The Perception and the Status of the Peripheral Regions in the Netherlands and Romania. A Comparative Geographic Study

Raisa ŢĂRUȘ (ȚUGUI)1, Vasile SURD1
1 Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Centre on Research of Settlements and Urbanism, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA
E-mail: raisa_tarus@yahoo.com, vsurd@geografie.ubbcluj.ro
Pages: 181-190

Abstract. The perception on the status of the peripheral regions is a common subject in the Netherlands and Romania becoming a worldwide topic in the public discourse. The focus of our comparative study was triggered by the fact that regions from countries as The Netherlands and Romania are already facing a population decline and the perception on the status of peripheries has degraded for several decades. Firstly, we emphasize on the meaning of peripheral area through the two case studies: the Achterhoek region in the Netherlands and the North-West development region in Romania. Secondly, we emphasize on the existence of two patterns of peripheral areas indicating the demographic evolution of population in rural areas of both regions. By inducing the linear regression analysis as a comparative tool we synthesized the social and economic transformations of peripheral areas during the periods of 1998-2012 and 1992-2012. In this order, we accentuated on the perception of differences in peripheral areas in these two regions, which eventually leads to a mutual policy framing between both countries. In this order, the linear regression analysis measures the demographic changes in terms of demographic tendencies, social and economic transformations. This comparative study encompasses two regions from different EU countries; it explores the possibilities for each country to learn one from the other.

K e y w o r d s:  peripheral region, Achterhoek region, North-West development region, demographic decline, linear regression analysis