estate transactions YES 2,7 14,71 Services(professional, technical, other services) YES 1,7 5,90 Public administration, education, health, culture NO 0,1 0,13 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register, Statistical Yearbook Bucharest 2007-2010 1.6.1.2. Distribution of employees by size of the business A percentage of 29.7% of employees are employed in small and medium enterprises. There is a very high percentage of employees working in large enterprises (significantly higher than the corresponding percentage calculated for the entire city), which indicates a certain concentration of these large enterprises in the UAA. If the number of employees in micro, small and medium enterprises keeps relatively the same trend, synchronized with the evolution of the entire city, the number of employees in large enterprises experienced a sharper decline in recent years, of 18.6% in 2010 compared to 2009, driven also by the relocation of some large enterprises in the area (Figure 103). However, the percentage of employees working in this type of enterprises is relatively constant over the past five years, around 44%. The loss of large enterprises represents a strategic issue for the UAA, both in terms of space usage, and because the major economic activities provide leadership for the local business community and represents an incentive for quality and innovation. Small businesses develop along large firms. More extensive training programs are developed by large enterprises. On the other hand, given the average number of employees by types of enterprises (2.3 in microenterprises, 15.9 in small enterprises, 82.5 in medium enterprises and 516.6 in large enterprises), it follows that, if a large company leaves the market, 230 microenterprises or 33 small enterprises would be necessary to compensate the redundant employment. Table 12: Distribution of the number of employees according to the size of the enterprise in the IUDP of the UAA Number of employees Type of enterprise 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Microenterprises 8.972 10.163 11.665 10.382 9.344 Small enterprises 14.043 15.927 17.965 16.630 14.971 Medium enterprises 17.923 20.294 21.877 19.763 17.584 Large enterprises 34.842 34.948 37.449 38.938 32.818 Total 75.780 81.332 88.956 85.713 74.717 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register
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Table 13: Percentage of employees by type of enterprise The IUDP of the UAA Percentage of employees in each type of enterprise Type of enterprise 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Microenterprises 11,8% 12,5% 13,1% 12,1% 12,5% Small enterprises 18,5% 19,6% 20,2% 19,4% 20,0% Medium enterprises 23,7% 25,0% 24,6% 23,1% 23,5% Large enterprises 46,0% 43,0% 42,1% 45,4% 43,9% The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register
The evolution of the number of employees depending on the size of the company (ZAU PIDU)

Micro enterprises Small enterprises

Medium enterprises

Large enterprises

The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register Figure 87: Evolution of employees by type of enterprise 1.6.2. The volume of the economic activity The economic activity in the urban action area generated an aggregate of 34.7 billion lei turnover in 2010 (Table 14). The relative importance of the industry, construction, hotels and restaurants sectors in the economy of the city remained constant. In contrast, the share of turnover generated by services and the fields of public administration, education, health, culture, total turnover of the entire city in the respective field (Table 15) has increased, which indicates there are sectors that are specializing and growing. The triplication of the relative weight of the fields of transport, information and communication within the total economy of the city is determined by the presence of the headquarters of one of the important telephone and data operators in the UAA, as well as by the relocation of the other significant Bucharest operator in Ilfov County. As shown in Figure 104, most enterprises are registered in the field of services (approximately 33.8%) and in the fields of trade and repairs (approximately 23.8%).

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Table 14: Turnover on fields of activity the IUDP of the UAA Field of activity

Turnover (million lei) 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Industry 6.665 6.514 9.044 8.234 8.773 Constructions 2.065 2.633 3.689 3.528 3.084 Trading, repairs 5.651 7.158 9.693 8.948 9.279 Hotels and restaurants 656 820 993 841 820 Transportation, storage, information, communication 5.620 6.369 7.781 7.612 7.516 Services (professional, real estate transactions, financial, other) 3.365 4.428 5.883 6.169 5.077 Public administration, education, health, culture 60 75 144 166 163 Total 24.082 27.997 37.227 35.498 34.712 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register Table 15: The total share of turnover in the IUDP of the UAA in Bucharest, on fields of activity The share of turnover Field of activity in the IUDP of the UAA / Bucharest 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Industry 15,1% 12,6% 15,4% 16,7% N/A Constructions 14,1% 12,1% 12,2% 13,7% N/A Trading, repairs 5,5% 5,1% 7,4% 7,4% N/A Hotels and restaurants 31,2% 31,5% 33,5% 29,6% N/A Transportation, storage, information, communication 26,6% 25,2% 73,2% 75,4% N/A Services (professional, real estate transactions, financial, other) 13,0% 12,6% 19,1% 21,6% N/A Public administration, education, health, culture 8,1% 7,7% 14,1% 19,6% N/A Total 11,4% 10,1% 14,0% 14,9% N/A The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Statistical Yearbook Bucharest 2007-2010
Number of enterprises on activity scope in ZAU PIDU Agriculture, forestry and fishing Industry Construction Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transport and storage Information and communication Financial intermediation, insurance Real estate transactions Professional and other services Administration, education, health and culture

The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 88: The number of enterprises by fields of activity

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1.6.3. Business profile 77% of the firms in the UAA are microenterprises. The urban action area hosts an important weight of the large enterprises in Bucharest, namely 23.4 % (see Table 17). The percentage of large enterprises in Bucharest located in the UAA has yet declined from 42.5% to 23.4 % in the last five years. One explanation for this phenomenon is the business center relocation in the North of the city, where investments in modern office buildings suited for users needs that require large spaces have developed (the number of large enterprises in the UAA almost threefold decreased between 2006 and 2010). Moreover, table 17 shows the dropping tendency of the relative share compared to total in Bucharest for all types of enterprises (the larger the company, the lesser the relative share of total in Bucharest). One can thus infer that the developing companies no longer see the center of the capital as an attractive place for offices and seek locations more appropriate to their needs. Table 16: The number of enterprises by type of enterprise in the IUDP of the UAA Number of enterprises Type of enterprise 2006 2007 2008 2009 Microenterprises 9.789 8.949 7.831 6.052 Small enterprises 2.170 1.961 1.689 1.364 Medium enterprises 554 484 397 309 Large enterprises 172 130 109 87 Total 12.685 11.524 10.026 7.812 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register.

2010 4.148 939 213 64 5.364

Table 17: The share of enterprises by type of enterprise (in the IUDP of the UAA in total Bucharest) Percentage in the IUDP of the UAA / Bucharest Type of enterprise 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Microenterprises 9,3% 7,6% 7,5% 5,8% N/A Small enterprises 23,3% 19,5% 16,8% 13,6% N/A Medium enterprises 27,4% 23,5% 19,1% 15,9% N/A Large enterprises 42,5% 32,3% 25,3% 23,4% N/A The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Statistical Yearbook Bucharest 2007-2010 Figure 105 included an analysis necessary to better understand the economy of the UAA and particularly, what the strengths and the weaknesses, by aggregating the data on the number of employees and the number of enterprises in each sector, compared to the average of the city are. The horizontal axis represents the number of employees in each field, compared to the average, the vertical axis represents the number of enterprises in each field, compared to the average, and the size of the circles is proportional to the number of employees. The interpretation of the chart indicates a specialization in services (professional, technical, other services), trade and real estate transactions, as well as an over-employment in the industry.

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ZAU PIDU activity fields according to number of employees and enterprises

Agriculture, forestry and fishing Industry Construction Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transport and storage Information and communication Financial intermediation, insurance Real estate transactions Professional and other services Administration, education, health and culture

The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 89: The distribution of the sectors of activity in the IUDP of the UAA 1.6.4. The dynamics of enterprises Entrepreneurship has a critical role in a dynamic and flexible economy. New enterprises induce the productivity increase, by applying the market competitive pressure and by launching new products. In this way, investment, innovation and increased efficiency, and quality are stimulated. Entrepreneurship also plays an important role by creating jobs and contributes to the economic regeneration and social cohesion. Research suggest that up to 50% of the local economic growth comes exclusively from this phenomenon of company setting up/ closing, of market entry and exit, which forces companies to maintain their competitiveness. The percentage of newly established enterprises declined in the period 2006-2010 of almost 5 new firms per 100 existing firms to a figure of 0.1 (Table 18). A key indicator is the ratio of newly established enterprises and the number of people (adult population). Figure 107 shows that this indicator is decreasing. If during the period 2009-2010 this decrease is explained by the economic crisis, we see that the downward tendency is pre-crisis, prefiguring a downfall of the attractiveness of the area in terms of private investments. In 2006, most newly established firms were in the field of trade (figure 109), followed by those in the field of services. In 2010, the order of these two fields has been reversed, the number of firms established in the field of trade falling from 42,4% to 25,3% of all firms and those in the field of services having increased from 18.6% to 30% (the phenomenon of specialization set out in section 1.6.1.1. can be noted). The percentage of firms that survive over 2 years, whose evolution is shown in Figure 108, is very high (96.1% in the year 2010), higher than the average in Romania (75.9%) and much higher than the average in the European countries, which fall between 60% and 80%55. Approximately 78% of firms have survived for more than 4 years. Table 18: The dynamics of newly established businesses in the IUDP of the UAA Indicator 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Businesse established in the course of the year 781 662 456 11 9 The percentage of newly established businesses 4,6% 5,2% 4,0% 0,1% 0,1% Businesses that have ceased to exist in the course of the year 4.200 1.161 1.498 2.214 2.448 of which have operated under 1 year 162 281 300 199 133 of which have operated between 1 and 2 years 44 46 78 233 170
5

Employee distribution index

The source: Eurostat

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of which have operated between 2 and 4 years 56 90 116 357 460 of which have operated for over 4 years 3.938 744 1.004 1.425 1.685 Total businesses operating at the end of the year: 12.685 11.524 10.026 7.812 5.364 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register.
Growth rate of newly established businesses
Number of newly established businesses at 10.000 inhabitants

The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 90: The growth rate of newly established businesses
Percentage of companies surviving over 2 years

The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 91: The evolution of the number of newly established businesses per 10 000 inhabitants
Percentage of companies surviving over 4 years

The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 92: The survival rate for businesses Table 19: The distribution on fields of activity of the newly established businesses Percentage of newly established businesses Fields of activity 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Agriculture, forestry and fishing 1,5% 0,8% 0,7% 1,1% 0,8% Industry 6,8% 6,2% 5,6% 6,7% 6,7% Constructions 7,2% 13,2% 12,8% 11,0% 11,7% Trading, repairs 42,4% 33,3% 30,8% 27,2% 25,3% Hotels and restaurants 2,8% 2,2% 2,5% 1,9% 2,2% Transportation and storage 3,2% 3,2% 4,0% 3,0% 3,1% Informations and communications 4,7% 5,4% 5,2% 6,6% 7,4% Financial intermediation, insurance 3,8% 1,9% 2,3% 2,7% 2,1% Real estate transactions 7,6% 10,7% 8,3% 8,3% 8,8% Professional services and other services 18,6% 20,7% 25,5% 28,8% 30,0% Education, health, culture 1,5% 2,2% 2,3% 2,5% 1,9% The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register.
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The distribution on fields of activity of newly established businesses

Agriculture, forestry and fishing Industry Construction Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transport and storage Information and communication Financial intermediation, insurance Real estate transactions Professional and other services Education, health and culture

The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 93: The distribution on fields of activity of newly established businesses (2010)

1.6.5. The density of the economic activity The density of the economic activity is an indicator of the local economic power. More businesses mean more opportunities. The competitiveness generated by a larger number of companies attracts an increase in productivity. Research has shown that the density of the economic activity is associated with higher levels of economic growth. Table 20 shows a higher density of the economic activity compared to the city economy, but this indicator is decreasing (Figure 110), foreshadowing a regressed attractiveness in terms of location of the economic activity. In terms of spatial distribution, subzones 4 and 9 have the lowest density of companies (Figure 111). Table 20: The number of enterprises per 10 000 inhabitants The number of enterprises at 10 000 inhabitants The area 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 The IUDP of the UAA 1.454 1.320 1.141 889 611 Bucharest 603 672 603 602 N/A The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Statistical Yearbook Bucharest 2007-2010

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Evolution of the number of companies at 10.0000 inhabitants

The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Statistical Yearbook Bucharest 2007-2010 Figure 94: The evolution of indicator number of enterprises per 10 000 inhabitants

The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 95: The spatial distribution of enterprises registered in the IUDP of the UAA 1.6.6. The economy on sectors of activity AGRICULTURE The field is represented in the UAA by companies that reported its headquarters within this area (but obviously dont have agricultural activities in the urban area). In terms of activity volume, the field is in recovery after the decrease in 2009, but the number of employees has decreased by half (Figure 112). Table 21: Average indicators on the field of activity of agriculture (year 2010) Average Average Number of The field turnover profit enterprises (million (million

Average number of
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lei) lei) employees Agriculture, forestry and fishing 31 91,11 2,92 18,2 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Table 22: The top of enterprises by turnover and number of employees in agrculture (year 2010) Enterprise ROMSILVA RA INTERAGRO AVICOLA BUCURETI DACROM TRADE PIC ROMANIA Enterprise Turnover (million lei) 1.104,6 1.680,8 23,6 1,3 8,6 Number of employee s 19.131 262

Figure 96: The evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in agriculture

ROMSILVA RA* INTERAGRO AVICOLA BUCURETI 184 DACROM TRADE 33 PIC ROMANIA 16 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. * was not included in the economic analysis since it has a structure of employees developed in the territory

Low density High density

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The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 97: The spatial distribution of turnover Figure 98: The spatial distribution of the in agriculture number of employees in agriculture INDUSTRY In this field, the activities from the extractive industry, manufacturing industry, production and supply of electricity, gas, hot water and air conditioning, water distribution, sanitation, waste management and decontamination have aggregated. Although representing only 4.6% of the total number of enterprises in the UAA, the industry employs 19.4% of the number of employees and contributes with 25.3% at the cumulative turnover of the UAA. The number of employees in this sector decreased in the last five years with almost a quarter (fall largely determined also by the large enterprises in the UAA relocation), while turnover increased by a third. The representatives companies are geographically distributed mainly in subzones 6, 7 and 8. The occurrence of a focusing pole in the eastern subzone 9, in the area at the intersection of Tudor Vladimirescu Boulevard with 13 September (Figure 116) can be noticed. The main utility providers in the capital (RADET, Apa Nova, REBU) are amond the largest companies in the area (both in terms of turnover, as well as employers). The largest number of employees per enterprise in the UAA is in the industry. Table 23: Average indicators in the field of industry (year 2010) Number of enterprises

Average Average Average turnover profit number The field (million (million of lei) lei) employees Industry 345 25,43 0,46 42,1 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Table 24: The top of enterprises by turnover and number of employees in industry (year 2010) Enterprise R.A.D.E.T. RA TRANSELECTRI CA ELECTRICA SA TINMAR IND SA APA NOVA BUCURETI Enterprise R.A.D.E.T. RA TRANSELECTRI CA* Turnover (million lei) 1.173,8 2.545,7 1.022,4 733,3 441,3 Number of employee s 4.336 2.185
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Figure 99: The evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in industry

APA NOVA BUCURETI 903 C.N. A URANIULUI SA* 1.783 REBU 1.009 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. * was not included in the economic analysis since it has a structure of employees developed in the territory

Low density High density The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 100: The spatial distribution of Figure 101: The spatial distribution of the turnover in industry number of employees in industry

CONSTRUCTIONS In terms of spatial distribution, construction businesses are located mainly in subzones 8, 4 and 7 (Figure 119). Although significant actors on the national market are present in the UAA, the average number of employees per company in the field is 16, the total number of employees decreasing (by about 50% over the past two years). The volume of activity reflected by the turnover has not known a so dramatic decline, falling by approximately 14% during 2008-2010, after registering almost a doubling during the boom of 2007-2008. The sector represented in 2010 a rate of 9.8% in the economy of the UAA, employing 10.8% of the number of employees. Table 25: Average indicators for the field of constructions (year 2010) Average Average Average Number of turnover profit number The field enterprises (million (million of lei) lei) employees Constructions 490 6,29 -0,08 16,4 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Table 26: The top of enterprises by
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turnover and number of employees in constructions (year 2010) Turnover Enterprise (million lei) T.M.U.C.B. SA 343,7 TIAB SA 121,3 BOG ART 347,0 STRABAG 55,6 COMINCO 102,4 Number of Enterprise employee s T.M.U.C.B. SA 1.595 TIAB SA 676 BOG ART 418 STRABAG 412 COMINCO 336 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register.

Figure 102: The evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in constructions

Low density High density The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 103: The spatial distribution of Figure 104: The spatial distribution of the turnover in constructions number of employees in constructions

TRADING The sector is well represented in the UAA, with a number of 1276 active enterprises (23.8% of all enterprises). The average turnover of 7.27 million lei and the average number of employees per company of 11 in the year 2010 are relatively high, due to the presence of some
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significant traders in the area. The number of employees (as well as the number of active companies) is significantly decreasing, by 36% in 2010 compared to 2009. Although the sector remains a major employer, with 14.2% of the total number of employees. The retail market has polarized in recent years, the independent retailers being in a continuous decline (in number and market share), as the large chains of hypermarkets substantially increased. The companies are relatively evenly distributed geographic within the studied area. Table 27: Average indicators for the field of trading and repairs (year 2010) Average Average Average Number of turnover profit number The field enterprises (million (million of lei) lei) employees Trade, repairs 1.276 7,27 0,12 10,8 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Table 28: The top of enterprises by turnover and number of employees in trading (year 2010) Enterprise ROMANIA HYPERMARCHE AUTO COBLCESCU CARLSROM BEVERAGE CO SANOFI AVENTIS ROMANIA ROEL Enterprise Turnover (million lei) 1.376,6 60,4 447,1 898,0 20,4 Number of employee s

ROMANIA HYPERMARCHE * 3.146 AUTO COBALCESCU SRL 658 CARLSROM BEVERAGE CO 481 SANOFI AVENTIS ROMANIA 201 ROEL 200 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the
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Figure 105: The evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in trading

Trade Register. * n was not included in the economic analysis since it has a structure of employees developed in the territory

Low density High density The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 106: The spatial distribution of Figure 107: The spatial distribution of the turnover in trading number of employees in trading

professional trading street food tradind lay trading The source: Synergetics data collection (inventory) of the functions of buildings Jully 2011 Figure 108: Trading in shops in IUDP of the UAA
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Trading in shops is well represented in terms of density and area, over 500 commercial spaces being identified in the urban action area. The entire territory north of Dmbovia has a traditional commercial character. However, the retail market has gone through major changes lately. For the first time, the balance between the demand and the supply on the commercial arteries reversed. While trading spaces were hardly available in 2008, especially on the intensely circulated boulevards and streets, due to an aggressive expansion of the financial institutions and pharmaceutical networks, at the end of the first half of 2009, they ended their expansion. Consequently, the pressure from the demand dropped, which resulted in a reduction of rents. The analyzed area is dominated in commercial terms by street shopping spaces. They are among the most attractive in Bucharest, thus maintaining a high level of rental prices. Calea Victoriei is one of the most sought areas, with the entry of the luxury brands on the local commercial market in 2010. Unirea and Cocor Shopping Centers are the largest investments in the field in central Bucharest, representing prestigious locations, with diverse professional and lay supply, but familiar and constant. Moreover, Unirea Shopping Center became a destination of street trading in 2011, by opening stores with visibility and access from the street. In contrast, the areas adjacent to these trading anchor presence do not configure in complementarity or under their influence. The discontinuities at the perceptive level generated by the degradation of the surrounding streets or the deteriorated building facades prevent the integration or exploitation of their commercial potential. Consequently, much of the secondary streets lose their commercial attributes, with the role of connectors between the intensely circulated areas or roads, a phenomenon otherwise present all over the studied perimeter. The historic center (subzone 2) remains most popular with traders. Following the infrastructure rehabilitations, prestigious retailers began to appear. Because it is for the present the only pedestrian area of the capital, it remains very attractive for restaurants and cafes, but also for the fashion retailers. On the other hand, a big part of the national and international retailers are missing from the urban action area. TOURISM (HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS) The hotels and restaurants are mainly located in the north of the UAA, a gap in the development of the southern area being created. After a period of decline in 2009 due to the economic crisis (which caused a decrease in the volume of turnover of approximately 8.5% and the recording of some significant losses in this sector), the field appears to feel a recovery, by increasing the number of employees in 2010 and recording of losses and a lesser decrease in the aggregated turnover value. Table 29: Average indicators for the field of activity of hotels and restaurants (year 2010) Average Average Average Number of turnover profit number The field enterprises (million (million of lei) lei) employees Hotels and restaurants 210 3,91 -0,16 31,1 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Table 30: The top of enterprises by turnover and number of employees in the field of hotels and restaurants (year 2010)
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Enterprise US FOOD NETWORK BUCURETI TURISM GRAND AMERICAN RESTAURANT T.B.R.C.M. SA Enterprise

Turnover (million lei) 157,9 105,1 98,6 92,4 65,5 Number of employee s

Figure 109: The evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in the field of hotels and restaurants

US FOOD NETWORK 1.219 T.B.R.C.M. SA 701 AMERICAN RESTAURANT 676 LEBADA 2000 568 GRAND 328 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register.

Low density High density The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 110: The spatial distribution of Figure 111: The spatial distribution of the turnover in the field of hotels and restuarants number of employees in the field of hotels and restaurants

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hotels restaurants ,bars, cafes, clubs The source: Synergetics data collection (inventory) of the functions of buildings Jully 2011 Figure 112: Hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, clubs in the IUDP of the UAA The Bucharest hotel market is mainly based on the business tourism segment and event planning. Of the 188 registered hotels in Bucharest, almost one third is concentrated in the center of Bucharest defined in the analysis (9 5-star hotels with a total of 1879 rooms, 22 4-star hotels with a total of 1422 rooms, 31 3-star hotels with a total of 1302 rooms, 2 2-star hotels with a total of 25 rooms and a one-star hotel with a total of 45 rooms a total of 66 hotel units with a total of 4673 rooms). 9 of the 12 5-star hotels in Bucharest are in the UAA. The summed number of hotel rooms represents 63% of all hotel rooms in Bucharest. In 2010, hotels represented the place of employment for 3238 employees and achieved a turnover of 458.5 million lei. The labor force in the field of restaurants and other services of public alimentation and beverage service totals a number of 3284 employees, generating a turnover of 361.7 million lei. In the cities with a developed touristic industry, a lot of the economic activities are mainly addressed to the citys inhabitants and, in particular, the tourists. Restaurants, shops of all kinds, art galleries, exchange offices or other tourism related services focus around the hospitality functions, while maintaining the contact with the citys residential function. Unlike the metropolises wellknown in this regard, in Bucharest, this type of services / trade did not develop following a spatial ordering of tourist flows, just as the urban planning tools did not take into consideration creating or facilitating the emergence of these flows. For example, although in the studied area have been identified more than 300 restaurants, cafes, bars and clubs (from a total of approximately 1300 in Bucharest), the greatest density is in subzone 2. The symbolic, civic and historic nature of this private area favored its natural growth and appreciation as visible and important destination in terms of trade (and hence of tourism), which demonstrates the importance of an areas clear-cut identity. For comparison, Unirii Boulevard, although closely located to the Palace of Parliament (considered one of the main touristic attractions) and shortly distanced from subzone 2, is now devoid of distinctive elements and vitality, from an economic point of view.
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The analysis of the entire urban action area indicates that most of the touristic resources in Bucharest (accommodation, museums, monuments, representative institutions, theatres, historic buildings, art galleries, bookstores, antique shops, events planning, important public spaces, even those few exclusively commercial streets) are concentrated in this area. However, promotion is not a synergetic one among the different types of touristic products. They survive in terms of image and individual promotion, without exploiting together their grouping in the central area, but also without participating in a definitive way in the creation of strong identities for the areas they belong to.

TRANSPORTANTION AND STORAGE The sector comprises only1.8% of the enterprises registered in the IUDP of the UAA, employing 4.1% of the employees and participating with 6.3% in the volume of activity of the studied area. The field is in progress, the logistic activities generally evolving in the recent years. An efficient transportation and logistics system is necessary to support the development of the capital and the economic and demographic growth of the entire metropolitan area. The sector is vital, not necessary as generator of new jobs, but especially as support for all other fields. The number of employees increased by 37.4% over the past five years, the turnover by 77.6% in the same period, but there have been losses in the last two years. The activity is concentrated in terms of space in subzone 4. Table 31: Average indicators in the field of transportation and storage (year 2010) Average Average Average Number of turnover profit number The field enterprises (million (million of lei) lei) employees Transportation and storage 94 25,01 -1,43 32,9 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Table 32: The top of enterprises by turnover and number of employees in the field of transportation and storage (year 2010) Enterprise C.N. POSTA ROMANA SA GRUP FEROVIAR ROMAN TRANSPECO LOGISTICS WILLI BETZ ROMANIA ROMAVIA RA Enterprise Turnover (million lei) 1.376,9 521,8 84,6 39,8 36,7 Number of
130

Figure 113: The evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in the field of transportation and storage

C.N. POSTA ROMANA SA* 34.731 GRUP FEROVIAR ROMAN 1.729 TRANSPECO LOGISTICS 388 WILLI BETZ ROMANIA 152 ROMAVIA RA 152 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. * was not included in the economic analysis since it has a structure of employees developed in the territory

employee s

Low density High density The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 114: The spatial distribution of Figure 115: The spatial distribution of the turnover in the field of transportation and number of employees in the field of storage transportation and storage

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132

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION The field is a in a downward trend in all respects. In 2010 it contributed directly with 13.7% to the turnover of the area, having a rate of 4.9% of the total number of employees. A relatively high number of small and medium enterprises, which represent 8.1% of all enterprises present in the UAA, are recorded. This sector includes 82 companies with publishing activities (with a totaled number of employees of 749 and a total turnover of 145.5 million lei), 108 audiovideo and cinematographic production, including their broadcasting (407 employees and 188,6 million lei turnover), 203 enterprises in the software production (2082 employees and 488.1 million lei turnover) and 39 corporations with telecommunications activity (389 employees and 4344.5 million lei turnover of which 4170.6 million lei just one operator and 173.9 million lei other enterprises). Table 33: Average indicators in the field of information and ommunication (year 2010) Average Average Average Number of turnover profit number The field enterprises (million (million of lei) lei) employees Information and communication 432 11,96 2,23 14,7 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register.
Evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in the field of information and communication (ZAU PIDU)

No. of employees Turnover (mil. lei) Profit (mil. lei)

Table 34: The top of enterprises by turnover and number of employees in the field of information and communication (year 2010) Enterprise ORANGE ROMANIA SA FREESCALE SEMICOND. IXIA SRL COMPUTARIS ROMANIA OSF GLOBAL SERVICES Enterprise ORANGE ROMANIA SA* FREESCALE SEMICOND. IXIA Turnover (million lei) 4.161,2 40,5 35,6 24,1 8,7 Number of employee s 2.732 198 190
133

OSF GLOBAL SERVICES 130 COMPUTARIS ROMANIA 121 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 116: The evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in the field of information and communication * was not included in the economic analysis since it has a structure of employees developed in the territory

Low density High density The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 117: The spatial distribution of Figure 118: The spatial distribution of the turnover in the field of information and number of employees in the field of communication information and communication FINANCIAL INTERMEDIATION AND INSURANCE The monetary intermediation, credit, leasing, insurance and insurance brokerage, financial transactions, fund management activities and activities of the holding companies are included in this sector. After a spectacular expansion in 2006-2008, the field indicates in the last three years, a contraction in terms of all indicators, returning to levels recorded in 2006. Significant companies are located in the area University Calea Moilor. Table 35: Average indicators in the field of financial intermediation and insurance (yearl 2010) Average Average Average Number of turnover profit number The field enterprises (million (million of lei) lei) employees Financial intermediation, insurance 81 1,68 0,13 6,8 The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register.
Evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in the field of financial intermediation and insurance (ZAU PIDU)

Table 36: The top of enterprises by turnover and number of employees in the field of financial intermediation
134

No. of employees Turnover (mil. lei) Profit (mil. lei)

and insurance (year 2010) Cifra de afaceri (milioane lei) 12,1 10,8 10,9 1,3 1,0 Numr de angajai 92

ntreprindere SMITH & SMITH SRL IFN 2 B GROUP SRL ANGELO COSTA RO SELECT EXCHANGE ROMVAL EUROE ntreprindere

SMITH & SMITH SRL SELECT 48 EXCHANGE IFN 2 B GROUP 40 SRL ANGELO COSTA 39 RO ROMVAL 27 EUROEX The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register. Figure 119: The evolution of turnover, profit and number of employees in the field of financial intermediation and insurance

Low density High density The source: database processing financial statements reported in the Trade Register.
135

Figure 120: The spatial distribution of turnover in the field of financial intermediation and insurance

Figure 121: The spatial distribution of the number of employees in the field of financial intermediation and insurance

The source: Synergetics data collection (inventory) of the functions of buildings Jully 2011 Figure 122: Branches of banks and financial Figure 123: Bank headquarters in the IUDP of institutions in the IUDP of the UAA the UAA Apparently, the field is poorly represented in the IUDP of the UAA. The statistics presented are built on the data reported to the Trade Register, therefore the banks that report in special system are not included in these data. The headquarters of 11 of the 41 licensed banks in Romania, which in 2010 represented together 35.6% of the total banking assets in Romania. Six of these banks are in the top 50 largest companies in Romania. The total turnover of the banks with headquarters in the IUDP of the UAA is 45.9 billion lei and the number of employees in their national developed network is approximately 23000. A number of approximately 2800 of these work in the IUDP of the UAA66, at headquarters and branches represented in Figure 138. Banks tend to occupy the best retail locations. During the period of economic growth until 2008, they led an aggressive policy of expansion of branch network, stimulated by the increasing population access to credit. A heavy spatial clustering determined by the orientation of the branch location towards strategic segments of customers can be seen. In most cases, the occurrence of a branch determines the installation of the competitors branches nearby. Accessibility is so important for a bank headquarters that more than 95% of sites are on the main streets of the area. The presence of many public utility objectives (generating increased flows of users), a developed trading sector and a population with a relatively high income level are some of the factors that favor the expansion of banking branch network. Zones 8 and 9 are the most poorly served by the banking branch network.

They were not included in the economic analyses for the IUDP of the UAA. It is also the case of the approximately 1800 employees of the National Bank of Romania.

136

137

REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS This field includes the real estates sale-purchase activities and their lease (which in 2010 have generated an activity volume of lei 475 million, with 1,298 employees), as well as the real estate administration services (with a turnover of lei 128 million and with a number of employees of 495 in 2010). The sector is in freefall starting with 2009, the number of employees diminishing by 63%, and the sales volume by 51% during the last two years. Nevertheless, in this sector was identified a specialization of the urban area of action, in comparison to the entire city (see analysis in chapter 1.6.1.1.; according to Table 10, 27.3% of the total number of employees hired in the real estate field in Bucharest work in the urban area of activity (UAA), after that in 2006 this percent represented 43.3%; the decrease is proportional to the general decrease of the field). Spatially, it is relatively uniformly distributed on sub-areas.
Table 37: Average markers on the real estate transactions field of activity (year 2010)

Field Real estate transactions

Number of companies 369

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Average turnover (million lei) 1,63

Average profit (million lei) 0,07

Average number of employees 4,9

Evolution of the turnover, of the profit and of the number of employees in the field of real estate transactions (UAA IPUD)

Table 38: Top enterprises according to the turnover and the number of employees in the field of real estate transactions (year 2010)
Company Turnover (million lei) 221,6 86,5 30,2 4,8 1,2 Number of employees 292 170 58 40 37

No. of employees Turnover (millions) Profit (millions)

BUILDINGSUPPORTSERV. UNIRESHOPPINGCENT. PRACTIC SINDOMETSERVCOM SCMFOTOGRAFIA Company BUILDING SUPPORT SERV. UNIREA SHOPPING CENT. PRACTIC SINDOMET SERVCOM SCM FOTOGRAFIA

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Figure 140: Evolution of the turnover, of the profit and of the number of employees in the field of real estate transactions

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Low density

High density

Figure 141: Spatial distribution of the turnover in the field of real estate transactions

Figure 142: Spatial distribution of the number of employees in the field of real estate transactions

SERVICES In this field have also been included the M, N, S and T groups in the national economy classified activities Schedule (professional judicial, accounting, architecture, engineering, advertising, scientific, technical services, services concerning the human resources, activities of the tourism agencies, various services provided to the companies and to the population). The analysis in chapter 1.6.1.1 has revealed that UAA is particularized in this sector, reported to the scale of the entire city (the percent of the employees in Bucharest working in UAA gravitates around the value of 17% during the analyzed period). Even during a period of crisis, the field does not show a diminution that would be too accentuated (Figure 143). The development of support-services for the economic activity reflects a specialization of the economy, the companies being more and more opened regarding the externalization of the activities that they used to perform using their own personnel. The phenomenon is of positive facture, because the companies providing support-services are in fact innovative and they favour the introduction of modern practices in the activities that they serve.
Table 39: Average markers for the services field of activity (year 2010)

Field Services

Number of companies 1.816

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Average turnover (million lei) 2,39

Average profit (million lei) 0,12

Average number of employees 14,6

Evolution of the turnover, of the profit and of the number of employees in the field of services (UAA IPUD)

Table 40: Top enterprises according to the turnover and the number of employees in the field of services (year 2010)
Company C.N. LOTERIA ROMNA SA MANPOWER ROMNIA LUGERA & MAKLER SEARCH CORPORATION E & PUNTO INT. CO. Company C.N. LOTERIA ROMNA SA LUGERA & MAKLER MANPOWER ROMNIA WATCH&CATCH SECURITY I.N.C.S.D.M.P.S. Turnover (million lei) 1.101,7 78,7 76,1 45,0 43,1 Number of employees 2.806 2.017 1.742 831 806

No. of employees Turnover (millions) Profit (millions)

Figure 143: Evolution of the turnover, of the profit and of the number of employees in the field of services

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register * not included in the economic analysis because it has an employment structure developed in the territory

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Low density

High density

Figure 144: Spatial distribution of the turnover in the field of services

Figure 145: Spatial distribution of the number of employees in the field of services

Source: Synergetics data collection (inventory) of real estates functions July 2011

Figure 146: Services provided to the population (localized in the streets) in UAA - IPUD The services provided to the population register a dynamics determined by the system of needs, of incomes and of consumption behaviours. The services provided to the population group is extremely diverse, being destined to complete the assortment palette of the consumption goods, to the satisfaction of needs that do not have a correspondent in products or to the completion of the products usage in the field of consumption. The development of the services provided to the population represents a feature of the economically advanced countries, where the services' sector holds a 35-55% quota of the final private consumption, with a constant tendency to increase. From the urban development point of view, it is of interest the analysis of the spatial development of the services provided to the population. Most of the times, they are located in the streets. Figure 146 suggests their concentration on more circulated arteries. It is determined that sub-zones 8, 8 and 9 are the weakest served. Recent studies have shown the fact that an uneven distribution of the services provided to the population exacerbates the inequalities produced by the other sectors of the economy. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, EDUCATION, HEALTH, CULTURE The sector includes private economic activities in the classes of public administration and defense, social insurances, education, health and social assistance, entertainment, cultural and recreational activities (here are not included the activities performed by the state institutions in the same fields of activity). The increase of the turnover and that of the number of employees belong to the field of provision of medical services, spatially developed in the north and in the east of UAA.
Table 41: Average markers for the fields of public administration, education, health, culture (year 2010) Field
Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Number of companies 220

Public administration, education, health, culture

Average turnover (million lei) 0,74

Average profit (million lei) 0,06

Average number of employees 7,6

Evolution of the turnover, of the profit and of the number of employees in the field of public administration, education, health and culture (UAA IPUD)

Table 42: Top enterprises according to the turnover and the number of employees in the field of public administration, education, health, culture (year 2010)
Company C.M. MED AS 2003 H2O SPORT EVENTS MEDICAL ENTERPRISES UNISYN LABORATORIES AMA OPTIMEX SL Company C.M. MED AS 2003 FALCK FIRE SERVICES PULS MEDICA MEDICAL ENTERPRISES UNISYN LABORATORIES Turnover (million lei) 23,6 21,7 11,3 8,7 7,2 Number of employees 347 222 86 75 48

No. of employees Turnover (millions) Profit (millions)

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Figure 147: Evolution of the turnover, of the profit and of the number of employees in the field of public administration, education, health, culture

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Low density

High density

Figure 148: Spatial distribution of the turnover in the field of public administration, education, health, culture

Figure 149: Spatial distribution of the number of employees in the field of public administration, education, health, culture

1.6.7

Innovation, research and development

Innovation is one of the productivity determinants, together with investments, the training of the workforce, entrepreneurial spirit and competition. Statistic information regarding innovation is limited, because the innovative activities are not usually reflected by traditional markers, like the volume of investments in research and development, or the number of registered patents. In the UAA has been identified a number of 34 economic operators having the main field of activity in the NACE group 72 Research-development (Table 43). Their number of employees has almost halvened in the last five years, but the volume of the turnover is increasing (Figures 150 and 151). Table 43: Number of units in the research-development activity in UAA IPUD (year 2010) Research-development activity Research - development in bio-technology Research - development in other natural sciences and engineering Research - development in social and humanist sciences Number of units 4 21 9

Evolution of the number of employees in the researchdevelopment field (UAA IPUD)

Evolution of the turnover in the researchdevelopment field (UAA IPUD)

Turnover (mil) No. of employees Profit (mil)

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Figure 150: Evolution of the number of employees in research-development in UAA IPUD

Figure 151: Evolution of turnover in the researchdevelopment field in UAA IPUD

A more relevant analysis is provided by the use of the proportion of employees in innovative industries (activity sectors including an increased percent of activities resulting from research-development and where more than 25% of the number of employees have higher training, like information and communications, financial services and professional services). The percent of employees working in innovative industries in the urban area of action is superior to the average on Bucharest and is increasing (Figure 152).
Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register Evolution of the percentage of employees working in innovative industries (UAA IPUD)

Figure 152: Evolution of the percentage of employees working in innovative industries

1.6.8. Added value and productivity

This section presents the result of the economic activity of the companies registered in the urban area of action. The statistic marker used most of the times for the evaluation of the economic activity result is the gross added value7. Because I.N.S.S.E. mainly uses for the regional accounts the descendant method (which
7

Represents the newly created value in the production process, namely the value of production minus the intermediary consumption. It can be approximated satisfactorily with the sum resulting from the total salary expenditure and the cash operating profit (that is the operating profit to which the expenditure with amortization is added). Sometimes, the value of the salaries plus the difference between the turnover and the cost of the material expenditure and of other entries in the production process (that is the operating profit) is used in the economic analysis. The indicator is thus a combined function of using the work force and using the capital; at national level, the weighting coefficients for the two production factors are used, attracting the criticism concerning the arbitrary determination of these factors.

supposes the distribution of the national value of the gross added value on regions, using various distribution keys, reflecting as much as possible the estimated features), there are serious reserves regarding the comparable character of the data8. This is the reason why the usage of the cumulated turnover and the cumulated profit of the economic units registered in UAA IPUD was preferred for the highlighting of tendencies. The activity volume is mainly generated by the commerce (lei 9,2 billion), industry (lei 8,8 billion), information and communications (lei 5,2 billion) and services (lei 4,3 billion) Figure 153. In Figure 154 can be observed that, among all these, only the field of information and communications actually crates the added value, the other reporting a relatively reduced profit. Also, according to Figure 155, this field is the most profitable (the highest rate of declared profit9, among all the sectors of activity).
Turnover on fields of activity in UAA IPUD (lei millions)
Agriculture Industry Constructions Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transportation and storage Information and comm. Financial brokerage, insur. Real estate transactions Professional serv. and other Administration, education, health

Profit on fields of activity in UAA IPUD (lei millions)

Agriculture Industry Constructions Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transportation and storage Information and comm. Financial brokerage, insur. Real estate transactions Professional serv. and other Administration, education, health, culture

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Figure 153: Turnover on fields of activity, 2010

Table 44: Profit on fields of activity

Figure 154: Profit on fields of activity, 2010

Field of activity 2006 Agriculture, forestry and fishing Industry Constructions Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transportation and storage Information and communications Financial brokerage, insurances Real estate transactions Professional services and other services Public administration, education, health, culture Total 6 504 95 258 62 64 1,457 14 96 329 10 2,896

Profit (million lei) 2007 84 -83 66 314 -31 72 1,256 22 64 330 12 2,107 2008 74 634 1 363 -119 53 1,668 54 -7 365 23 3,108 2009 -56 500 -20 81 -109 -148 1,179 26 52 247 23 1,774 2010 91 159 -41 151 -33 -135 965 10 26 224 14 1,430

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

The level of the underground economy is estimated by businessmen, by representatives of the Employers Association or of the trade unions, as well as by the references at European level between 30% and 40% of the GDP (the level is double as compared to the one estimated by the INSEE and triple as compared to the one estimated by the Romanian Government). 9 It is possible that the official reports may not reflect the economic reality. According to some estimates, up to 4 billion dollars are transferred annually from Romania to accounts from fiscal paradises (Source: Global Integrity Report).

Profit rate on fields of activity in UAA IPUD

Agriculture, forestry, fishing Industry Constructions Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transportation and storage Information and comm. Financial brokerage, insurances Real estate transactions Professional services and other Administration, education... Total

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Figure 155: Profit rate on fields of activity, 2010

The productivity of an economy is mainly measured by two markers: total productivity (of all the production factors) and the labour productivity (gross added value per employee). The productivity of all the production factors also includes the variables like capital investments, the use of land, the availability of the infrastructure, the innovation, the training of the workforce. The increase of the total productivity may be attained by improving the manner in which are used the inlets in the production process, especially that of the efficiency in which they are combined. Because the total productivity is more difficult to calculate due to the lack of available data, the labour productivity is usually used as a statistic marker. Because of the existence of the already presented reserves regarding the accuracy of the gross added value marker provided by I.N.S.S.E., for the purpose of the analysis the data has been used, consolidated using the ascendant method, regarding the turnover, the profit and the number of employees in UAA.

In the last five years, the profits rate (profit reported to the turnover) has registered decreases in almost all the fields of activities: 4.3 times in the industry, 3 times in constructions, 3 times in commerce, 2 times in the field of hotels and restaurants, almost 2 times in information and communications, 2.5 times in the financial field, 6 times in real estate transactions, over 2 times in services, administration, education, health, culture (Table 45). The comparison to the profit evolution per employee in Table 47 shows the fact that this decrease of profitability is not only determined by the price increase of the labour production factor overall, the profits rate has decreased almost three times, whilst the profit per employee has dropped only two times (indeed, in this period, the wages have increased at a more alert pace than the volume of the economic activity). The phenomenon is alarming, indicating a decrease of the UAA economys competitiveness, falling in the trend registered by the entire national economy, that reflecting imbalances of structural nature. The turnover per employee, represented by Figure 156 for UAA, as well as at the level of the entire city, shows a more elevated productivity in UAA in comparison to Bucharest. There is a notable exception, namely the commerce sector, which registers averages below the level of the entire city, imposing the necessity of interventions in this field.
Table 45: Profit rate on fields of activity Field of activity Agriculture, forestry and fishing Industry Constructions Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transportation and storage Information and communications Financial brokerage, insurances Real estate transactions Professional services and other services Public administration, education, health, culture Total 2006 0,3% 7,6% 4,6% 4,6% 9,5% 4,9% 33,9% 19,1% 25,9% 11,2% 17,3% 11,2% 2007 3,3% -1,3% 2,5% 4,4% -3,8% 4,3% 26,7% 12,5% 12,7% 8,8% 16,6% 6,9% 2008 2,3% 7,0% 0,0% 3,7% -11,9% 2,4% 29,8% 23,4% -1,1% 7,3% 15,7% 7,7% 2009 -2,3% 6,1% -0,6% 0,9% -13,0% -6,6% 22,0% 14,4% 4,3% 5,1% 14,1% 4,7%

2010 3,2% 1,8% -1,3% 1,6% -4,0% -5,7% 18,7% 7,7% 4,2% 5,2% 8,6% 3,8%

Table 46: Turnover per employee in UAA IPUD, on fields of activity

Field of activity

Turnover per employee UAA IPUD (lei million/person) 2006 303 192 429 93 133 135 53 199 2007 302 228 494 109 145 159 68 219 2008 428 284 620 129 171 184 91 273 2009 426 352 465 136 160 213 102 267 2010 474 383 674 126 170 176 98 286

Industry Constructions Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transportation, storage, information, communications Services (professional, real estate and financial transactions, other) Public administration, education, health, culture
Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Total turnover per employee

Table 47: Profit per employee in UAA IPUD, on fields of activity

Field of activity

Profit per employee (lei thousands/person) 2006 0,24 22,88 8,87 19,61 8,86 1,74 275,90 25,34 36,91 15,10 9,15 19,83 2007 3,64 -3,85 5,73 21,69 -4,10 1,90 204,24 45,51 23,56 13,42 11,31 13,94 2008 3,42 29,97 0,06 23,23 -15,35 1,36 243,67 71,96 -2,62 12,81 14,25 19,63 2009 -2,75 25,87 -1,98 4,20 -17,68 -3,86 127,99 42,16 23,61 9,44 14,40 11,57 2010 4,60 8,58 -5,08 10,94 -5,00 -3,56 151,69 19,02 14,26 8,45 8,44 10,13

Source: Processing of the database of the situations reported to the Companies Register

Agriculture, forestry and fishing Industry Constructions Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transportation and storage Information and communications Financial brokerage, insurances Real estate transactions Professional services and other services Public administration, education, health, culture Total average profit per employee

Turnover per employee

Constructions (Buc) Constructions (UAA IPUD) Industry (Buc) Industry (UAA IPUD) Commerce, repairs (Buc) Commerce, repairs (UAA IPUD) Hotels and restaurants (Buc) Hotels and restaurants (UAA IPUD) Transportation, storage, information, communications (Buc) Transportation, storage, information, communications (UAA IPUD) Services (UAA IPUD) Administration, education, health, culture (UAA IPUD)

Source: Processing of the database of the financial situations reported to the Companies Register, Statistics Directories, Bucharest 2007-2010

Figure 156: Turnover per employee, on fields of activity (UAA IPUD and Bucharest)
Modifications as per number of employees and turnover, on fields of activity, 2006-2010

Professional services and other services Agriculture, forestry, fishing Industry Constructions Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transportation and storage Information and comm. Financial brokerage, insur. Real estate transactions Administration, education...

Increase in the number of employees

Source: Processing of the database of the financial situations reported to the Companies Register

Figure 157: Modifications as per number of employees and turnover, 2006-2010 Figure 157 presents the UAA performance in the last 5 years, depending on the number of employees (the size of circles), employees number increase markers (horizontal axis) and the turnover 10 (vertical axis).
10

The turnover was considered as the indicator having the highest credibility, as compared to the gross added value or the declared profit.

The administration, education, health and culture activities noted the greatest increase, as number of employees as well as turnover (still, their weight is reduced in the total of the economic activity). The professional activities are the second field reflecting local specialization (located in the same quadrant, delimitated by supraunitary increase of the turnover, as well as for the number of employees). The field of logistics (transportation and storage) has also known a development, increasing together with the expansion of this sector nationally. The information and communications technology sector also shows an increase of the studied areas economy. The UAA economy is superior to the Bucharest average in almost all the chapters. In principle, it cannot be held as the market's area of failure. Still, it is noticed a decrease of competitiveness and of productivity. Thus, the interventions of the local authorities must stimulate the increase of the competitiveness and of productivity, because only the markets mechanisms are able to regulate this aspect, in the wider context of a weak competitiveness and productivity of the national economy overall. The most efficient intervention method is to create support structures for the innovative businesses. There are several types of business structures. The business park is represented by a larger surface of land, on which are grouped several office buildings (not existing in the development of industrial or residential functions). They are usually developed in suburban locations or near freeways and national roads, where the price of land is lower. Particularly, in the Bucharest area, due to the relatively low price of the land, several significant business parks have been built inside the city. They are privately developed and are actually oriented towards major companies, with a large surface on one single level (up to 6,000 sqm). Industrial parks are characterized by three wide categories: (1) production, (2) research and development and (3) storage and distribution. Accordingly, three wide categories of business structures, adapted for industrial needs, can be defined: the industrial park, the technologic park and the logistic park. The industrial park is traditionally represented by an area dedicated for the development of industrial, production activities, mainly heavy industry (because there also is the variant of light industrial parks, closer to the business park concept). The logistic park represents a well-defined area where the activities in connection with transportation, logistics and distribution of goods are developed by various operators on commercial bases. The scientific and technologic park represents an area where educational, research, technologic transfer of research results and their capitalization by economic activities take place. Business incubators are programs created to accelerate the development of small enterprises and of the entrepreneurial initiatives by a range of services and support resources, developed and coordinated by the incubators management and offered within the incubator, as well as by the network of created contacts. The incubators vary regarding the manner in which they provide their services, in the organizational structure or the types of clients. The incubation of a startup company increases the probability that the business to last for a longer period. The main objectives of an incubator include: creation of new jobs; providing support to small companies with great potential; technology transfer; promotion of innovation; development of industrial clusters (presence in the location of companies in the same field of activity); collaboration between universities, research institutes and the business community. Differently from the scientific and technologic parks, which are designed to be large, hosting companies or laboratories of the universities and institutes, the incubators are oriented towards startup companies or in the incipient development stage and they also offer support-services for the businesses. Not all businesses are eligible to be incubated; the entrepreneurs who wish to enter an incubation program must follow an admission program. Although most of the incubators offer to their clients areas to develop their businesses, the main idea behind the existence of incubators consists in the services provided to the startup companies. There are several business incubators in Bucharest, financed by the Development of innovation and technologic transfer infrastructure - INFRATECH national program, by the multiannual national program between 2002 and 2012 of founding and developing business incubators, developed by the former ANIMMC using funds from the World Bank or by the Regional Operational Program, Major Field of Intervention 4.1. Based on the investigation performed on the business incubators and on the industrial and technologic parks, a few features can be isolated: the incubators host an average of 11 SMEs, less than the EU average of 34 enterprises sustained by one incubator; most of the SMEs in the incubator belong to the services and to the industrial sector and there is no target sector towards which it could clearly aim, except those in the information and communications technology; the existing business incubators did not succeed to create the expected effects around them. Therefore, the creation of municipal business incubators is imposed, by functional re-conversion of buildings in the patrimony of Bucharest Municipality Town Hall, which would benefit in the financial support from the capital's budget. Thus, the advantage of the presence in the area of the main institutions of higher education will be capitalized, and the individual projects should be included in a wider program of the local authority to support the technological poles. We include here a reference to the Eco Bucharest 2015 project, which proposes the creation of a backbone of ECO development of the city, by innovating rehabilitation of a

surface of 1,000 hectares along the Dmbovias axis, including the Parcul Izvor and Lacul Morii areas (see Figure 158).

Source: Space Syntax / ASUB

Figure 158: Eco Bucharest 2015

1.6.9

Spatial analysis North/South

The analysis of the urban weaving has revealed an imbalance between the north part of the delimited area and its south part, affected by the urban interventions in the '80s. The southern area suffers, from the point of view or urban weaving accessibility and permeability, and this underdevelopment is also noticed in the level of economic activity. The southern area has diminished its importance in the city, has lost its "good will", by an artificial intervention and not by the natural development towards the north. For the purpose of the analysis, the UAA North consists in subzones 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7, and the UAA South in the subzones 4, 5, 8 and 9. The main markers afferent to those subzones have been aggregated, the result being presented in Figure 159. More than two thirds of the enterprises are located in the northern area. They hire almost three quarters of the total number of employees and generate over three quarters of the activity volume of the UAA. Figure 160 comparatively shows the profile of the economic activity in the northern and in the southern areas of the UAA (the size of the circles is according to the number of employees in the field).

North-South distribution UAA IPUD

North South Percent of total surface

Percent of total population Percent of total no. of companies Percent of total employees 2010 Percent of total turnover 2010

Figure 159: Distribution of the economic activity between the north and the south in UAA IPUD
Number of employees and turnover, on fields of activity, in the Northern area Number of employees and turnover, on fields of activity, in the Southern area Agriculture, forestry, fishing Industry Constructions Commerce, repairs Hotels and restaurants Transportation and storage Information and comm. Financial brokerage, insurances Real estate transactions Professional services and other services Administration, education, health, culture

Index turnover

Index turnover

Index number of employees Index number of employees

Source: Processing of the database of the financial situations reported to the Companies Register

Figure 160: Profile of the economic activity in the northern and in the southern areas of UAA IPUD

SWOT analysis Economic characteristics Advantages - numerous innovative industries, compared to the city - higher economic activity per inhabitant/employee than the city average - numerous and significant transportation connection points with the rest of the city - high percentage of employees in priority sectors - an attraction place for employees from the entire metropolitan area - in general, the degree of poverty is lower than in the rest of the city - strong source for services support for economic activity - strong presence of the financial sector in the area (a quarter of the Romanian banks have their main headquarters in ZAU PIDU, strong network of subsidiaries is developed in the area) - tourism is well developed in the area (representative hotels and restaurants) - highly educated labour force Disadvantages - it is more dependent on jobs in the public sector (28%), compared to the rest of the city, because of the numerous public institutions located in the central area - many big enterprises, which could have a greater impact if they are closed - three activity sectors comprise two thirds of the number of employees - real estate properties are more expensive, which discourages labour force in the area - high crime level - numerous senior citizens - there are clusters of high poverty level - absence of infrastructure investments in certain areas Opportunities - presence of higher educational institutions representative at national level is favourable for access to highly educated labour force - increase in the quality of the urban space may attract investments and highly educated labour force - most employees travelling here to work earn better than in the areas they come from - there still is land not used in the South, which can be used for other developments (both for residential and business purposes) - the generally good accessibility can keep the area attractive as a business location, including separation from current business - large amount of users of the area

Risks - in the past, high percentage of company registrations/closings indicated a strong entrepreneurial economy. At present, such entrepreneurial spirit is no longer manifest - traffic congestions and extensive use of personal cars - public transportation is not rapid - increase in the number of highly trained and qualified unemployed persons - large enterprises left the area (more than two thirds in the past five years) - development of the city toward the North, which offers better opportunities and attracts enterprises from the ZAU - aging population, which determines a larger dependency on social services - increase in the national/global competition in attracting investments - re-directing investments to other areas with growth potential

1.7.

Public Services

1.7.1. Transportation and mobility infrastructure The information available in the urban database of the Bucharest City Hall shows that 24.9% of the surface area of the ZAU represents transportation infrastructure (1.57 square km of streets, representing 16.5% of the total surface area of the ZAU and 0.79 square km of sidewalks, representing 8.3% of the total surface area of the ZAU). The two major transportation axes (N-S and E-W) cross the centre, with no possibilities for detours at the level of the central circular transportation line or inside the central area. Such transit traffic puts enormous pressure on the centre and has adverse effects spatially (by an excessive consumption of valuable urban space and degradation of the quality of the urban space in terms of function and landscape), socially (leads to an improper behaviour in the public space, as a result of the citizens uncertainty and negative perception of it) and economically (makes the city centre less appealing). The street network is developed mainly as circulation corridor, whose capacity does no longer satisfy the growing number of motor vehicles. In the absence of an integrated mobility policy and poor information of the population regarding such vision, there still is an unjustifiably increased tendency to use motor vehicles. The construction of a coherent and agreed system of circulation areas and sidewalks and bicycle paths is all the more necessary for the centre of the capital. Considering that it will take some time until the matter of the large transportation infrastructure deviating the transit traffic from the centre is settled, this integrated plan proposes a series of interventions that would not make the transportation issue worse than it is. The purpose of the interventions is to give the city centre a friendly look for pedestrians, by developing a new type of design for the streets, making them accessible for all types of users, i.e. the so-called shared streets. Streets are designed as public spaces, warning drivers to drive carefully and introducing elements that make them easier and more enjoyable to be used by pedestrians or bikers. The more than 20 years old history of pedestrian priority streets proves their success in enhancing safety and the quality of the environment provided by the street. Pedestrian priority streets integrate pedestrian activity and motor vehicle movement in one surface area. In this approach, the streets main function is that of a populated public place, a meeting area and only secondarily their role is to facilitate traffic and provide parking spaces. The main characteristics of priority streets are: they are a populated public space; transit traffic is not encouraged; the priority is the movement of pedestrians and bikers; entrance in such spaces is very clearly marked; movement of motor vehicles is restricted through various obstacles, detours and humps; residents have car access; the area is developed in terms of landscape. Instead of being a traffic monoculture, streets are turned into a perfectly operational system of human interaction. Vehicles are not forbidden, but streets are first of all designed as public spaces. The studies carried out in all cities where pedestrian priority streets were implemented show a high degree of satisfaction on the citizens part, as the street can be used both for moving and as a public space, and this level of satisfaction is influenced mostly by the design and social performance of the public spaces, rather than their utility within the

traffic system. As revealed by the sociological study, citizens of Bucharest are willing to accept traffic restrictions for the purpose of improving the public space (see Figures 60-62). This plan identified a route that includes the streets that can be developed as pedestrian priority streets. Its role in the rebirth of the centre of Bucharest is detailed in chapter 2.4. 1.7.2. Technical and urban infrastructure11 Bucharest has a technical and urban infrastructure that is facing heavy wear and tear. The centralized water supply system allows the connection of the entire population from the urban action area. Gross water comes from the Dambovita and Arges rivers (treated in the Arcuda, Rosu and Crivina plants), from underground, wells and small capture zones. Drinking water is carried from treatment stations to the pumping station tanks through viaducts. Considering the tanks reduced capacity, pumping is performed in failure mode, because of the need to pump water in order to harvest it in tanks. Waster is distributed through arteries, service pipelines and connection pipelines, partly modernized by replacement programs and by extending of metering to the consumer, which led to fewer losses (which represent up to one third of the total quantity of distributed water). The sewage system in Bucharest was designed as a unitary transport system of household and rain water. The main collectors are placed parallel, one on top of the other, and the citys main collector drain is placed below the Dambovita river. Waste water and meteoric water is collected through connections and outlets, and then is discharged into service pipes (cannot be inspected) and secondary collector drains (difficult to be inspected). The main collector drains carry waste water and then discharge is into the emissary. After they were developed, the role of emissary was taken over by the waste water cassettes below the Dambovita riverbed. It is worth mentioning that the section of the clean water riverbed of the Dambovita is substantially reduced around Unirii Square, because in that area the subway routes and the uneven passageway were correlated vertically. Consequently, there is the risk of floods upstream of Unirii Square. At present, in Bucharest, waste water is not treated, it is discharged directly into the Dambovita, downstream of the capital (the waste water treatment station in Glina is not operational yet). The sewage system faces several malfunctions: partial or total colmatage of leakage sections, non-discharge of rain water in certain areas, existence of certain depression areas that can benefit from sewage only by pumping, increased pollution of surface water. Electric energy is distributed to final consumers through a more than 15 year old network, located on public roads, under sidewalks or green spaces, street crossings or private property. Thermal energy (heating and hot water) is still mainly supplied by the Bucharest centralized heating supply system, which consists of CETs and the distribution system managed by RADET, which provides 72% of the thermal energy necessary in Bucharest. Large transportation distances from producers to final consumers lead to losses of heat and heating substances (up to one third), as well as high consumption of pumping energy at heat sources. The heating system faces significant wear and tear, the re-technologization program of thermal points, stations and modules is in process of being executed. To reduce the thermal energy demand, the rehabilitation of buildings is required. Natural gases are distributed through a more than 50 year old network. The main problem is the decrease in gas pressure at consumers during wintertime. The natural gas operator is planning to gradually replace the steel pipelines, which are old and highly
11

The information in this chapter is taken from the expert appraisal reports regarding the situation of the technical and urban infrastructure, attached to the Integrated Urban Development Strategy in Bucharest and Its Support and Influence Territory

corrosive, with other pipelines made of materials that are resistant both to corrosion and the new envisaged pressure level (the passing from a low pressure regime to a medium pressure regime is contemplated). In the 90s, the telecommunications infrastructure passed through a modernization process with implications at urban level, by the construction of new telephone conduits, replacement of the old, deteriorated ones, placing of street cupboards to mass cables, reorganization of the networks from such street cupboards to clients, often trying to use as much as possible cables mounted in underground pipelines instead of aerial cables (on buildings or poles). Once the cable television companies and mobile telephone companies appeared on the market, the cable infrastructure developed, and cables were mounted on poles or buildings (because the creation of underground conduits was more expensive). During the past ten years, Internet networks (cable or optical fiber) developed, which again led to an increase in the mounting of cables on poles or building (including fiber for secured data transmission for companies such as banks). The citizens and the municipality are being confronted with having to choose between high speed communications at a low price, but with the disadvantage of unaesthetic cables mounted on poles or buildings, on the one hand, and the obligation to move such cables underground, which leads to a decrease in communication speed and increase in price (especially for natural persons). In 2008, the contract for the installation of the metropolitan telecommunication network in a publicprivate partnership (Netcity) was executed, which will offer support for mounting of cables, non-operated optical fiber, data conduits and a metropolitan network for public institutions. Such network will allow the elimination of aerial networks on the routes where Netcity will interfere with. Paradoxically, some of the areas which are currently disfavored as regards Internet and television are the central areas of private dwellings (Blvd. I.C. Bratianu, Blvd. Unirii, Blvd. Carol I, Calea Mosilor). Interventions to underground networks are not planned and correlated, even though there is a specialized network coordination department within the Bucharest Municipality. Thus, urban networks do not develop in an integrated way, and operators no dot reinstate the streets to their initial condition after working on the networks they are in charge of, thus making the urban space look patched. Let us not forget the delays in obtaining the endorsements for investments, as a result of the lack of coordination and sometimes deficient organization of operators in archiving the completed underground networks. 1.7.3. Cleaning Street and household cleaning services are provided in the urban action area by authorized cleaning companies (the cleaning activity was taken over by the local councils of the Bucharest Municipality sectors; thus, there are five specialized cleaning companies). Although in the short and medium term, storage will remain the main waste management option, the objective is to promote other management options ensuring compliance with European practices and that would avoid as much as possible, the final elimination solutions (storage, incineration). The project entitled Integrated Waste Management System for Bucharest and Ilfov will be financed by POS Mediu, and the estimated value is EUR 270 million. Waste management is still underdeveloped: there are areas in the very centre of Bucharest that represent uncontrolled waste storage points by the population and economic operators, with serious negative consequences on the soil and underground water;

 only the main streets are cleaned, with the help of special machines (automatic sweepers and street vacuum cleaners); most of the street waste is collected manually, using rudimentary means; the lack of or insufficient street recipients and garbage bins; waste is not selected; selective collection is introduced only as a pilot project and proves to be a failure in the absence of public information campaigns regarding the benefits of the recovery, recycling and use of certain types of waste; existence of abandoned motor vehicles, absence of a system for their collection and realization; large waste transport distances until final storage. 1.7.4. Health Good health is essential to human wealth fare, and it represents a value per se. At individual level, good health allows people to carry out their activities, achieve their objectives, have a fulfilled life and act as active members of the society. Socially, an increased health condition is a key element of the human capital, contributing to the societys competitiveness in relation to other regions. Health is the result of a complex combination of individual and social factors. On the one hand, health is influenced by the genetic legacy, values regarding health and life style, choices that people make in this regard, as well as by personal characteristics such as age, education, occupation, living environment. On the other hand, there are social factors that influence health: quality of the medical services, of the environment, various possibilities for people to choose their eating habits. Assessment of peoples personal health is the manner in which they define their own health, which represents an important dimension of the quality of life. A research conducted in 201012 shows that Romanians assess their health moderately: the average assessment is 3.2 on a scale from 1 to 5, from very bad to very good. 46% assess their health as good and very good, 28% as satisfactory, while approximately one quarter (26%) think of it as bad and very bad. Such data suggests that a significant percentage of the population has serious health problems. In general, primary medical assistance is assessed positively, 56% of the population deeming it good or very good, 28% as satisfactory, and 16% assess it as bad or very bad. Positive assessments can be explained by the relatively easy access, most of the times, to primary assistance services. In time, the perceptions of primary medical assistance slightly improved. The progress noticed may be explained by the significant change in the type of medical services to which people have access. Diversification of medical services, development of private medical services that imposed new standards, development of private pharmacies, introduction of new medical treatments and new technologies, all contribute to this slightly improved perception of the medical assistance that people benefit from. However, the health care system is assessed mostly negatively. In 2010, most of the population (54%), but nevertheless, fewer than in the previous years, think that the health care system is bad or very bad. A part of the health infrastructure was taken over by the municipality, by the Bucharest Hospital and Medical Services Administration (ASSMB), which enabled transferred hospitals to move from the subsistence sanitary management to a normal activity. Hence, such hospitals succeeded not only in covering their expenses with salaries and materials, but also in investing in the rehabilitation of buildings and purchase of equipment, goods and services. In Bucharest, there are 66 hospitals (out of which 25 belong to the
12

Quality of Life 2010 Romanian Academy, National Institute for Economic Research, Research Institute for Quality of Life

network of the Ministry of Health - 15 national hospitals and 10 emergency hospitals -, 10 in the network of the Bucharest Public Health Department, 20 under the Bucharest Hospital and Medical Services Administration and 11 in other networks, either public or private) and 39 medical centres/significant policlinics (most of which are private). Of the 66 hospitals, 10 are located in the urban action area, totalling 1,980 beds and 2,560 medical staff. 15 medical centres and over 150 medical offices add to the health infrastructure of the central area. As revealed by Figure 161, most of the medical units are located in the North of the ZAU. Due to the large number of sanitary institutions in the central area, they are actually used by all of the capitals inhabitants, as the outskirts have fewer medical units. The private healthcare network, consisting mainly of medical centres, was developed to cover the deficit in the residential areas.

Areas in Bucharest with good medical representation13

hospitals policlinics/medical centres medical/dentists offices pharmacies Source: Synergetics data collection (inventory) of functions of immovable assets July 2011, Bucharest Public Health Department, Bucharest Health Insurance House Figure 1: Health infrastructure in ZAU - PIDU

13

Source: Integrated Urban Development Strategy in Bucharest and Its Support and Influence Territory

1.7.5. Education The Romanian educational system has passed, throughout the past two decades, through an almost continuous change in terms of structure, content and organization. The declared purpose of such changes was to increase the populations access to equal chances to education and improve the quality of education. In Romania, the difference between wishes and their accomplishment is very big, and the reasons are both the inconsistency in drawing up and applying educational policies, and the economic difficulties. The State is the main investor in education. The limited resources allotted to education have resulted in the appearance of adverse effects as to accessibility to and quality of education: increase in the rate of school abandonment, low educational performance, deterioration of learning conditions in schools. The States capacity to financially support education, but also the populations capacity to invest in education are first of all reflected by the duration of mandatory education. In the developed states, school is mandatory for a period of at least 10 years. The high level of economic development allows the population in these countries to bear an important part of tuition costs. Thus, most of the students finish 12 years of school. In Romania, except for higher education, where the number of students has constantly increased, the other educational levels have varied. Changes in the duration of mandatory education have had a significant impact on the general evolution of the populations educational level, exposing some of the society members to the risk of prematurely abandoning the system, and creating the conditions for others, in general persons with good social, family and economic backgrounds, to go through all educational stages. According to certain people, for the economic development of a country, a qualitative educational system is much more important than many years of school. Experience has shown that, in countries where educational output is high, the number of school years is higher. The reason is that students who benefit from quality education have better results at school and most of them chose to continue their studies. Both the quantity and the quality of education are determining factors in the social and economic development of a country. Quality education, the high number of students, a population educated at a proper age not only recover the investment in education, but also create benefits both at personal and social level: increase in the populations living standards, improvement of labour quality and productivity, health, quality of family life. As regards accessibility to education (i.e. the equal chance offered to all individuals to receive the form, type and specialization they want, and the quality of education), in 2010 the populations assessments varied: 30% of the population think that accessibility to education is high and very high and 29% think that accessibility to education is low and very low. In all, based on such data, it may be asserted that the educational system does not offer equal chances for all categories of individuals to access education. 14 The population is also divided in their assessments over the educational system: 31% think that the system is good and very good, 32% think that it is bad and very bad. The distribution of assessments changed significantly in 2010, as this is the first year when the image of the Romanian educational system undergoes a fundamental change, i.e. it deteriorates (traditionally, in Romania, the image of the educational system was positive). The increasing negative assessments might be the result of the continuous instability of the educational system over the years, which has also been enhanced by the recent crisis, which caused new problems. Apart from the continuous changes, which affected the pupils/students education and life strategies, another cause is the worsening of the problems accumulated during the transition in the field of school infrastructure and the problems
14

Quality of Life 2010 Romanian Academy, National Institute for Economic Research, Research Institute for Quality of Life

related to personnel. Romania ranks among the first countries in the EU in terms of early school abandonment, and the percentage of students with low reading/reading comprehension skills is high compared to the European average (both indicators are double compared to the European target). The main problems of the secondary education found at regional level by the Bucharest School Inspectorate include: improvised, unprofessional management in some school units; insufficient vacancies in kindergartens; existence of an unjustifiably high number of students that repeat their school years; exaggerated ungrounded absences from school; a high rate of school abandonment; low interest on the part of certain teachers to ensure quality in education and decentralize the educational system; many substitute teachers and unqualified teachers (although the school network is comprehensive for the region, there are difficulties in providing tenure teachers for some specialties); low professional mobility and fluctuation of teachers/foremen instructors in vocational and technical education causes a decrease in the efficiency of the teaching/learning process; parents low interest and commitment to know and solve school problems; insufficient school and career guidance counsellors offices, which leads to students opting mainly for theoretical high schools, and after finishing school, they are unemployed (annual reports of the Bucharest Employment Agency reveal the difficulties that pre-university graduates face in finding jobs: the majority of the unemployed persons are high school graduates without any professional certification); pre-university population has decreased dramatically (only preschool education has not faced a decline); most of the parents precarious financial situation has negative consequences on their childrens interest in school. The capitals school network is formed mainly of public pre-university educational units. Private units have developed especially in the preschool field, private kindergartens covering part of the deficit, by satisfying the educational offer for more than 5,000 children. Figure 162 shows that, as the tuition level grows, educational institutions concentrate on the central area. This phenomenon is explained by kindergartens and schools proximity function, which are distributed in a relatively equal manner. High schools tend to group in the central area, which comprises a series of prestigious national colleges15. Table 48 shows the high percentage of schools that operate in the marked area out of the total number of such units in all Bucharest, compared to the same index calculated for kindergartens and schools (such are closer to the relative weigh of the ZAU population in all Bucharest). Higher educational institutions representative at national level are mainly located in the urban action area (see table 49).

15

Most of the high schools in the central area are among the best high schools in Bucharest, according to the average of the last student admitted, the number of Olympic students participating in the Olympics national phase and in international contests, and the options of the Bucharest students (source: ISMB 2010)

Table 48: Public pre-university educational network in ZAU PIDU Kindergarten s 179 14 7.8% Schools 162 9 5.6% High schools 102 21 20.6% Special education 20 3 15.0% Sports clubs

Total Bucharest of which in the ZAU ZAU PIDUPIDU percentage/ Bucharest

7 0 0.0%

Table 49: Higher educational institutions in ZAU PIDU Higher educational institution Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism University of Bucharest Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy* Academy of Economic Sciences National University of Music University of Arts I.L.Caragiale U.N.A.T.C. S.N.S.P.A. Technical Military Academy Titu Maiorescu University Spiru Haret'' University Ecological University Financial and Banking University * has specializations in ZAU PIDU Kindergartens in Bucharest16 Schools in Bucharest16 No. of students 3296 39,997 16,729 12,941 1,055 1,500 874 9.962 400 10,365 135,124 12,952 364 Staff 744 1,127 3,088 2,363 329 364 361 350 n/a 901 2,699 224 31

High schools in Bucharest16

Faculties in16

16

Source: Integrated Urban Development Strategy in Bucharest and Its Support and Influence Territory

 higher education high schools, colleges schools kindergartens

Source: Synergetics data collection (inventory) regarding functions of buildings July 2011, Bucharest School Inspectorate

Figure 2: Educational units in ZAU - PIDU

1.7.6. Culture Architectural, arts and history monuments, museums, theatres, monument churches, memorial houses, art galleries, cultural centres, libraries, second-hand bookshops, cultural institutes of other States focus on the central perimeter, due to the spatial typology, functionality and representativeness of such area. Most urban marketing studies show that the city identifies itself mainly with the central area. The sociological study has revealed that for the citizens, the most representative elements for Bucharest are its historical buildings and monuments. Chapter 2.4 hereof proposes a strategy to give value to such cultural sites, both for the citizens of Bucharest and for tourists alike. Cultural institutes in Bucharest17

cultural sites churches embassies/consulates

Source: Synergetics data collection (inventory) regarding functions of buildings July 2011

Figure 3: Cultural sites in ZAU - PIDU

17

Source: Integrated Urban Development Strategy in Bucharest and Its Support and Influence Territory

1.8.

Dynamics of investments in the urban action area

1.8.1 Dynamics of public investments Public investments in the entire city are made by the Bucharest City Hall and the city halls of the other sectors. The competent authorities in the urban action area are the Bucharest City Hall, Sector 1 City Hall, Sector 2 City Hall, Sector 3 City Hall, Sector 4 City Hall and Sector 5 City Hall. However, most of the urban infrastructure works in the urban action area are carried out by the Bucharest City Hall. The evolution of public investment in Bucharest is revealed by the analysis of financial indicators related to local budgets. As shown in Figure 164, the capital expenses of the Bucharest City Hall and the institutions under the subordination of the Bucharest General Council decreased in the past few years, more than the general drop in the municipalitys total expenses. While in 2006 investment expenses counted for two thirds of the total expenses, in 2010 they reached 40% of the total number of the Bucharest Municipalitys budget (see Figure 165).
Evolution of total, current and capital expenses in Bucharest Municipality (million lei) Structure of expenses in Bucharest Municipality in 2010

municipal public services investment environmental protection

total expenses current expenses capital expenses

social assistance service of duty forced executions expenses of the apparatus of Bucharest Municipality

Source: activity reports of the general mayor and budgets of the Bucharest Municipality during 2006-2010

Figure 4: Evolution of expenses of Bucharest Municipality

Figure 5: Structure of expenses of Bucharest Municipality in 2010

Structure of investments of Bucharest Municipality in 2009

Structure of investments of Bucharest Municipality in 2010

transport infrastructure rehabilitation of national stadium

rehabilitation of schools and kindergartens rehabilitation of historical center

other investment programs

(other investments include the modernization of thermal points, extension of water and sewage network, rehabilitation of treatment station, hospital equipment, etc.)

Source: activity reports of the general mayor and budgets of the Bucharest Municipality during 2006 2010

Figure 6: Structure of investments in Bucharest Municipality in 2009 and 2010 Most public investments were intended for transport infrastructure (repairs and rehabilitation of streets, construction and modernization of passageways). Annex 9 details the investments of the Bucharest Municipality in the urban action area. 1.8.2. Dynamics of private investments This chapter presents only private investments that are relevant in terms of urbanism. RESIDENCE As regards investments made in the past years in the residential sector in the area analyzed herein, almost eighty small residential complexes (4-5 storey buildings, with 20 apartments on average), and six big projects, whose development was made public starting from 2006, were identified. Only four of the big projects were completed, bringing over 400 new apartments on the market. Other two projects, totalling almost 300 apartments, were postponed because of the crisis and, implicitly, the considerable decrease in demand. The total value of the residential investments in the marked area is estimated at approximately euro 150 million.

LEGEND
Existing projects Announced projects

Source: Synergetics data collection (inventory) regarding functions of buildings - July 2011

Figure 7: Collective dwellings built in the past 5 years in ZAU PIDU OFFICES

Figure 8: Significant residential projects in ZAU PIDU

The current office space area in Bucharest is approximately 1.5 million sqm. The central area alone represents 25% of the total rentable area. In the Central Business District (CBD), as it is called in specialized language, there are the most expensive rents in the capital. Such area is located between Charles de Gaulle Square, Victoriei Square, Romana Square, Universitatii Square, Unirii Square, Gara de Nord and Stefan cel Mare. The CBD tenants are mainly banks, support services supply companies for business or State agencies. Such companies want to be visible and have good access for their main headquarters and are willing to pay a premium to the rent. The analyzed area is, in principle, part of the CBD office area, without covering it entirely. The total office supply in the CBD is 400,000 sqm, while the subject area comprises approximately 300,000 rentable sqm. The office segment developed in central Bucharest by taking into account the characteristics of the land around the city centre. Due to the small number of available land and high prices, the buildings developed vertically. Thus, there are many buildings whose floors have small surface areas. Because of the height of such buildings, the number of parking spaces is low compared to the semi-central areas and the outskirts (the average is one parking space at 100 sqm of office, half the number of parking spaces in semi-central areas, where the ratio is 1 space/50 sqm). Supplies constantly increased, from 3,000 sqm in 2007, to approximately 70,000 sqm in 2009 and 2010. The demand has also increased in the central area, attracting companies that relocate their business from semi-central areas or the outskirts for a better location in the city. The level of rents was constant during 2006-2008, but in 2009 it started to decrease. Current rents are around euro 15-17/sqm/month. Figure 168 presents the representative office projects in the area (i.e. those that have more than 10,000 rentable sqm), totalling a surface area of 111,000 sqm.

As we may notice, the analyzed area benefited from significant investments over the past few years. Although land in the urban action area is scarce and expensive, the demand on the office market made entrepreneurs invest in this sector an excessive of euro 200 million. Major transactions involving buildings located in the ZAU were registered (for example, the acquisitions in the past years of America House and Europe House).

Source: Synergetics data collection (inventory) regarding functions of buildings July 2011

Figure 9: Office buildings constructed in the past 5 years in ZAU PIDU INDUSTRIAL SPACES

Figure 10: Significant office projects in ZAU PIDU

Together with the relocation of plants outside cities, required by the legislation regarding environmental protection, the industrial element disappeared almost entirely from the capital centre. Hence, industrial parks appeared outside the city, most of which are located at the first two exits from the A1 Bucharest - Pitesti highway. Prior to 1989, subareas 8 and 9 had numerous industrial areas, which changed or are in the process of changing their initial use. It is the case of Inox, Romtrans, Electromagnetica, Muntenia, Bere Rahova plants, former units that were either closed, relocated or changed their profile. Investors purchased such platforms with the purpose of demolishing existing constructions and developing various real estate projects or giving another destination to the existing spaces. Thus, Zonal Urbanism Plans were issued to change their destination from industrial to residential or office spaces. Most of the transactions were performed during 2006-2008, but developments have not started yet because of the real estate crisis.

1.9.Development needs identified in the urban action area 1.9.1. Development needs identified through the sociologic study The main problems of the central area identified through the sociologic study realized by the SNSPA on a representative sample for the population in Bucharest are represented by traffic and parking places, followed by cleaning, road status and old buildings (figure 101). For the enhabitants of the central area, the main problem is represented by parking places (figure 102). Citizen safety is also one of the problems of the urban action area for the inhabitants in the central area, on a larger scale. 1.9.2. Development needs identified through the diagnosis analyses Following the analyses described in the previous chapters, first of all a discrepancy is noticed between the status of the sub-areas in the north of the urban action area (sub-areas 1, 6 i 7 with sub-area 2 in positive evolution) and the other sub-areas. The latter ones were mainly affected by urban operations in the 80s, which enclaved and segregated entire sections of the city, limited economic activities by lack of accessibility and created image problems that lead to the unexploitment of the areas potential. Therefore, Buharest only uses the nothern half of the central area. Solving spatial and socio-economic disparities between the North and the South of Bucharests central area is consequently one of the priorities of the urban action area. Both the analysis of the urban network ant the economic analysis highlighted the fact that the lack of accessibility contributed to the isolation of the southern part of the urban action area and a decrease in its attractiveness and economic dynamics. Thus reconnection appears as a fundamental necessity of the central area. The need to solve the traffic problem is emphasized both by the analysis of urban transport and the sociologic one, traffic being invoked as the main problem of the capitals center. Transport analysis and the analysis of the preferences of Bucharests inhabitants emphasize the need to create alternative routes. These alternative routes are mainly designated for pedestrians and cyclists, whose mobility conditions are currently hindered by a large number of obstacles, as well as public transport, the main urban mobility mean in Bucharest, which would thus benefit from the creation of new connections. Sociologic, transport and economic analysis have emphasized the need to intelligently approach the problem of parking spaces in the center, whose lack is considered the main problem by the inhabitants of the central area and at the same time represent an impediment for economic agents. Social, economic and built environment analysis proved that in the central area there are regions with socio-economic problems, but with a valuable bilt environment, which are ideal for urban regeneration projects. The need for urban regeneration of the sections with social and spatial problems appears especially in sub-areas 3 and 9, as well as in an extended section in sub-area 6 (Grivia-Buzeti-Berzei). They need urban regeneration operations, that lead to the improvement of urban space quality, to community consolidation and to the creation of economic opportunities. At the level of the entire urban action area, urban reenactment must also be focused on creating leaisure opportunities, which will hereby build

the community and increase the populations cultural capital. Today, Bucharest must promote urban life under all its aspects, economic, social, political and cultural, so that its own citizens start getting acustomed with high living standards. Although, from the point of view of the image capacity generated through its strong points, Bucharest is at the same level as Kln or Salonic, it does not succeed in having as good an image, according to its potential. The need to improve Bucharests urban image is important. Research in the field of urban marketing shows that the status of buildings and public spaces plays an important role in a citys perception, which, in its turn, influences the decision to invest in the area. Bucharest needs an intervention at structural level, in order to become an attraction point in an European (even world) competition at city level. The status of the patrimony and the public spaces leads to deficiencies in space attractiveness and perception, both for the inhabitants and for the tourists and possible investors. The often precarious status of the built patrimony and the abuses caused in protected areas transmit the need to protect and value the cultural patrimony. Moreover, Bucharests center needs high quality public spaces, which serve the community and consolidate the European metropolis image. Both green spaces, and other types of public spaces (markets, streets, side-walks) must be rehabilitated. Major public spaces, such as Unirii Square, Revoluiei Square or Victoriei Square, are presently difficult to manage by pedestrians, being rather auto traffic and parking spaces. In Unirii Square, green spaces are isolated from each other by fast traffic color, a series of fountains are also traffic islands and cannot be closely admired by pedestrians. These spaces need an identity reconfiguration, but also works that improve their functionality and integrate them in tourist routes. Urban operations realized in the last years are generally punctual. They do not approach any extended scale (except for infrastructure works in the western area of the Historical Center, sub-area 2), nor integrated in space, social and economic problems of the central area. That is why another important necessity is the holistic vision in approaching the development of the capital center. Moreover, differences in approaces or problem solving can be noticed in several areas from one sector cityhall to another or even within the actions of the municipal cityhall. The lack of an institutional organism and/or a set of regulations, which, at municipal level, involves in a policy or a coherent vision the various aspects defining the urban landscape, developing and administrating it, is one of the major causes of this disfunction and of this status. Bucharest needs visions assumed by all the parties (political, administrative, civil society, professionals), long term visions, on 10-20 years, which can be taken over from one legislature to the other. Thus there is a need for collaboration between several urban actors in order to generate coherent and quality urban solutions. 1.10 The development potential of the urban action area Bucharest is one of the few European metropolises that does not use its advantages to generate a strong image and brand and to attract investments and tourists18. The citys potential, mainly the city center, is unexplored. That is why, for the execution of the Integrated Urban Development Plan for the Central Area, this potential was considered. Following the analyses presented in the previous chapters, a series of still unexploited strong points were identified, representing a significative development potential for the city: the presence of a lrge diversity architecture, which can valorize and eclectic city brand;
18

Saffron Consultants, 2009, The Saffron European City Brand Barometer

 the existance of field reserves that can be reused, as well as the opportunity to regenerate brownfield type spaces (from destructured spaces in the Civic Center area to old industrial surfaces); the existance of public spaces that are presently not landscaped or maintained, which can be reconfigured in order to improve urban image and in order for them to be used by inhabitants and visitors as well; the existance of spaces that are not sufficiently valorized for the community (sport fields, show rooms); the existance of an important green space network, care pot fi amenajate i integrate ntr-un sistem de spaii publice eficient; the increase in popularity of bike transport can support a reconfiguration of some central streets for cycling transport color; the presence of cultural endowments that can be rehabilitated and valorized, thereby participating in the extended value system of Bucharest center (Vilacrosse, Odeon, Victoriei, Englez Passages, Curtea Veche, the Hystorical Center, Antim Monastery area, the Antrepozite-Rahova-Uranus area); the presence of the Dmbovia river, presently not valorized at its potential; the existance of important connections at city level, which can support the development of intermodal functional nodes; the existance of a tendency to revalorize the consumption of traditional and biological products and the existance of free spaces can support the idea of creating new markets and recovering the old and degraded ones; the companiesinterest to establish in a functional center may lead to the economic and edilitary development of the area.

2. DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR THE URBAN ACTION AREA 2.1 The need for a local development strategic vision The aim of the local development strategic vision is to harmonize the socioeconomic objectives formulated at the level of the urban action area with the Bucharest space, economic and social dynamics and with the priorities at city and country level. The development vision of the urban action area contains the coordinates established by Romanias integration in the European Union in order to valorize the local potential. Viziunea este n acest caz ndreptat n trei direcii majore: ...........................................................................................................................................A competitive center at national and international level; ...........................................................................................................................................A sustainable urban area from a social and economic point of view, with a balanced medium and long term dynamics and development; ...........................................................................................................................................A n attractive area for inhabitants, visitors and investors, which offers facility diversity, benefits from a good infrastructure and becomes a magnet for development and creative investments. 2.2 Objectives 2.2.1 European objectives and principles regarding the improvement of the living environment in the urban area The strategy for the Bucharest center is fundamental both for the analysis of the areas needs and potential and for the integrated approach principles resulting from the programs, policies and documents proposed and adopted at European Union level or at the level of member state reunions, such as the Leipzig Charter or the Toledo Statement. The Leipzig Charter for Sustainable European Cities, approved on occasion of the informal reunion of the European ministers responsible for urban development and territorial cohesion, in Leipzig (May 24-25 2007), recommends the more frequent usage of integrated approaches in urban development. The integrated urban development policy is a process through which spatial, sectorial and temporal key aspects are coordonated, the dsired result being the integration of the operation at local and municipal level from an urbanistic, economic and social point of view. The Leipzig Charter specifies, among the action strategies: creating and insuring high quality public spaces, by intensifying the interaction between architecture, infrastructure planning and urban planning, in order to increase the quality of life in the cities; modernizing infrastructure networks and increasing energetic efficiency, sustainable and accessible urban transport, at a reasonable price;

proactive innovation and educational policies: competitiveness and economic growth, reducing the disparities between neighborhoods and inside them; granting a special attention to under-privilleged areas, considered in the context of the city as a whole.

Similarly, the reference Document in Toledo regarding the integrated urban regeneration and the strategic potential of this approach, for a more intelligent, sustainable and inclusive urban development in Europe specifies that the ministers reaffirmed the validity of the assumed commitments and of the principles established during the previous ministerial reunions, particularly the integrated approach in urban policies as one of the main instruments to advance in the directions established by the EUROPE 2020 strategy. The Toledo Declaration emphasizes the fact that urban areas suffering from socioeconomic problems and a degradation of the built environment must make the object of an integrated and coherent urban regeneration process, which considers both the rehabilitation of the built fund and public spaces, and community consolidation and encouraging entreprenorial activities. Good European practices suggest several key aspect that may characterize a successful regeneration project. For example, from a spatial component point of view, English Partnerships specified in its Urban Design Compendium that the key aspect are: Places with character. In order for urban areas to be properly used and appreciated, they must be safe, comfortable, diverse and attractive. Moreover, there must be a place specificity and it must offer variety and usage options. Enriching the system. New projects should improve the qualities of the existing areas, reflect and complete their context. This applies at any level region, city, neighborhood or street. Reconnection. Urban spaces must be easily accessible and integrated from a physical and visual context point of view. This aspect requires a special attention in order to establish how the spaces can be accessed by a pedestrian, a biker, by public transport or personal vehicle in that order. Landscape work. Emphasize is placed on spaces that create a balance between the natural and the built environment and use all the resources climate, landscape and ecosystem in order to preserve energy and fully use the infrastructure. Investment management. In order for the projects to be developed, they must be valid from an economic point of view, well administrated and preserved in time. This assumes the understanding the developers, assuring the involvement of the local community and authority, defining adequate implementing mechanisms and including all the stakeholders in the design process. Design for change. New developments must be sufficiently flexible to answer futuer changes in use, life style and demography. This means designing to make resources

more efficient, to make the usage of the public space and service infrastructure more flexible and introduce new concepts for transport, traffic and parking management.

2.2.2. Objectives of the regional operational program The Regional Operational Program (ROP) is the strategic document implementing elements of the National Regional Development Strategy within the National Development Plan (NDP) and contributes, along with the other operational programs (POS Increasing Economic Competitiveness, POS Transport Infrastructure, POS Environment, POS Human Resources Development), to achieving the objective of the National Regional Development Strategy and of the Reference Strategic National Frame, that is reducing economic and social development disparities between Romania and the average development of the member states of the European Union. ROP was elaborated in accordance with the European subsidiarity principle, based on the development strategies in the regions, elaborated at regional levels in large partnership work groups. The Regional Operational Programs shall be established between 2007 - 2013 from the state budget and the local budgets, being cofinanced from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). ROPs strategic objective consists of the territorially balanced economic and social development of Romania, according to specific needs and resources, focused on supporting sustainable development, improving the business environment and the basic infrastructure. In order to reach the general objective of regional development, the ROP strategy implies reaching specific objectives: Increasing the economic and social importance of urban centers, through a polycentric approach, in order to simulate a more balanced region development; Improving accessibility, especially the accessibility of urban centers and their connections with the surrounding areas; Increasing the quality of the social regional infrastructure; Increasing region competitiveness; Increasing the contribution of tourism in regional development. The objective of the Regional Operational Program is therefore increasing the quality of life and creating new work places in the cities, by rehabilitating the public urban infrastructure, the cultural improving social services, as well as by developing business and entrepreneurship support structures. 2.2.3. Objectives for the Integrated Urban Development Plan in Bucharest-Central Area In this context, after analysing the needs and development potential in the area and consulting the objectives of the Regional Operational Program 2007-2013, Priority Axis 1Supporting sustainable development in the cities, the following general objectives were established for the Urban Development Integrated Plan- Bucharest central area: Consolidating the citys identity and supporting its vitality and attractiveness,

 Local economic development, Sustainable urban regeneration. These general objectives can be reached only through an integrated and holistic approach, considering the social, economic and spatial aspects and answering to as many social groups and necessities at the same time. This approach allows maximum visibility and impact. The specific objecives of the Integrated Urban Development Plan for the Bucharest central area aim at creating an accessible and efficient urban network, rehabilitating the public service infrastructure, re-enacting the puclic space network and valorizing the areas high potential. The effect of these actions shall be increasing attractiveness, increasing the quality of life for the inhabitants in the area and the entire city, creating a vibrating, dynamic center for Bucharest, European capital. O1. The center and identity mark Image and brand studies realized at European level show that Bucharest is an underappreciated and unknown city. Although studies indicate the fact that the city has a high potential for investments and urban tourism, Bucharest suffers from a mostly negative image or even from the lack of knowledge of any identity landmark by Europeans. Tourists visiting Bucharest usually visit the Parliaments Palace, and other parts of the city center often remain unexplored. One of the objectives of the Integrated Urban Development Plan is (re)creating an urban identity for the Bucharest central area, a clear identity, that attracts tourists and investors, creates a positive eclectic city brand, as well as stimulating a community and affiliation feeling that Bucharest inhabitants today do not have. Asige from the economic side of reaching the attractiveness potential for investors and tourists, the integrated plan aims at recovering the gap between the inhabitamts and their own city, highlighted by the sociologic sudies realized in Bucharest. By recreating the bound between the center and its users, beyond the economic benefits, a process to highlight social cohesion and local pride for city inhabitants is thus envisioned. O1a) Delineating an identity for the central area with a tourist and cultural potential The heterogenous and eclectic ccharacter of the Bucharest central area must be valorized in order to create an urban identity of which the inhabitants are proud and which attracts both tourists and investors. With quality public spaces, a diverse architectural patrimony, well valorized, alternative attractive routes for pedestrians and bikers, the Bucharest central area shall be an identity landmark for a European metropolis with a special history and an yet unexplored potential. O1b) Re-enactment of the public space network The value and attractiveness of a city are supported by the quality and diversity of its public spaces. Public spaces, presently adversly landscaped, often spontaneous parking, inaccessible spaces or spaces with redundant urban furnishing, have a currently sub-used potential. Representative public spaces must make the object of rehabilitation projects on modern principles, tranforming them into representative points, the symbol for a European Bucharest. This integrated plan meet the investments made presently for public buildings in the central area (the National Theatre, the National Library), proposing an adequate public space by organizing international contests, so that the final solution is both high quality and representative for the city.

O2. Restructured and reintegrated urban network Unbalances created by the insertion in the Civic Center represent the main problem of the Bucharest central area. Enclaved, segregated areas with major socio-economic problems resulting because of being separated from the rest of the city must be reintegrated through the present plan. Its priority must be both the physical reconnection of the isolated areas, by creating new connections and traffic flows, regenerating the area by acions that increase the investments in the area and community cohesion, as well as mental reconnections at the level of the cities population in the areas separated from the Civic Center. These areas must be reintegrated from all points of view - spatial, functional, socioeconomic, identity in the city center. O3. Efficient traffic system Traffic problems today in Bucharest are major. The city is congested, the number of cars is increasing, and the problem of parking spaces is acute. An objective of the Integrated Urban Development Plan is to make the traffic system efficient in the central area by prioritizing sustainable and alternative traffic forms and by creating more and smaller parking spaces, that do not occupy the public space. These two sub-objectives comply with the actions in the other capitals of the European Union, where pedestrian and biking traffic is encouraged, and public spaces are redeemed to the city through the construction of underground and surface parking lots. Therefore, the configuration of an integrated pedestrian and bike traffic network in a wide central area is considered, which represents not only traffic opportunities, but also quality public spaces. Moreover, as to bike transport, the realization of a concentric and radial continuous and coherent velo route network is considered important. Secondly, the assurance of the necessary parking lots is aimed for the central area by constructing underground and surface parking lots, that realize public spaces and contribute to the decongestion of streets and markets in central areas. O3a) Encouraging walking and bikingthe use of public transport as alternatives for auto traffic Bucharest is a city suffocated by auto traffic. Both inhabitants and visitors consider intense traffic one of the important problems with a negative effect on the quality of life and urban experience. The number of cars on the streets of the capital increased each year, reflecting an increase of the purchase power among the population and the cars role as a social status in postsocialist Romanian culture. However, an increase in the number of cars has a negative influence on the city, determining a polluted urban space, with a high stress level. The invaded city reflects what happens in occidental cities between 1950-1960, when the number of cars increased exponentially, important markets in the cities became parking spaces, and pedestrian space was reduced to narrow sidewalks. Bucharest repeats the Western scenario, developed however with a greater speed. A chance for Bucharest would be to profit from the lessons learned from the experience of western-European cities and the way they transformed the cities invaded by traffic into cities with a friendly and dynamic public space, promoting a high quality of urban life and experience. Since the 1950, pedestrian spaces with commercial role appear in Rotterdam (the famous Lijnbahn) and German cities reconstructed after the Second World War. Commercial pedestrian spaces are externded in the entire Occidentl Europe, but the first city to move on was Barcelona in the 80s, when ample urban works were executerd, based on a well established concept, the one of quality public spaces dedicated both to the citys inhabitants and to visitors. The public spaces of West-European cities were recovered for their own inhabitants, and the phenomenon was

adopted in the entire world, from the American Portland to Curitiba in Brasil, including in the majority of post-socialist cities. The movement cities with no cars is a global presence. However, Bucharest, except for the pilot area of the historic center (and it is spatially very restricted), lacks pedestrian areas and pedestrian priority areas and a coherent traffic system for cyclists. What cities with successful public spaces have in common is ther existance of visionary urban policies with clear objectives and priorities. The recovery of public spaces for Bucharest inhabitants and encouraging walking and biking to the detriment of auto traffic represent absolute priorities for the Integrated Urban Development Plan. Only under these conditions will Bucharest stand to be compared with the other European capitals. Streets and boulevards in the central area must have a role in supporting urban life and not in transit. Works facilitating transit auto traffic in the center, such as redirecting traffic on the Dmbovia quay or enlarging the boulevards, only lead to its congestion, contradicting the understanding of the functionality and role of a city center. Center arteries must be treated as local character streets, streets that support commercial, cultural and leaisure activities, essential traits of an European urban center. Encouraging sustainable transport modalities must also be a priority. The Toledo Declaration includes several aspects related to transport sustainability, among which Reducing transport needs by promoting proximity and mixt transport layouts, simultaneous with stimulating a more durable mobility at urban, metropolitan and interurban level. The same declaration emphasizes the need to prioritize non-motorized less-polluting transport means, promoting walking and biking. It is recommended to support an efficient and cheap public transport, accessible to everyone especially to marginalized neighborhoods, where it can play a key role in reducing physical isolation -, multimodal transport networks, as well as the optimization of urban logistics. Works on new metro arteries must become a priority. A rapid, efficient and comfortable public transport will become much more attractive than using the personal car. Consequently, starting from these aspects and after the analysis of the recommendations of the Transport Master Plan, the integrated plan recommends considering tramway infrastructure projects that would make the network more efficient, by creating connections in Unirii Square, as well as from the Northern Railway Station to Eroii Revoluiei, passign the Izvor-Uranus area, which is presently weakly served by public transport. Walking and using bikes must be prioritized because both are ecologic and convenient transport means. Benefits for health are incontestable. Moreover, psychology studies have shown that a dynamic street, filled with pedestrians, offers a feeling of safety. In addition, local economy benefits from the continuous passage of pedestrians and bikers, by encouraging the commercial activity of stores, restaurants and coffe shops. Proposed actions must allow the creation of pedestrian and biker spaces, that represent alternative routes for the citys streets suffocated by traffic. Creating an attractive alternative will lead to a change in the acual perception of car usage (the lack of a car is often seen in Wetern Europe as an increased level of independency, by avoiding the need to park or loss of time in traffic).Biker and pedestrian routes can be realized on the existing structure of some central streets, which are sized to a human scale and which accommodate buildings that can receive trade and food service functions on the ground floor. These streets can be totally or partially closed to auto traffic, throughout an entire day or only during certain hours. For the streets with a variable number of lanes, an opportunity is represented by studies analyzing the optimization of auto traffic, in terms of the minimum number of lanes (corresponding to the narrowest steet widht), the rest of the street surface being dedicated to the other transportation means.

Bike routes and varied means of public transport must be correlated and connected by realizing intermodal poles. These will consist of points from which different public and alternative transport routes will start. Intermodal poles identified through the Integrated Urban Development Plan are: Roman Square; Rosetti Square: Starting point for different routes, thus avoiding the great traffic congestion from Universitii Square. Rosetti Square must become the main alternative for Universitii Square. The streets afferent to this intermodal pole, on which bike routes can be marked: Cristian Radu Street, Hristo Botev Boulevard, Dianei Street and Tudor Arghezi Street; Sf. Gheorghe Square: It is presently an important terminal point for tramways, however it is difficult for bikes. The bike route coming from Lipscani Street must cross (underground) the N. Blcescu Boulevard, continue through Sf. Gheorghe Square and reach Calea Moilor (old route).

Public transport must be prioritized through supported investments, network extension and frequency optimization and by introducing, on a wide scale, the passages dedicated to public urban transport means. O3b) Small and medium parking lot system The presence in the central area of several public, leisure and cultural functionalities generates congestion and the usage of sidewalk areas dedicated to pedestrians as parking space, which creates disconfort for all users. A proposal is made for the execution of an integrated small and medium parking system (under 500 spaces), on a perimeter ring of the citys central area. These parking spaces will be connected through an infrastructure system in which pedestrians and bikers have a well defined and equipped space, connected in important public transport nodes. The entire system will be supported by an integrated display and signaling system for available spaces, allowing the possibility for an adequate management of parking lots throughout the entire central area. The installation in the central area of large parking lots (over 1000 spaces) is not recommended, because such parking spaces become a traffic generating factor in itself. The small parking system, arranged on the entire central ring, will allow reducing the number of cars on the streets, by moving them underground. Thus relieved space at street level becomes available for a better use by pedestrians and bikers, simultaneously ensuring a better traffic and public transport flow. This project will be executed in stages, avoiding a major traffic disfunction in the central area. The regulation of street parking, as proposed through this strategy, shall bring significant benefits: important spaces are given back for use in pedestrian and biker traffic, encouraging walking and biking; the existing roadway is maintained; traffic capacity is maintained almost unmodified on the routes proposed for modernization, due to low traffic flow values.

O4. Sustainability In accordance with the objectives of the Leipzig Charter, the Toledo Declaration and the Regional Operating Program, the strategy for the citys center must provide a sustainable development. Rehabilitating and landscaping green spaces, creating a green network, encouraging the use of public transport, walking and biking in the overcrowded central area will lead to a more sustainable, greener city, with an increased quality of the surrounding environment. Field recycling is recommended through redeveloping and reusing abandoned or unused fields for public functions (we exemplify with the Panduri library, the Cderea Bastiliei mobile market) a key strategy to contribute to a reduction in field consumption. O5. Integrated urban regeneration A number of areas with a significant historical and architectural value are marked today by major spatial and socio-economic disfunctions. Their potential, determined by their central location and by the values of the built fund, as well as the acute social needs of the area, recommend them as target areas for integrated regeneration projects. The integrated urban regeneration concept, according to the Toledo Declaration, proposes to optimize, preserve and revalorize the entire existing urban capital (social, built environment, patrimony), as opposed to other intervention forms in which, in this entire urban capital, only the field value is prioritized and preserved, by traumatizing demolition and by ignoring the rest of the urban and social capital. Urban areas suffering from socio-economic problems and a degradation of the built environment must make the object of an integrated and coherent urban regeneration process, that envisions both the rehabilitation of the built fund and the public spaces, as well as the consolidation of the community and the encouragement of entrepreneurial activities. O6. Development of economic activity By improving public spaces and quality and diversifying cultural services and activities will increase the attractiveness of the citys central area for investments, this action being registered in the recommendation line of the Leipzig Charter and the Toledo Declaration. O6a) Creating un attractive public field Except for the green spaces, whose landscaping and maintenance became a priority for local authorities, Bucharest does not offer and attractive public space for residents and visitors: sidewalks made of bad wuality materials, with cracks and dislevelments, public spaces invaded by parked cars. An unattractive public space leads both to a decrease in the quality of life for the inhabitants (walking through a city invaded by cars becomes a stressful activity), and a negative effect on the citys image for tourists and possible investors. Therefore, the improvement of public spaces must become a priority. Within the Toledo Declaration, the essential role of public spaces in the citys urban development was discussed: revalorizing deteriorated public spaces and creating new open spaces, as well as protecting or requalifying architectural forms shall contribute not only to the improvement of the urban landscape, the quality of several urban networks, and thus to an increase in business and specialized labor force attractiveness, but also to an increase in their attractivess for the locals and to identifying the locals with the urban environment and the community they are part of. O6b) Creating work places The Toledo Declaration emphasizes: Building rehabilitation, physical improvement and modernization of the infrastructure represent not only essential requirements for a citys

attractiveness, but also for sectors in which the need for work force is greater and thus represents a new potential source for work places, helping with unemployment absorption, especially in the construction sector (which presently goes through a major crisis in some member states). The projects proposed through the integrated plan shall lead to an increase in the areas role int eh citys economy and implicitly in creating new work places. O7. Social cohesion Recent social tendencies in Bucharest reflect an amplification of the discrepancies between different population categories. A residential segregation process according to economic criteria is in full development, in contrast to general European principles promoting social mixture. Mainly in areas 4, 8 and 9, there is a concentration of needy population with specific problems that must be approached coherently and comprehensively by an Integrated Urban Development Plan. Bucharest must not develop as a series of paralel cities, but it must reflect the diverse character of a European capital. Therefore, priorities must be established for the actions envisioning social cohesion, as well the creation of cultural centers for the community, which play a social, educational and leisure role for the entire population in the area. Objectives The center an identity mark Sub-objectives Actions Rehabilitating buildings with architectural value Educating the public on the built patrimony Reconfiguring / creating quality and representative public spaces Reconditioning the public lighting infrastructure Reconditioning pavements Endowment with urban furnishing

Valorizing the built patrimony

Quality public endowments

Objectives Restructured and reintegrated urban network

Sub-objectives Coherent spatial structure

Actions Tracing new connection axes

Creating new pedestrian connections (Parliaments Palace, crossing the Unirii Boulevard) Integrating area enclaved by the Unirii and Libertii Boulevards Creating auto and pedestrian connections across Dmbovia. Integrating the enclaves between the Unirii Boulevard, Unirii Square and Libertii Boulevard fronts Efficient traffic system Studies regarding the extension and modernization of the tramway network Improving the public transport system Building intermodal transport terminals Introducing colors dedicated to local public transport Integrated pedestrian traffic and bike network Creating pedestrian and bike routes and rehabilitating the existing ones Insuring the necessary parking spaces for the residents Insuring the necessary parking lots Eliminating parking lots from public places and creating new underground/surface parking spaces Development of traffic management systems

Better traffic management

Objectives Sustainability

Sub-objectives Reconfiguring the green space network

Actions Creating a green system of the area

Improved environment quality

Rehabilitating the existing green spaces

Encouraging non-polluting transport means (walking, bikes) and public transportation Promotin a sustainable consumption model Traditional markets with local products

Objectives Development of economic activity

Sub-objectives Supporting creative economy Supporting traditional economy Attracting investors in the area by promoting commercial activities in pedestrian areas Creating business incubators

Actions Diversifying and improving the quality of cultural services and activities Markets for traditional producers

Creating pedestrian streets that support commercial activities in riverain buildings Creating business platforms

Diverse and safe social climate

Meeting the needs of all population groups

Transparentizing the project and continuous consulting Varied socio-cultural activity agenda

Objectives

Sub-objectives Ensuring a design of the spaces considering citizen safety Increasing safety and preventing criminality

Actions Understanding the optimum and safe space operation conditions Investment for citizen safety

2.3 Development priorities The proposed Integrated Urban Development Plan considers existing opportunities and transposes the vision to create an integrated and well coordinated frame to transform the studied area. A series of priorities have been identified to guide the actions of this integrated plan. It is important to specify that, starting from the recommendations resulting from the performed analyses, a proposalhas been made for realistic actions at the level of urban intervention. There are certain problems, such as the one of auto traffic at city level, which cannot be approached through this integrated plan, because solving the auto traffic needs establishing an integrated strategy at city level and cannot be limited only to the interventions at central area level.This strategy only presents possbile prioritary directions for a transport policy, resulting from the specified needs, potential and principles. Similarly, complex urban spaces, with problems, such as Unirii Square, cannot make the object of interventions within this plan. Following the analyses, a large number of accessibility, connectivity, pedestrian mobility problems have been noticed, disfunctions in public space design, the existance of barriers (auto flows, fences) limiting pedestrian flows and area usage, lifting the complexity degree of urban interventions in these spaces. For such spaces, first of all foundation studies are necessary. It is recommended to organize solution contests to approach these very complex spaces: Unirii Square Universitii Square Revoluiei Square Victoriei Square Naiunile Unite Square

In this context PIDUs key priorities are: 1. RECOVERY a) Recovering an urban identity for the Bucharest central area. Bucharest is an eclectic city, for which the architectural diversity of the center represents an advantage and an idntity mark. The interventions started during the 80s broke Bucharests historical center through large boulevards, bordered by tall homogenous buildings, which physically and mentally segregated the neighborhoods. For Bucharest inhabitants, today, the historical center only represents the Lipscani area, which represents a simplified history. The risk is losing the value of some monuments and areas belonging to the old city center, from the old Uranus neighborhood, to traditional commercial axes such as Calea Moilor and Calea Griviei. This integrated plan proposes a concept to revitalize and reconnect diverse character areas which represent Bucharests central area. b) Recovering the southern Dmbovia area and reconnecting it to the center. A major problem to recover unity in the central area represents the lack of connectivity between the northrn and southern Dmbovia. At the end of the socialist period, two main arteries that drained with user flows the southern Dmbovia area were divided (Calea Rahovei and Uranus Street) and two bridges connecting them to the center from the northern part of Dmbovia were demolished. A reconnection of the said streets is proposed and the reconstruction of two bridges which would become an attraction through their design. Reconnecting this area shall revive the Libertii Boulevard area, the Parliament Palace and Romanian Academy House area, which, for years, remained a space that was low frequented and used by the inhabitants. This way, presently hidden and difficultly accessible historic monuments and tourist objectives shall be recovered, (Antim Monastery, Bragadiru Palace, Cobuc Flower Market), and by reconnection they will only be a ten minute walking distance from the current Historical Center. c) Recovering Dmbovias attractiveness as a river in the center of the city. The lack of attractiveness for Dmbovia is another major problem for the centers urban identity and image. Dmbovia was treated so far as a utilitary infrastructure work, not as a valuable element from an urban point of view. A proposition is made to reconfigure the Dmbovia Quay between Unirii Square and Izvor by delineating a walking space along the river. In this context, other urban operations facilitating tranzit traffic on Splaiul Dmboviei must be avoided. Splaiul Dmboviei must not be approached as a traffic artery, but as a local character street, in order for it to become a pedestrian and biker-friendly public space and to valorize the Dmbovia river. d) Regenerating degraded traditional neighborhoods

Several central areas were affected in the last decades by continuous degradation

processes on the built fund, simultaneous with an aplification of social problems.Significant historical and architectural value areas, such as the medieval nucleus of Calea Moilor or the area of the old commercial axis of Calea Griviei, are marked today by major spatial and socio-economice disfunctions. Given that, through an integrat urban development plan, investments can only be made in the public field, most of the buildings in these areas, on private property, cannot make the object of direct rehabilitation investments. However, through these integrated infrastructure and public space improvement projects, through the appearance of business incubators and community centers, this plan represents a catalyst for area regeneration. Three central areas with socio-economic problems and with an amplified degradation of the built fund - the Rahova-Uranus area, the old Calea Moilor area and the Griviei area can be the target of an integrated urban regeneration program recommended by the strategy for the center of the city. By rehabilitating historical monuments and public spaces the image of thses areas will be improved, work places will be created and the economic activity of the old commercial axes will be stimulated. Finally, creating business incubators, as well as the Uranus business platform and creating socio-cultural centers in the specified areas shall increase the dynamics of the area. e) Recovery and re-functionalization of the fund built by reconversion This fund ties the physical regeneration of the fund built by the socio-economic one, both at the level of the degraded areas, and at the level of the entire city center. A number of historical buildings shall be reconditioned in order for them to become business incubators (business platforms). Both modern creative industries and craft and traditional style trade re-enactment are supported, by physical reconditioning of traditional places in the field, such as Hala Matache, or creating new structures, such as a Craftsmen Court. The plan also contains rehabilitation projects by reconversion of the social infrastructure, such as rehabilitating the building on 2 Blnari street in order to realize a socio-cultural center.

2. TRAFFIC a) The main priority regarding the car traffic facility is to ease the passing traffic through the central area, by building city rings and the beltway. The passing traffic through the central area must be redirected in compliance with the Transportation Master Plan for Bucharest, to the city's median and extern rings. The offering of alternatives through the main ring and subsequently through the beltway shall allow for a more fluid traffic in the central area and the increase of the travelling speed, as well as a more efficient mass transportation. The maximum widening of the central boulevards is not a solution. In fact, the boulevard widening for the traffic continues the urban interventions performed in the last decade of the communist period. The Civic Center, with its main axis - Unirii Boulevard - is the absolute expression of this plan: a large artery that becomes an obstacle in the connecting route between traditional neighborhoods from the northern part to the southern one. The boulevard widening for the traffic also leads to a complete out phasing with the urban policies from the European Union. If, on short term a new artery leads to the mitigation of the traffic issue, it has a different effect on medium to large term: it encourages the usage of private vehicles. Thus, the traffic's volume increases again which leads to an increased issue that should have been initially solved. The streets and boulevards from the central area must facilitate the supporting of urban life, and not be meant mainly for the traffic. The central arteries must be regarded as streets with local character, which support trading, cultural and leisure activities adapted to an urban European center. A first step in offering a new moving sustainable model consists in the reconfiguration of 23 streets with priority granted to pedestrians and bicyclists. b) A second grand issue of the central area is represented by the parking spaces. The presence in the central area of a large number of public and cultural institutions as well as leisure places leads to a built-up area and excessive usage of the streets as parking spaces (most of the times jamming the sidewalks). Therefore, we suggest the building of an integrated small and medium sized parking system (under 500 spaces), which is connected to the important mass transportation nodes and to the artery network with priority for pedestrians and bicyclists. The underground and above the ground parking system placed all over the central ring shall allow for the removing of the "unwanted occupation" of the public space by parked vehicles. c) Encouraging the sustainable means of transportation. The European cities (lately the North-American ones as well) focus on new transportation polities where the mass, bicycles and pedestrian transportation (in this particular order) are favored and the transportation by private vehicles is discouraged. We suggest studies regarding the improvement of mass transportation connections in the central area (such as the creation of new links for the tramway network). The works at the new subway rails must turn to a priority. A fast, efficient and comfortable mass transportation shall become much more attractive than using the private vehicles. The walking and riding of bicycles are recommended, as they are environmental-friendly and affordable methods, with minim investments in the infrastructure. The local economy benefits from the pedestrian and bicyclists flows by encouraging the trading activity performed by shops, restaurants and services. In conclusion, the present plan suggests the execution of an integrated system regarding the streets' infrastructure, parking spaces, mass transportation, priority systems for pedestrians and infrastructure for bicycles. The creation of attractive alternative means of transportation shall lead to a change of the current perception of car usage. 3. PUBLIC SPACES a) A city's value and attractiveness are supported by the quality and diversity of its public spaces. The introduction of an underground parking system shall allow for the recovering of more public space to be returned to the citizens of Bucharest or to tourists, for walking, relaxation or even to children for playing. b) Streets and markets as friendly public spaces. The public spaces within the capital's central area are currently poorly developed, inaccessible or with redundant urban fittings, with under-used potential, often used as spontaneous parking spaces. Their rehabilitation would lead to the creation of socialization and relaxation spaces for the
1

inhabitants and visitors equally. This integrated plan prioritizes the reconfiguration through quality projects of 21 urban public spaces, from George Cantacuzino market to Antim Monastery public space. c) Representative public spaces The intervention area of this plan lies between Victoriei Square (Piaa Victoriei), Roman Square (Piaa Roman), Universitii Square (Piaa Universitii), Unirii Square (Piaa Unirii), Revoluiei Square (Piaa Revoluiei), National Library Square (Piaa Bibliotecii Naionale) - up to the Palace of the Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului) and George Cobuc Flower Market. These are important public spaces for which the rehabilitation is based on modern principles, turning them into representative spaces, symbols of an European Bucharest. The strategy integrates the investments performed on public buildings within this area (The National Theatre, National Library, Antipa Museum and Peasant's Museum) suggesting an adequate public space by organizing international competitions so that the final solution would be the best and the most representative for the city, approved by public debates taking into account the importance, history and public emotion that these places represent for Bucharest. 4. COMPETITIVENESS

A planning and prioritizing of investments based on a flexible strategic medium and long term plan allowing for various financing options, from European funds to private-public partnerships (with high public impact) may provide a more efficient usage of the City Hall's budget in a period when the public funds must be invested with a final purpose of increasing the quality of life in the city and in the same time to turn the city in a more attractive one for economic and investment activities. 2.4. Strategy for the touristic development of the Central Area of Bucharest The present chapter aims for an alternative strategy for promoting the Bucharest's central area starting with the previously disclosed development analysis, objectives and priorities. For this purpose the most important public spaces and the most interesting touristic landmarks have been defined, included in a two hour journey by foot or a half an hour by bicycle. The initial concept was the urban room. The urban room means the community public space with well defined activities, integrated in a system at the level of the whole city. Within this system, the identity is a fundamental element in creating the urban room. This generates dedicated, supported and applicable functions for a certain urban room. The city, as a whole, should function as a network of interconnected areas, with major supremacy clearly defined - the urban rooms. The definition of "urban room" arises as necessary the more we refer to Bucharest. For Bucharest, the concept of urban room becomes a major element in promoting diversity. Diversity may become the support for an alternative route for pedestrians and bicyclists, apart from the current crossing routes, which would function on an existing, adapted revitalized and renewed infrastructure. There is no "circuit" that the city would provide for the tourist and the streets have become just traffic ways, with a more and more difficult functioning. The route suggested in the present integrated plan is meant to describe Bucharest and to provide an ambiance, event and challenge to its inhabitants and tourists. The classical culture room is the name suggested for the Revoluiei Square - Palace Hall (Palace Hall) area. It includes some of the city's and country's most important cultural institutions Romanian National Art Museum, Romanian Athenaeum, Palace Hall. This is the Bucharest's classical nature cultural focus. The Enescu festival is organized here, which is one of the most important symphonic music festivals in Europe; important historic and modern art exhibitions are also organized in these locations. A walk through the classical culture urban room invites to an excursion into the art history and Romanian and international culture. The urban space occupied by the classical cultural room is a relatively unitary and homogenous one. The Revoluiei Square

is the outcome of an integrated urban shaping undertaking for the 30's. The unity is reflected in the alignment of perches, in the stylish resemblance of the facades and in the fluidity of the whole space. The Universitii Square is the academic room as it hosts national famous educational and cultural institutions: the University of Bucharest, "Ion Mincu" University of Architecture and Urbanism and "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre from Bucharest. The place's spirit is strongly altered by history and culture. Due to the surrounding traffic, the Square is perceived more as an important traffic node. However, the academic room is a dynamic urban space where the student life is present everywhere. The surrounding relaxation spaces are intensely used by the young people, as traditional meeting locations. From the urban point of view it is an odd space, however coherent as a whole, being the result of architectural and urban interventions, which have been executed for over a century. The ambiance room (Grdina Icoanei - Roman Square area) aims at presenting the visitor of Bucur's city with an area of typical private houses found in the immediate surroundings of the grand boulevards, namely Magheru, Dacia and Eminescu. While Magheru Boulevard is the expression of the inter-war development and moreover a major traffic and trading artery, there is a parcelar kept since the Borroczyn plan (1855) lightly densified afterwards, in its nearest neighborhood. The counterbalancing of the Magheru trading area with the relaxation area of Grdina Icoanei, together with Buleandra Theatres creates the potential for a touristic interest in visiting this room, consisting of isolated private houses, of a high cultural value. The area seems to have a lot of vegetation, although it can be found more in the private space than in the public one. Also the presence of Grdina Icoanei has its contribution to this feeling. Important public/cultural/leisure functions may be found here. The not very high elevation regime favors the ambient and intimate character of the entire area. The alternative culture room (Uranus - Rahova area) is a suggestion in order to generate a natural integration of the southern area of the center, currently separated by Calea 13 Septembrie and Unirii Boulevard. The Uranus area is suggested to be turned into a pole of alternative cultural activities, of interaction at niche level, for organizing various nonconventional, pluralist events or projects pursuing an urban and cultural regeneration. This is the room which provides the possibility to create gardens, where the coffee shops and the leisure area may compete with the high vegetation that diminished the scale difference between the socialist buildings, dominated by volume and the medium sized picturesque ones. Moreover, it is the proper space where flea markets may appear. The area's characteristics are given by the presence of some representative buildings for Bucharest and by the contracting atmosphere of a multicolored world. The Romanian Academy, Bragadiru Palace, the former building of Merchandise Exchange and Flower Market offer a certain specificity to this place through their positions and historic values. Thus, an urban socket is created completing the socialist architecture and scale and announcing the re-entering into the picturesque, historical urban scale. The RahovaUranus area is however a weakly connected area to the city's core and the presence of industrial area as well as non-valorized land related to the Palace of the Parliament represent a physical obstacle generating a weak permeability. The reconnecting is not important solely for the area's development but it shall also have a powerful impact on all the surrounding areas. A plan for configuring the street network, pedestrian traffic, bicycle tracks integrated in a development strategy of Bucharest's central area shall pursue the decrease of the car traffic speed and the increase of the pedestrian and bicyclist routes. The increase of the green spaces' quality shall lead to a reintegration and implicitly a revitalization of the whole area. The contemporary culture room (The Palace of the Parliament - Contemporary National Art Museum area) is meant to be a space dedicated to cultural events exclusively oriented to the contemporary art. The spaces created by the area's urban systematization during the 80's are the proper setting for exhibitions, events, presentations of contemporary artistic facilities and so on. The presence in the area of the Contemporary National Art Museum, a welcome architectural parasite located in the premises of the Palace of the Parliament and more recently of the MNACLab, an experimented artistic lab imprints the urban room with the character dedicated to

contemporary culture right from the start. The contemporary culture room occupies a cavity within the urban core, resulted from the mass demolitions executed in the 80's, with the purpose of building the Palace of the Parliament. The once existing relief of this place, dominated by Dealul Spirii, also known as Dealul Arsenalului, was flattened and the street raster has disappeared, making room for a un-built space, covered by spontaneous vegetation. The whole space is currently dominated by the Palace of the Parliament, the second largest building in the world. The adjacent land is delimitated by a fence type border separating the urban public space from the one (also public) belonging to the Palace of the Parliament. Mntuirea Neamului Romnesc Cathedral shall be build within the same urban room. The entertainment room (Unirii Square area) is a true city stage. Unirii Square has always been a place of interactions, exchanges, intersections. Naturally deemed as a place where the most diverse entertainment manifests are organized, Unirii Square may function as a huge stage in the center of the city's most complex crossroad. The area is currently regarded as a place without a past, at the crossroads of some extremely different urban events. Its grand surface, the complexity of the road network crossing it, its intermodal character make Unirii Square a passing area as well as a grand interstitial urban space. Its successive remodelling, the most brutal being the one during the demolitions in the 80's have created an area where the history is marginalized: Patriarhiei hill was almost entirely covered by blocks, the hall complex has completely disappeared and Hanul lui Manuc is the only witness for the passing of the last decades, on the northern side of the market. Surrounded by a front of blocks from the last years of the 80's decade and by Unirea shopping center, a building from the 70's remodelled during the past years of the communist regime in order to integrate in the new ensemble, Unirii Square is a space that avails an abrupt passing from the old urban core of Bucharest, of the historical center or the former Jewish neighborhood to a rarefied urban core, whose characteristic is the monumentality - the new civic center and its main artery, Unirii Boulevard, former Victoria Socialismului. The 90's have brought a series of bright commercials on the Unirii Square's facades, leading to the current impression of a chaotic space. The central park in Unirii Square is currently an isle of green space surrounded by intense car traffic on all sides. The history room (Historic center area) corresponds to the traditional center of Bucharest, from the location point of view. Regarded as a neighborhood starting to rediscover itself step-by-step having a touristic and pedestrian potential, the historic center may become an area filled with coffee shops, niche shops, theatres, galleries. The history urban room invites to an incursion into the Bucharest's history, to a relaxed walk through the charming streets of Lipscani. It is an area with dense, compact and continuous fronts urban texture with some empty lots, most of them insanitary. Being a traditional trading area by excellence, the historic Center - or Lipscani area - claimed the most judicial occupancy of lands, which led to a grand density of buildings, compared to the other old neighborhoods in Bucharest. The built environment is valuable from the historical and architectural point of view however it may be found in an advanced state of degradation. The various legal issues determine a troublesome process for the rehabilitation of Lipscani. Touristic market room (Amzei Market area) is a traditional important trade node in the Bucharest's center. The vegetables and fruits market naturally attracts an important flow of surrounding inhabitants, on its side appearing numerous shops, banks, restaurants and coffee shops. The market's reshaping is in progress. The urban room of the touristic market aims at generating a short incursion into what used to be a local specific trading form that implied the direct interaction with small manufacturers as well as with the city's inhabitants. The market's ensemble is by excellence a pedestrian space. The bridge room (Izvor area) is an important traffic location on the suggested touristic route. Until 1977 there was Mihai Vod bridge, subsequently replaced by a wooden temporary passage, that also disappeared. We suggest the rebuilding of the natural connection between Brezoianu area and Izvor park, where Mihai Vod neighborhood existed, a neighborhood for wealthy merchants. As the name shows it, the bridge room is a space located at heights, a place

where one can admire the city and its life, which shall connect the two shores of Dmbovia, different as urban texture. On one side, Brezoianu area, with continue facades, buildings with high patrimonial value - such as the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - trading activities at the ground floor, night clubs, the most diverse restaurants and shops. On the other side of the river, a continue facade of blocks from the 80's, mark the southern limit of the urban room.

3.

ACTION PLAN

3.1 Projects' list and the estimated budget for implementing the integrated plan, on financing sources; project's implementation period

Pursuing the analysis performed in the urban action area, for identifying the area's needs and potential and for establishing the Objectives and developments priorities a number of Projects for the central area have been suggested within this strategy. The Projects to be implemented represent the direct means of carrying out the Objectives formulated within the present Urban Development Integrated Plan, representing in the same time the outcome of some communication and consulting procedures. One of the plan's key projects is the creation of an alternative route that brings closer the area's attractiveness and most used functions and provides an increased comfort and quality of finishes. This was born from the desire to increase the impact of some possible projects/major investments at city level and to provide their directing towards a larger number of users. In this context there were identified a series of macro level projects, that must be integrated in an ample strategy at city level, whose impact shall be felt on a wide area, located at spatial and functional level. Thus, a positive attitude towards the presence of some land reserves that may be reused (such as the Uranus department store area), of the presence of some elements with cultural functions (theatres, show halls, museums) that have both a local as well as a city level influence, could represent the important elements for the area's development. Projects for the rehabilitation of some buildings with socio-cultural function are provided at this scale as well, of the whole city's, having a large impact, as they address a large public. At a medium scale, we suggest projects that complete the infrastructure necessary for a good functioning of the central area. This type of projects involve the creation of under and above the ground parking spaces, building of connections such as bridges and reshaping of public means of transportation. The micro scale interventions involve the development of public spaces, pursuing the increase of their quality in order to offer an ambiance characteristic to the center area, especially for pedestrians and bicyclists. The projects within this category cover a large range, starting with the development of spaces along the existing traffic arteries until the development of attraction poles such as squares, markets. chapter : The projects reply to objectives and development priorities identified in the previous Sub-Objectives Actions Rehabilitation of buildings with high architectural value Projects Restoration of "Curtea Veche" Voivodal Palace Rehabilitation of Hanul Solacolu Rehabilitation of Hala Matache

Objectives Central aria - an unitary landmark

Objectives

Sub-Objectives

Actions

Projects Rehabilitation of Dacia Cinema Informative billboards in the protected areas Museum of lost Bucharest Multiculturalism Museum Improving monuments for the public

Improving the built patrimony

Educating the public towards the built patrimony

Central area - an identity landmark

Reconfiguration / creation of quality and representative public spaces

Improving 23 streets and 19 markets and squares along the alternative route with priority for pedestrians and bicyclists Reconfiguration of the public space on Unirii Boulevard Reconfiguration of the public space on Calea Victoriei Rebuilding of sidewalks in the central area Improving the Constituiei Square as public space for events Modernizing Saint Anton Square public space

Quality public facilities

Rebuilding the public lighting infrastructure Rebuilding of sidewalks Urban furniture facilities

Objectives

Sub-Objectives

Actions

Projects Reconfiguration of the Antim Monastery public space Reconfiguration of the Filaret bussstation square public space Configuration of the National Library public space Reconfiguration of Dmboviei QuayUnirii-Izvor Reconfiguration of Universitii Square (competition) Reconfiguration of Unirii Square (competition) Reconfiguration of Revoluiei Square (competition) Reconfiguration of United Nations Square (competition) Reconfiguration of Roman Square (competition) Reconfiguration of Gara de Nord Square (competition) Reconfiguration of Matache market area (competition)

Objectives Structured and integrated urban texture

Sub-Objectives Coherent spatial structure

Actions Establishing new connection arteries

Projects Crossing the Palace of the Parliament yard Crossing the Unirii Blvd near George Georgescu street and Sfinii Apostoli

Building of a new pedestrian connection (Palace of the Parliament, crossing the Unirii Boulevard) Integrating the areas comprised by Unirii and Libertii Boulevards Building of car and pedestrian connections across Dmbovia

Building of the pedestrian and cyclist bridge Izvor Park MNAC yard

Building of Mihai Voda Bridge Urban Complex Building a bridge across Dmbovia elari - Palace of Justice

Integrating the enclaves between the front of Unirii Boulevard, Unirii Square and Libertii Boulevard

Building of the Domnia Blaa urban ensemble

Reconfiguration of Antim Monastery public space Efficient traffic system Studies regarding the extension and updating of the tramway network Studies regarding the building of a tramway lines connection across the Unirii Square

Objectives

Sub-Objectives

Actions

Projects Studies regarding the building of tramway infrastructure and introducing tramway lines on the Eroii Revoluiei- UranusGara de Nord route Rebuilding the Roman Square intermodal transportation node Rebuilding the Rossetti Square transportation node

Efficient traffic system

Improving the mass transportation

Building of transportation of intermodal terminals

Introducing corridors dedicated to local public transportation Integrated pedestrian and bicycles traffic network Ensuring the necessary parking spaces Building pedestrian and bicycles routes and the rehabilitation of the existing ones Removing of parking spaces from public spaces and building of new under/above the ground parking spaces Ensuring the parking spaces necessary for the residents

Rebuilding the Sf. Gheorghe intermodal transportation node Building of a route with priority for pedestrians and bicyclists with related infrastructure Palace Hall Square underground parking spaces

Domnia Blaa underground parking spaces Piaa Constituiei underground parking spaces Automated superposed parking spaces - N. Tonitza street 7-9

Objectives

Sub-Objectives

Actions

Projects Uranus - Rahova Square underground parking spaces Antim parking spaces Academy area parking spaces

Efficient traffic system

Better traffic management

Developing systems for traffic management

Enlarging the traffic management system with another 50 crossroads Implementing a VMS system by installing billboards with various messages Restricting and controlling systems for car access into mainly pedestrian areas Management systems for opened above the ground parking spaces Management systems for closed above the ground parking spaces

Sustainability

Reconfiguration of green spaces network Improved quality environment

Building of an areas green system

Reconfiguration of green spaces around the Palace of the Parliament Improving and modernizing Izvor park

Rehabilitation of existing green spaces

Objectives

Sub-Objectives

Actions Encouragement of the non-polluting means of transportation (walking, bicycles) and the mass transportation Traditional markets with local products

Projects Creating a 9 km route for pedestrians and bicycles

Promotion of a sustainable consumption model

Rehabilitation of Hala Matache traditional market Building a traditional market - Cderea Bastiliei 65

Developing the economic activity

Supporting the creative economy

Improving the quality and diversity of cultural services and activities

Rahova- Uranus cultural/community center Dacia- Griviei cultural community center Blnari 2 cultural community center Curtea Meteugarilor Mihail Sadoveanu cultural community center

Supporting the traditional economy Developing the economic activity Attracting investors in the area by promoting trading activities in the pedestrian areas

Markets for traditional manufacturers Creating pedestrian streets supporting trading activities in the riparian buildings

Cderea Bastiliei 65 traditional market

Creating a route with priority for pedestrians

Objectives

Sub-Objectives Creating business platforms

Actions Creating business platforms

Projects Business incubator 22-24 Calea Victoriei 2 Business incubator 26 Francez

Divers and safe social climate

Providing the answer for the needs of all population groups

Projects transparency and continuous

Building of Panduri Library

Recreational spaces for the community Mihai Eminescu high-school Various offer of socio-cultural activities Recreational spaces for the community Unirea high-school Recreational spaces for the community Cervantes highschool Show room - Dinu Lipatti cultural community center Playground for the children from Acvila - Ion Creang area Providing spaces taking into consideration the citizens safety Increasing the safety and preventing crime Understanding the optimum conditions for a safe functioning of the spaces Investments for citizens safety Pedestrian priority route

Video monitoring system necessary for increasing safety and preventing crime, oriented towards pedestrian traffic and intensely circulated areas

Objectives

Sub-Objectives

Actions

Projects

3.2 The map for the urban action area, with localization of individual projects comprising the plan

Plan Integrat de Dezvoltare Urban Zona Central Bucureti

III.2.4
I. INFRASTRUCTURA PUBLICA URBANA
I.1. STRAZI, TROTUARE, ZONE PIETONALE / CU PRIORITATE PENTRU PIETONI Reamenajarea de strazi si realizarea unui traseu cu prioritate I.1. 5 Reconfigurare Cheiul Dambovitei - Unirii - Izvor/Traversare pentru pietoni si biciclisti cu infrastructura aferenta Bdul Unirii in dreptul str. G. Georgescu si Sf. Apostoli I.1.1 Traseu TransCentral Urban Bucureti I.1. 6 Reconfigurare spatiu public Calea Griviei poart de intrare n centrul Capitalei I.1. 2 Traversare Bulevardul Magheru i Calea Victoriei
I.1. 3

Reconfigurarea zonei de intrare metrou Piata Romana

I.1. 7

Reconfigurare spatiu public Calea Victoriei Reconfigurare spatiu public Bdul Unirii Reconfigurare spatiu public i proiect de regenerare urban pentru axele centrale (concurs) Realizarea Ansamblului Urban Domnita Balasa Refacere infrastructura scuar intersectie str. Matei Basarab, Mircea Voda si Logofatul Udriste Refacere infrastructura scuar intersectie Calea Rahovei cu str. Uranus Configurarea spatiului public din arealul Bibliotecii Nationale
Ga ra de No rd

I.1. 4 Reconfigurare spatiu public Calea Mosilor (intre str. Baratiei si

I.1. 8

Bdul Carol I) I.2. SCUARURI, PIATETE SI PIETE PUBLICE

I.2.1. Refacere infrastructura piata Alexandru Lahovari
I.2.10.

I.1. 6

II.1.1
I.2.4.

III.3.8

I.2.2. Refacere infrastructura scuar intersectie

I.2.3. I.2.4.
I.2.5.

I.2.6.

I.2.7.
I.2.8.

str. Brezoianu cu str. Matei Millo Refacere infrastructura scuar str. I. Campineanu intre str. I. Brezoianu si Piata Walter Maracineanu Refacere infrastructura scuar str. Piata Amzei si str. Mendeleev Refacere infrastructura scuar intersectie str. Gen. Berthelot cu Calea Victoriei Refacere infrastructura scuar intersectie str. Lutherana cu str.Gen. Berthelot Refacere infrastructura scuar intersectie str. Stirbei Voda cu str.Lutherana Reamenajare acces pietonal pasajul Villacrosse

I.2.11.
I.2.12.

IIII.1.2 .1. 2 I.1. 2

I.2.6. I.2.5.

I.1.3

I.2.1. I.2.14.

I.1. 2 I.1. 2
I.2.15.

I.2.13.

I.2.14. Refacere infrastructura Piata George Cantacuzino

I.2.15. Refacere infrastructura scuar str. Arthur Verona intre
I.2.16.

N. Golescu si Bdul Magheru Reconfigurarea spatiului public din fata Autogarii Filaret

I.1.1

I.2.7.

I.1.1 P1

I.2.9. Amenajare spatiu public manastirea Antim

Reconfigurare Piata Unirii, Piata Natiunilor Unite, Piata Universitatii, Piata Revolutiei, Piata Romana, Piata Constitutiei, Piata Victoriei, Piata Garii de Nord, Piaa Matache (concursuri)

I.3. PODURI
I.3.1. I.3.2.

Constructia podului pietonal si pentru biciclisti peste Dambovita in zona Selari - Palatul de Justitie (Fost Podul Calicilor) Constructia podului pentru pietoni, biciclisti cu spatii amenajate de repaos si verzi peste Dambovita zona Parc Izvor - PMB Constructia podului pentru pietoni si biciclisti intre Parcul Izvor si MNAC

III.3.2

I.2.3. I.2.2.

I.3.3.

I.1. 7

II.1.3

III.1.1

I.4. PARCARI

P1 Parcare subterana Piata Sala Palatului

P2 Parcare supraterana automatizata str. Tonitza 7-9 (Centrul Istoric)

P3 Parcare subterana Ansamblul Urban Domnita Balasa

P5 Parcari Ansamblu Urban Complex Pod Izvor:parcaj subteran zona Parc Izvor Est; Parcaj Subteran Splaiul Independentei zona PMB

P6 Parcaj subteran Gradina Icoanei

P7 Parcaj subteran Uranus - Piata Rahova
Reconfigurarea spatiilor verzi din Parcul Izvor I.3.3.

I.3.2

I.2.8.

P4 Parcare subterana spatiu evenimente Piata Constitutiei

I.5. CREAREA / MODERNIZAREA SPATIILOR VERZI

III.1.3

III.3.7

I.1. 4 II.1.2

III.3.3

P5

II. TRANSPORT SI MOBILITATEA POPULATIEI

II.1. CONSTRUIREA DE STATII PENTRU AUTOBUZE, TRAMVAIE SI TROLEIBUZE SI/SAU MODERNIZAREA CELOR EXISTENTE; CONSTRUIREA DE TERMINALE INTERMODALE IN SCOPUL IMBUNATATIRII INTEGRARII DIFERITELOR MODURI DE TRANSPORT PUBLIC URBAN
II.1.1 Reconfigurare nod intermodal de transport in comun

III.2.2 P2 I.1. 5 III.3.5

P4
I.2.9. I.3.1.

I.2.11.

P3
I.2.10.

III.3.6

Piata Romana
II.1.2 Reconfigurare nod intermodal de transport in comun

II.1.3

Reconfigurare nod intermodal de transport in comun Piata Rosetti

I.1. 8

Piata Sf. Gheorghe II. 3. CONSTRUIREA SI/SAU AMENAJAREA DE CULOARE SPECIALE PENTRU MIJLOACE DE TRANSPORT IN COMUN SI/SAU PISTE DE BICICLETE Reamenajarea de strazi si realizarea unui traseu cu prioritate pentru pietoni si biciclisti cu infrastructura aferenta

III.3.4

I.2.13.

III.3.10
I.1.1

III. SOCIO-CULTURAL

III.1. PATRIMONIU CULTURAL MONDIAL (UNESCO), NATIONAL SI LOCAL, DIN MEDIUL URBAN Restaurarea, consolidarea, protejarea si conservarea monumentelor istorice
III.1.1 Reabilitarea Hanului Solacolu

III.3.11
III.3.9

III.3.1

-Atelier Mestesugaresc/Galerii/Centru comunitar

III.1.3 Restaurare Palat voievodal Curtea Veche

III.1.2 Reabilitarea Pietei Matache - piata traditionala

III.2. DEZVOLTAREA DURABILA A MEDIULUI DE AFACERI III.2.1 Platforma business Uranus III.2.4 III.2.2 Reconditionarea si crearea structurii de sprijinire a afacerilor Curtea Mestesugarilor III.2.3 Recondiionarea Pietei de Flori George Cosbuc III.3. REABILITAREA INFRASTRUCTURII SOCIALE III.3.1 Reconfigurarea salii de spectacol a Liceului de Muzica Dinu Lipatti III.3.7 si constituirea unui hub cultural pentru comunitate
III.3.2
III.3.3 Crearea unor spatii recreative pentru comunitate-amenajarea si

Reconfigurarea spatiului viran de pe str. Caderea Bastiliei 65 pentru utilizare in folosul comunitatii (organizarea unei piete volante pentru producatorii traditionali in timpul weekend-urilor)

III.2.1

I.2.12.

P III.2.3

Crearea unor spatii recreative pentru comunitate-amenajarea si III.3.8 modificarea spatiilor publice din curtea si vecinatatea Lic. M. de Cervantes

Reabilitarea cladirii situate pe str. Blanari 2 in vederea realizarii unui centru socio-cultural Centru cultural comunitar Dacia-Grivitei unui centru socio-cultural Reconfigurarea spatiului de la intersectia str. I. Creanga cu str. Acvilei - teren de sport si loc de joaca pentru copii Constructia bibliotecii Panduri pe str. Caius Marcus Coriolan - arhitectura reprezentativa

I.2.16.

III.3.4 III.3.5

modificarea spatiilor publice din curtea si vecinatatea Gr. Sc. Unirea Crearea unor spatii recreative pentru comunitate-amenajarea si III.3.10 modificarea spatiilor publice din curtea si vecinatatea Lic. M. Eminescu III.3.11 Muzeul Bucurestiului Pierdut - Vanatori - Apolodor

III.3.9 Achizitie spatiu comunitar Rahova-Uranus in vederea realizarii

III.3.6 Constructia Muzeului Evreiesc/Muzeul Multiculturalismului

3.3

The management of the integrated plan implementation

Describing the structure ensuring the management for the plan implementation In order to establish the methodology for implementation of the Central area Urban Development Integrated Plan, we took into consideration the fact that some projects shall be implemented using non-reimbursable financial support. In this regard, the following key elements were taken into account: The methodology for accessing non-reimbursable funds; The methodology for implementing non-reimbursable financing projects; Implementation completion of projects financed through structured funds until 2005; Ensuring the financing sources and compliance with the strict rules regarding cash movement and account records; Compliance with the legislation in force regarding public acquisitions and assigning the work contracts; Ensuring a structure that permanently maintains the connection with management authorities related to every financing source; Ensuring the audit, monitoring, evaluation procedures both at UDIP level as well as at the level of each individual project; Identifying the financing sources for the projects that are not eligible or may not be financed within the operational programs; Creating some inter-institutional structures at municipality level that provide the UDIP functioning. The task for implementing the Central Area Urban Development Integrated Plan belongs to the Projects implementation unit, structure created within the Bucharest City Hall. The capacity of managing the suggested urban regeneration projects depends on the institutional capacity of Bucharest City Hall, measured through human, technical and financial resources. The suggested management structure shall ensure the forecasting, organization, coordination, training and evaluation-control functions. The main strategic partners for implementing UDIP are as follows: a. Beneficiary 1. Bucharest City Hall General Department for Development, Investment and Urban Planning (Department of Urbanism and Territory Improvement, Department for Patrimony management, Department for Real estate and Land book recording, Investment department, Learning Department, Culture Department, Development Tourism Department) General Department for Infrastructure and Public Services (Transportation Department, Roads, Traffic Signalizing, Department for infrastructure coordination regulation, Department for Environmental protection and eco-civic education, Public Utilities Department) General Department for Operations (Department for Quality and Environment Management , International relations Department, European Integration Department, Public Relations and Information Department) Economic General Department (Budget Department, Income Department, Department for Acquisitions, Leasing, Contracts, Department for External credits, Financial Accounting Department) Legal and legislation Department Department for strategy and documents analysis Projects management office with international financing 2. General Council of Bucharest Municipality The administration of lakes, parks and recreation for Bucharest Street Administration in Bucharest RADET RATB

b. Public and private strategic institutions - Bucharest Ilfov Regional Development Agency - ANOFM - Environmental Agency - Public Health Department - Ministry of Transportation - Apele Romne c. Public interest companies - Electrica - Distrigaz Sud - Apa Nova - Luxten d. Other relevant institutions - Consulting and designing companies - Community associations, Non-governmental organizations UDIP phasing It is important to state that the list of suggested actions for UDIP shall be completed by Bucharest City Hall, based on its existing priorities, objectives and urban polities. When establishing an implementation program, an assessment of the projects importance shall be executed taking into consideration the following aspects: when building the bicyclists route, the street parking spaces shall be removed; when the parking spaces are removed, new parking spaces must be created for the users; new parking spaces shall be created within the under and above the ground parking lots suggested through this integrated plan, as well as the parking lots already planned to be executed by the Bucharest City hall; in order to provide the crossing of Dmbovia river by the bicyclists' and pedestrians' route the pedestrian bridges are mandatory to be build; there are streets still in the warranty period (Appendix 8) Taking the above mentioned into consideration, the projects have been divided into two phases: phase 1: consists in the building of parking spaces, pedestrian bridges and routes for pedestrians and bicyclists routes (that are not subjected to by infrastructure or warranty projects) phase 2: the building of the other parts of the routes for the pedestrian and bicyclists. The Image hereinafter presents the projects phasing.

PHASE 1 PHASE 2

Image 1: Execution phases for the pedestrian and bicyclists route

4.

PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS IN ISSUING UDIP

The Urban Development Integrated Plan shall be subjected to an ample action of public consultations. There are two target groups for this process: the regular citizens represent a target group on one hand and a second target group is represented by the urban actors economic agents, institutions, media and NGOs, on the other hand. Public consultations and outcome analysis In order to consult the public opinion with respect to the urban revitalizing project the following methods shall be applied: 1. Public face-to-face consultation Target group no. 1. Regular citizens Accessible information points shall be built in the interest area, where the citizens shall be informed over the suggested strategy. Their opinion regarding the present strategy shall be recorded in a report. Target group no. 2. Urban actors- economic agents, institutions, media and NGOs.. Deep interviews shall be organized with decision makers within the economic environment, institutions, schools, media and NGOs active in the interest area. The report shall include detailed information of all the expressed opinions, conclusions and recommendations regarding the improvement of the disclosed strategies. This technique represents an efficient method for obtaining detailed feedback, may include hot reactions and attitudes and new ideas may be generated with respect to the presented urbanism strategies. 2. Public on-line consultation The population shall be consulted through an on-line forum. The information subject to debate for the interested factors shall be available on a web site. The on-line forum shall include an area for questions and shall be supervised by a specialist who may answer the additional questions asked by users. The forum shall have a limited functioning term, however large enough so that many citizens may express their opinions. The advantages of this public consultation method are represented by the fact that a large number of citizens may express their opinions, remaining anonymous, thus being able to do so without the fear of being sanctioned. The on-line forum report shall comprise detailed information of all the expressed opinions, conclusions and recommendations regarding the improvement of the presented strategies. The outcomes shall be summarized in a global report that will take into account the completion of the urban revitalizing strategy.

5.

THE BENEFITS BROUGHT BY UDIP AND SUGGESTED ACTIONS

The suggested Urban Development Integrated Plan is the result of a multidisciplinary analysis that has led to the identification of the needs and the development potential of urban action area and to the determination of the objectives and the action priorities. In compliance with section 3.1, the UDIP specific objectives are met by the set of suggested interventions. Apart from the established objectives, solutions for the urban action area are suggested providing the correlation of social, economic, environmental, cultural and touristic elements that are generally efficient, from all these points of view. Special attention has been awarded to our wardnesses, that represent the positive and negative impacts of the area 's economic, environmental and social structure projects. For each project there was an individual presentation of the positive and negative impacts using the Cost-Benefit Analysis method in general, that assigns monetary value to each of these effects. We present hereinafter an outwardness and efficiency analysis method for the entire Urban Development Integrated Plan using the MultiCriteria Analysis method (that does not assign monetary value). If the Cost-Benefit Analysis is used in practice to individually assess projects, the Multi-Criteria Analysis is considered adequate for the evaluation of urban policies or project packages, as is the case with the Urban Development Integrated Plan. ECONOMIC IMPACT a) Positive The creation of an identity for the center through different spaces, with diverse identities, and the improvement of the public spaces' design will lead to the improvement of the city's image. The professional literature underlines the fact that this increases investments and tourism. As such, the municipality will have additional income, both from the taxes paid by the new companies as well as from all the related tourism activities. The pedestrian and bicycle riders priority route will bring an important flow of people with the capacity to sustain the commercial and leisure activities. Additionally, the improvement of public spaces will lead to the increase of desirability of certain areas with a currently bad image (for example sub-area 9). This will determine the start of commercial and leisure activities (bars/restaurants) that will pay taxes to the local budget. As such, the works for improving public space and building a route will lead to a larger tax collection base. The building of underground superposed parking spaces will also lead to an increase in income for the City Hall. "Parasitic" parking, on the sidewalks, that do not provide cash to the City Hall's budget will be replaced with lucrative parking, as in other European capitals. Business platforms will also generate a source of income for local taxes. By avoiding the increase of traffic jams, there will be an avoidance in high costs for the private sector from the delay between destinations, from accidents as well as the cost of the existence of a general perception related to a stressful life and business environment that decreases investments. By creating new connections - as bridges over the Dmbovia, there will be a general decrease in transportation costs. The actions suggested by the integrated plan will have a positive impact and with regard to the creation of new jobs. On short term, during the improvement of public spaces, and construction of parking spaces, new jobs will be created. In medium and long term, jobs will be supported for the management and supervising parking spaces and for the maintenance of commercial locations that will develop along the routes, for serving the newly generated customer flow. If the execution of these actions will be accompanied by municipality policies of stimulating the usage of public and alternative means of transportation, benefits will be achieved directly for the City Hall's budget (including profits from the public transport company) and indirectly through the improvement of life quality for the Bucharest's inhabitants.

b) Negative The actions suggested are focused on the creation of an efficient and sustainable traffic system and on discouraging transportation by personal car. A negative impact of these measures will be felt by the car manufacturing industry and the car sales sector in the capital. Nevertheless, the decrease in car sales in Bucharest need not be immediate nor significant, having in regard that Bucharest is located at equal distance from the mountains and the seaside, which usually determines most Bucharest inhabitants to spend their week-end outside the city. SOCIAL IMPACT a) Positive The suggested actions will have an important role in increasing the life quality in Bucharest. The reconfiguration of public spaces and the building of a route for pedestrians and bicycle riders will lead to attractive leisure spaces. Additionally, there will be new means of transportation with a lower stress level then using the personal car in an overcrowded traffic. The promotion of new sustainable means of transportation will have a beneficial effect on public health. Walking and bicycle riding are means of transport beneficial for the entire population. The building of socio-cultural centres dedicated to the entire community, as well as the reconfiguration of school public spaces to be used by the entire community will lead to the strengthening of the communities' cohesion and the creation of a living environment that satisfies the community's needs. An important aspect of this plan is the projects' distribution fairness. The actions will have a positive effect on the whole population, the area and the city as well. For instance, the pedestrian route may be used by all of the city's inhabitants and does not only address a certain category, as is the case of a vehicle infrastructure project, that will only influence those who afford a car. The suggested actions will have a positive impact with respect to unemployment as well. On short term, during the improvement of public spaces, and building of parking spaces, new jobs will be created. On medium and long term, jobs will be supported for the management and supervision of built parking spaces. b) Negative Building the route for pedestrians and bicycle riders as well as improving public spaces in certain areas will lead to an increased status and image of those respective areas. This will determine an increase in investments in the area, as well as the area's centralizing. Thus, the underprivileged population that mainly lives in sub-areas 2, 3 and 9 may find themselves under the risk of no longer affording to live in the area, thus leading to a negative social outwardness. This can be solved through City Hall actions to build social housing, including in the impact areas, through negotiations of such spaces with the project developers. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT By encouraging walking and bicycle riding alternative and very environmental friendly transportations means are promoted, taking into account that they are pollution free. By creating medium sized parking areas the access by personal car in the center is discouraged, leading to a decrease in air pollution. Additionally, development of public transportation by the municipality may consolidate the favourable impact on the environment, by acquiring new ecological means of transport and mainly expanding the electrical transportation. On long term it is estimated that volunteering and citizens' involvement policies will be encouraged in executing sub-area/city level projects.

CULTURAL IMPACT The projects for the rehabilitation of public monuments and cultural spaces and for developing new cultural spaces for the community will have a beneficial effect for supporting and promoting cultural activities among the population. In addition, the socio-cultural spaces shall also offer a chance for the population within the underprivileged areas to access the center. The rehabilitation of historical and architectural interest objectives is another cultural benefit important to the city. The Curtea Meteugarilor project will encourage traditional cultural manufacture activities, with direct benefits for the city's tourism development and support the beneficial tourism impact as described below. TOURISM IMPACT A dynamic and living city with rehabilitated and well valorized patrimony monuments, with public spaces with well defined identity and a high quality design, with friendly pedestrian routes is an attractive city for tourists. The integrated plan's actions suggest a city identity brand that will be extremely beneficial for the tourism. Major touristic objectives, such as the Romanian Athenaeum and the Palace of the Parliament, will be connected through pedestrian priority routes. Business tourism will be re-launched in Bucharest, having in regard the Palace of the Parliament's attraction for this type of tourism consumers. The development of a platform for activities, leisure and alternative transportation around the Palace of the Parliament is likely to prolong the tourists' stay in this area for cultural consumption, directly related to business tourism. Bucharest City Hall may develop a partnership with the Palace of Parliament for the purpose of gradually opening this space. INSTITUTIONAL IMPACT The execution of the actions suggested in the present Urban Development Integrated Plan may lead to a significant improvement of the Bucharest inhabitants' and the tourists' perception on the authorities. The usage of European as well as local or central budget funds for projects with obvious favourable impact on the citizens is likely to change the populations' mentality, with direct/indirect effects on the city's wellbeing.