Urban versus Rural. The Economic Performance of Romanian Counties

Bogdan-Nicolae PĂCURAR1, Claudia Elena TUDORACHE1
1 Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Centre for Research on Settlements and Urbanism, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA
E-mail: pacurarbogdan@ymail.com, claudia.elena26@yahoo.com
Pages: 47-52

Abstract. To reveal the connection between urbanisation, rurality and the economic performance of counties in Romania, we focused on several essential concepts found in the existing scientific literature, such as: urbanisation and economic growth, economic development, poverty reduction, productivity increase, the demography-productivity pair, innovation. Using cartographic and statistical methods and tools, we then compared and/or correlated the urbanisation level of each county (the percentage of people living in urban areas) with miscellaneous performance indicators such as: gross domestic product, net profit, turnover, total expenditures and employees in research and development activities, and average net salary. Our results suggest that urbanized counties in Romania register higher scores than the rural counties in case of each indicator, thus substantiating our thesis of a positive relationship between urbanization and economic growth. In short, Romania seems to fit perfectly in the universal trend of economically stronger urban regions and less powerful rural areas.

K e y w o r d s: urban, rural, Romania, county level, performance indicators, correlation, gross domestic product