The objective of my master thesis was to conduct a research into the key roles of territorial governance and strategic planning as instruments in the development of small and medium-sized towns, with special regard towards the Romanian Center Region system of settlements. 

 

The graphical part of the study concentrated on conducting an analysis of the small and medium sized cities in the Center region, the transregional, regional and subregional settlement systems, the local governance and the differences between the administrative hierarchies and the functional ones at territorial level. The results, combined with the outcomes of the theoretical analysis, determined the creation of a framework matrix of possible options for territorial and administartive reorganization. 

 

Three of the options have been further developed as scenarios, together with respective planning frameworks that would give priority to the development of small and medium-sized cities: Structured approach to governance (exploring flexible cooperation through local associations and territorial pacts), State of autonomies (a competitiveness scenario looking at a complete territorial reconfiguration through autonomous regions) and Regionalization and Microregionalization (a more rigid approach to multilevel governance through the establishment of both NUTS2 and LAU1 levels with juridic personality).

Conclusions of the thesis show that there are quite a few options for administrative and planning systems that would provide small and medium towns a better chance to strengthen their role in the area and to diverisify their range of services. However, the most effective ones are based on an effective transition towards a system with a locally enhanced level, strong, flexible inter-municipal cooperation systems and an integrated new regional level (not just a purely statistical one like the current NUTS2 level in Romania).