Journal Archives

Effects of postsocialist deindustrialization in Central and Eastern Europe: Results of an industrial site survey and GIS mapping in Bucharest City, Romania

Author:

This paper examines effects of postsocialist deindustrialization through a case study from Bucharest City, Romania. The paper use scientific papers and real estate company reports to analyse the postsocialist transformation of former industrial buildings in Central-Eastern European countries, and an industrial site survey and GIS mapping for Bucharest City. The results show a common pattern for the postsocialist countries, with effects on diminishing the role of industry in the total economy, the tendency to convert the plants to residential and commercial use. In several cases the plants are fragmented in small production units or abandoned awaiting for a new purpose. Socio-economic transformation suggests a transition to service sector for the labour market. The paper concludes that transformation of postsocialist plants might required attention from owners and public administration, especially for the buildings with the historical and architectural meaning.

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Issue: Volume 10, Issue 1, 2016

The Urban Nexus: Contradictions and Dilemmas of (Post)Communist (Sub)Urbanization in Romania

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The process of urbanization in Romania was a very tumultuous and slightly different one compared to other Central and Eastern European countries, being marked by the constant willingness to increase the degree of urbanization. The communist period was the most significant from this point of view, by considering both the number of newly declared towns and urban population growth. The urbanization of communist era corroborated with the excessive and forced industrialization has generated imbalances in the urban system and created distortions in the urban hierarchy. However, the legislative inconsistency and the lack of urban regulations during the post – communist period have lead to the increasing number of new (quasi) urban units (many of which without urban amenities) to the chaotic sub-urbanization of cities and urban decline. In many cases, the ability of local authorities to manage the urban development in the early years of transition has been hampered by inadequate legislation that regulates the urban growth in a completely different socio-economic system. Thus, the lacks of specific urban policies and urban regeneration plans have determined indirectly a hypertrophic evolution and an uncontrolled suburban expansion. Bucharest, the capital of the country has been most affected by these processes determining multilayered space transformation within the city and open space conversion to commercial and residential use, both affecting the urban environment and quality of life of urban-rural communities. The paper focuses on the patterns, the driving forces and the consequences of two opposing processes: socialist forced urbanization vs. post-socialist chaotic urbanization unfolding across the national urban landscape.

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Issue: Volume 10, Issue 1, 2016

Principles of interpretation, tourism and heritage interpretation – the experience of Romanian museums

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This paper aims to present a generic theoretical framework of interpretation as field of study, ultimately related to and focusing on tourism interpretation and heritage interpretation. It primarily introduce and discusses the international evolution of interpretaion as field and the pillars of interpretation; namely the priciples of interpretation as firstly introduced by Freeman Tilden. Secondly the paper attempts to analyse to what extent modern interpretation is currently experienced in selected Romanian museums through the means of relevant case studies. There are two selected case studies as significant and symbolic institutions for the Romanian museum network: The Peasant Museum – Bucharest and The Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance – Sighetul Marmației. Thirdly, the paper drafts a broader picture showing on what extent priciples of interpretation and heritage intepretation are familiar to Romanian museums and how much of them are in use.

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Issue: Volume 10, Issue 1, 2016

Consumers preferences of shopping centers in Bratislava (Slovakia)

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There have been changes in the shopping behavior and preferences of consumers in the post-communist countries caused by political changes after 1989. Slovakia is not an exception, and it has been observed a change not only at the consumers’ level but also in retail stores. A notable bearer of such changes was the construction of big shopping centers that were a new phenomenon in shopping. They quickly became popular and changed spatial and shopping patterns of consumers. The main aim of this study is to analyze and evaluate the shopping preferences of consumers based on the example of the capital city – Bratislava (at the level of urban districts). The database consists of results of a questionnaire survey carried out in 2011. Respondents were interviewed inside the shopping center. The partial aims focus on the analysis of consumers’ perceptions, the frequency of their shopping and the mode of transport used for shopping. One of the goals of this study is also to evaluate the perception of consumers in terms of the catchment areas of the chosen shopping center, as well as the perceptional classification of retail in the given area and the accessibility of stores.

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Issue: Volume 10, Issue 1, 2016

Exploring the economic impact of national parks on the local economy. Functional approach in the context of Poland’s transition economy

Author: , and

The article presents the methodological assumptions in functional approach for exploring the economic impact of national parks on the local economy. The original model of systemic analysis proposed and discussed in the article allows the broad spectrum of direct and indirect economic relations of national parks with their immediate spatial surrounding to be analysed. The discussion on the economic aspects of national parks’ operation relates to the specic conditions of Poland’s transition economy. The factors determining the economic function of a national park in the local economy include legal regulations which specify the powers of the park’s managing body and regulate the park’s behaviour on the local market; the attractiveness of the park’s location as a tourist destination; the scale of growth and commercialisation of tourism. Also important is the local social and economic context in which the national parks are embedded. Endogenous and exogenous determinants of the operation of Polish national parks determine the dynamic nature of their local economic relations.

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Issue: Volume 10, Issue 1, 2016
About journal

Title: Human Geographies - Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography
ISSN online: 2067-2284
ISSN print: 1843-6587
Imprint: University of Bucharest
Frequency: Biannual (May&November)
First volume: 1/2007
Current volume: 17/2023
Language: English
Indexed in: SCOPUS, ERIH PLUS, EBSCO (SocINDEX), ProQuest (Social Science Journals, SciTech Journals, Natural Science Journals), Index Copernicus, National Technical Information Service (NTiS), Bodleian Libraries, ExLibris SFX, DOAJ, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library, Google Scholar, Ulrich
Creative Commons License


EDITORS


Prof. dr. Liliana Dumitrache
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Daniela Dumbrăveanu
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Mariana Nae
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

Dr. Gabriel Simion
University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography- Human and Economic Geography Department, 1 Nicolae Balcescu Av., 010041, Bucharest, Romania

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