Demographic Vulnerabilities in the North-East Region of Romania during the Post-Communist Period

Raluca-Ioana HOREA-ȘERBAN¹, Marinela ISTRATE*¹
* Corresponding author
¹ “Al. I. Cuza” University, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Department of Geography, Iaşi, ROMANIA
E-mail: ralusel@yahoo.com, marinelaistrate75@yahoo.com
Pages: 173-179. URL: https://geografie.ubbcluj.ro/ccau/jssp/arhiva_si4_2015/04JSSPSI042015.pdf

Cite: Horea-Șerban R.-I., Istrate M. (2015), Demographic Vulnerabilities in the North-East Region of Romania during the Post-Communist Period. Journal of Settlements and Spatial Planning, Special Issue 4, 173-179. URL: https://geografie.ubbcluj.ro/ccau/jssp/arhiva_si4_2015/04JSSPSI042015.pdf

Abstract. The dynamics of the demographic system of the North-East region represents the result of the joint action of a complex of various elements, out of which the political, economic and demographic ones play the most significant part. Investigated by means of the population censuses carried out in the post December period, the numerical evolution of the population recorded a recession evolution tendency resulting from the specific manner in which the two fundamental components of the demographic dynamics combine with each other. With the highest values of demographic dynamics in the last century as compared to all the other historical provinces in Romania, Moldavia region has become proverbial for its extraordinary demographic energy, resulting from an obsolete demographic mentality and behaviour. However, although during the 25 years of market economy experience it has preserved its first place in the hierarchy by provinces, larger and larger (especially rural) areas have begun to dissociate from the traditional Moldavian demographic pattern, adopting a system of new behavioural attitudes and habits of Western influence derived from the advance gained in problematizing the control over the conscious control of births along with the series of (demographic and socio-economic) disequilibrium triggered by the change of the type of political and economic experience. Our study proposes a multi-scale analysis of the spatial differentiations and tries to demonstrate that we are facing a modernization process of the social structures, in spite of the perpetuation of some traditional regional disparities.

K e y w o r d s:  demographic vulnerabilities, regional disparities, social modernisation, population policies