ABSTRACT
After 1990, regional development became a major issue in Romania, with the assessment of economic and social development disparities becoming a priority. The inter- and intra-regional disparities were amplified during the transition period and the economic crisis. Despite the policies that tend to balance the development, regional polarisation is still very strong. Thus, the newly created regional disparities are added to the ‘inherited’ ones, which have been maintained despite the declared efforts to mitigate the differences between the levels of regional development in the second half of the twentieth century. The current chapter is seeking to identify the territorial disparities in the development of Romania by computing, mapping and analysing two secondary indexes (Territorial Competitiveness and Territorial Cohesion) and a final Territorial Development Index. The analysis is carried out at the level of the eight Development Regions (corresponding to NUTS 2 nomenclature). Overall, the investigation shows that economic performance is more consolidated in the centre and the west of the country based on mature industries, better-developed services and urbanisation/suburbanisation, while in the east and the south, both with a predominant rural character, they experience significant intra-regional disparities, industrial decline and social deprivation.
