중동부유럽

The urban shrinkage1 is a common phenomenon among East-European small towns. Effects of this phenomenon are much stronger in case of the former mono-industrial small towns emerged during the communist period in Romania, where after the 90's have been manifested a series of major political and socio-economic changes. The aim of this paper is to detail the specific situation of the former mono-industrial small towns located in the southern part of Bihor County, where the effects of de-industrialization and the incoherent post-communist development policies have hallmarked the structure, the spatial organization and the urban functions of these towns at local and regional level (sum of aspects that actually led to urban shrinking). Thus, the towns of Ștei, Nucet and Vașcău, emerged in the 50's as a result of forced industrialization, currently are three of the smallest towns of Romania, confronted with a strong demographical, social and economic decline. If in the future these cities maintain the same rate of population decrease, it raises a question mark over the real chances to provide a smart urban shrinkage.