SUSTAINABLE METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT – GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES IN CLUJ METROPOLITAN AREA

Abstract

Nowadays the success of the urban management is largely dependent on the capacity to adopt efficient instruments that are able to deal with and adjust the complexity of urban systems to the necessities demanded under the ethos of sustainable development. Despite the various difficulties caused by the urbanization processes, there is also prospect to achieve progress in the creation of sustainable regions. Notwithstanding, sustainable development is dependent on whether the right tools and methods are used in the urban management practice. Therefore, in the paper we offer a review of the development challenges in the Cluj Metropolitan Area (CMA) and establish a framework for approaching sustainable metropolitan development from an integrated governance perspective. The mechanism relies on the fact that the territorial reality of urban sustainability can only be effective if addressed from a metropolitan perspective. The approach is analysed by the use of interviews with professional experts and public officials representing the CMA. The results show that a metropolitan wide vision, cooperation, leadership and community involvement are prerequisites of metropolitan sustainability.