Extended suburbanisation and land cover dynamics in post-socialist metropolitan areas

Abstract

In post-socialist countries, suburbanisation of metropolitan areas has been the main pattern of urbanisation since 1990, especially under the form of urban sprawl by residential development. Privatisation processes, deregulation of the real estate market and greater sovereignty of local administrative units have led to specific challenges for post-socialist countries when managing suburbanisation. While specific case studies have been used to highlight the dynamics of urban areas in these countries after 1990, there has been little research done at a national level focusing on urbanisation patterns in post-socialist metropolitan areas. Using Romanian metropolitan areas as a case study, this paper proposes a ranking of metropolitan areas based on the dynamics of artificial surfaces and housing units. An analysis of 1990– 2018 CORINE Land Cover and Use Change data was carried out nationwide using ArcGIS Spatial Analyst tools, along with an analysis of ancillary data from the National Institute of Statistics regarding housing. The results illustrated that suburban development is concentrated around the largest Romanian cities, declared National Growth Poles during the programming period 2007–2013, also highlighting some limits in using CORINE data for 1990 and 2000. The proposed ranking of metropolitan areas could aid the design of tailored development policies and planning instruments for the most dynamic urban areas. Such analyses have the potential to be replicated in other post-socialist countries, as well as in countries experiencing metropolitan suburbanisation irrespective of their recent political history.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitisation, CNCS − UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P1- 1.1-PD-2021-0030, within PNCDI III. We thank the reviewers for their valuable feedback that aided us in improving our research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Radu-Matei Cocheci

Radu-Matei Cocheci is an urban planner, holding a PhD in Geography (University of Bucharest, 2016), specialised in both spatial planning and regional development (Master’s course, Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest, 2013), as well as in environmental sciences (University of Bucharest, 2013). He is a lecturer in the Urban Planning and Territorial Development Department at Ion Mincu University for courses in Urban Geography and Ecology, Geographical Informational Systems and Strategic Territorial Planning. His research focus is related to environmental issues and constraints at a local or regional level, with over 25 publications and over 20 presentations at international conferences. Since 2011, he has been working as an urban planner and consultant in various urban planning and design projects in Romania, including development strategies at county, metropolitan and local levels.

Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor

Alexandru-Ionuţ Petrişor earned his BS in ecology (1997) and PhD in geography (2011) from the University of Bucharest, his MSPH in biostatistics (2000) and PhD in ecology (2004) from the University of South Carolina, a certificate degree in project management (2012) from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, and a Habilitation in urban planning (2014) and the highest research rank in biology (2013) and geography (2017) from the Romanian Ministry of Education. He is a Professor and the Director of the Doctoral School of Urban Planning at Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, Romania, where he supervises doctoral research and teaches courses related to urban/landscape ecology, data analysis, and research methodology and ethics. His research activity in over 60 grants yielded almost 600 publications and over 440 presentations and courses with over 1200 citations, recognised by memberships, including Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, and awards in international invention shows, including the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions. His editorial activity includes over 30 editorial board memberships or editor positions and reviewing for over 100 publications. Research interests include urban/landscape ecology, especially land cover/use changes and biodiversity conservation, bio/ geo-statistics, systems ecology, and research ethics, with a focus on predatory publishing.