Urban Sprawl and Its Impact on Urban Tourism in Romania

ABSTRACT

Unlike Western Europe and the Americas, urban sprawl occurred only after 1989 in Romania, as well as in other Central and Eastern European states. Urban hinterlands have been radically transformed through residential suburbanization left in the hands of the free market. Sprawl has determined the decrease of open space around the cities as well as traffic congestion, higher pollution and other environmental and social issues. In terms of urban tourism, sprawl has led to the emergence of many suburban accommodation units, which provided a viable alternative to the accommodation in the city centre. On the other hand, urban sprawl has affected the identity of Romanian cities as it has created rather ‘placeless’ suburbs. This acts against the efforts of the cities to enhance place identity in order to attract more tourists. Therefore unplanned suburban development impacts negatively on urban policies in the field of tourism.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

R. Rusu

R. Rusu, PhD, is an Associated Professor at ‘Babeș-Bolyai’ University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Geography, Department of Regional Geography and Territorial Planning, email: [email protected]

V. Bodocan

V. Bodocan, PhD, is an Associated Professor at ‘Babeș-Bolyai’ University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Geography, Department of Human Geography and Tourism, email: [email protected]

T. Man

T. Man, PhD, is an Associated Professor at ‘Babeș-Bolyai’ University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Geography, Department of Regional Geography and Territorial Planning, email: [email protected]