THE SETTLEMENTS AND THE IMPACT OF SUBURBANIZATION ON THE DEMOGRAPHIC AGE STRUCTURE IN SIBIU COUNTY, ROMANIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbgeogr.2025.2.05Keywords:
suburbanization, settlements, cities, age structure, Sibiu County, RomaniaAbstract
The process of suburbanization has had an impact on the settlement system in Sibiu County. Demographic data collected from the last two censuses (2011 and 2021) as well as from the National Institute of Statistics show that the cities of Sibiu and Mediaș experienced a demographic decline in the last decades, while their suburban areas increased demographically. The highest growth has been recorded in the commune of Șelimbăr and in the town of Cisnădie, as well as in other communes around the city of Sibiu (Șura Mare, Șura Mică, Cristian, Roșia). While there is no data regarding the age of the migrants from the core cities to their respective suburban areas, the analysis shows that most of them are young adults and their (future) children. This has led to a sharp change in the age structure of the population both in the core cities and in the suburban settlements. On the one hand, the cities of Sibiu and Mediaș experienced a decline in young and adult population, and an increase of the weight of the elderly population. On the other hand, suburban settlements have registered not just an increase in terms of population, but also in the weight of the young and adult population. Therefore, we witness a process of sharp rejuvenation in the suburban settlements (mostly in Șelimbăr and Cisnădie), at the same time with the intensification of demographic ageing in many parts of Sibiu County, including the two cities, Sibiu and Mediaș. At the same time, suburbanization brought along a number of issues, such as the insufficient number of educational institutions in the suburban areas and increased traffic due to the large number of commuters.
References
1. Benedek, J. and Török, I. (2014), County-Level Demographic Disparities in Romania, Transylvanian Review, 23, 2, p. 138-147.
2. Bodocan, V., Benedek, J., and Rusu, R. (2018), Twenty-first century cities: from global challenges to local responses, in Solarz, M.W. (ed.), New geographies of the globalized world, Routledge, London & New York, p. 77-92.
3. Cocheci, R.M. (2014), Environmental impact assessment of urban sprawl in Brașov Metropolitan Area, Urbanism. Arhitectură. Construcții, 5, 2, p. 21-37.
4. Dumitrașcu, V., Trică, A.E.Ș., and Caragea, N. (2018), Population of Romania – Shapes and Demographic Trends, Romanian Journal of Sociological Studies, 2, p. 119-135.
5. Enyedi, G. and Kovács, Z. (eds.) (2006), Social changes and social sustainability in historical urban centres. The case of Central Europe, Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Pécs.
6. Grigorescu, I., Mitrică, B., Kucsicsa, Gh., Popovici, E.A., Dumitrașcu, M., and Cuculici, R. (2012), Post-Communist Land Use Changes related to Urban Sprawl in the Romanian Metropolitan Areas, Human Geographies, 6, 1, p. 35-46.
7. Grigorescu, I., Mitrică, B., and Mocanu, I. (2015), Assessing urban sprawl-related housing dynamics in the Romanian metropolitan areas, Studia Obszarów Wiejskich, 38, p. 145-164.
8. Hamilton, F.E.I., Dimitrovska Andrews, K., and Pichler-Milanović, N. (eds.) (2005), Transformation of cities in Central and Eastern Europe: towards globalization, United Nations University Press, Tokyo.
9. Hărăguș, M. and Földes, I. (2020), The Demographic Profile of Rural Areas in Romania, Calitatea vieții, 4, p. 289-317.
10. INS (2025), National Institute of Statistics – TEMPO ONLINE Platform, available online at http://statistici.insse.ro:8077/tempo-online/
11. Nancu, D.V., Guran-Nica, L., and Persu, M. (2010), Demographic Ageing in Romania’s Rural Area, Human Geographies – Journal of Studies and Research in Human Geography, 4, 1, p. 33-42.
12. Patița, A.M. (2024), Socio-Economic Impact of Natural Population Dynamics in Bistrița-Năsăud County Between 2000 and 2020, Studia UBB Geographia, 69, 1, p. 57-70.
13. Romanian Population Census (2011), Population Census on 20-31 October 2011, results available online at https://www.recensamantromania.ro/rpl-2011/rezultate-2011/
14. Romanian Population Census (2021), Population Census on the 1st of December 2021, available online at https://www.recensamantromania.ro/
15. Rusu, R. (2022), The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Tourism in Romania in 2020 with Special Regard on Marginal Rural Areas, in Fuerst-Bjeliš, Nel, E., Pelc, S. (eds.), COVID-19 and Marginalisation of People and Places. Impacts, Responses and Observed Effects of COVID-19 on Geographical Marginality, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham, p. 159-176.
16. Rusu, R., Bodocan, V., and Man, T. (2020), Urban Sprawl and Its Impact on Urban Tourism in Romania, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 22, 4, Taylor & Francis, Abingdon, p. 521-533.
17. Rusu, R., Moldovan, C., Man, T., Bîrsănuc, E.M., Ursu, C.D. (2024), Natural and Migration Balance of the Population in Sibiu County Between 1992 and 2021, Studia UBB Geographia, 69, 2, p. 55-80.
18. Suciu, C. (1968), Dicționar istoric al localităților din Transilvania, Edit. Academiei, București.
19. Suditu, B. (2012), Urban Sprawl – the Legal Context and Territorial Practices in Romania, Human Geographies, 6, 1, p. 73-77.
20. Sýkora, L. and Bouzarovski, S. (2012), Multiple Transformations: Conceptualising the Post-communist Urban Transition, Urban Studies, 49, 1, p. 43-60.
21. Sýkora, L. and Stanilov, K. (2014), The Challenge of Postsocialist Suburbanization, in Stanilov, K. and Sýkora, L. (eds.) Confronting Suburbanization. Urban Decentralization in Postsocialist Central and Eastern Europe, Wiley Blackwell, Chichester, p. 1-32.
22. Vasile, V. and Dobre, A.M. (2015), Overview of Demographic Evolution in Romania, Romanian Statistical Review, 4, p. 27-45.
23. Voiculescu, S., Crețan, R., Ianăș, A.N., and Satmari, A. (2010), The Romanian post-socialist city: urban renewal and gentrification, EUV, Timișoara.
24. Young, C. and Kaczmarek, S. (2008), The Socialist Past and Postsocialist Urban Identity in Central and Eastern Europe. The case of Łódź, Poland, European Urban and Regional Studies, 15, 1, p. 53-70.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Geographia
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
©Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai Geographia. Published by Babeș-Bolyai University.
