Summary of the execution stage

The first stage in the elaboration of this project has had a great importance in the beginning of the activity that will be taken during the next 3 years of study. Its main focus on documentation and the analysis of the way in which the university has been involved in the two main processes for the quality of life, the urban restructuring and regional development, has allowed the knowledge of the basic concepts, as well as of the way in which the potential of those two institutions of higher education has been used.

The transformation of the universities from simple superior service performance in knowledge producers attracts a major change in the way of relationships with the environment, respective with the urban and rural communities, as well as with the regional ones. The location of the universities in a certain spatial context, allows the testing of certain theories regarding the development and arrangement, the share in the dialogue between the communities, as a partner which should be listened through the truth of the services, which are suggested, not only for the solving of the crises, but also as well as for the realizing certain targets, which were imposed by the cities or the regions in which these universities are functioning.

In the frame of the project there is a demonstration of the potential an university has in the processes of urban and regional development. In both situations, there are underlined the three essential aspects: formation, the examination and the consultation, with the shades which are resulting from the specific of the two processes. As the way of spatial distribution of the universities is not at random, a detailed analysis of those and their instruction potential was made.

In general, one must observe, that in Romania the location of the universities are related to the extent of the cities, in which they are located, can be very good for universities and population, in the way the both of them can benefit from this reality. The location of the universities in the big cities (including the dependence of the universities upon the cities) leads us to the idea of locating model of the French type (before the decentralization) or rather Soviet. In opposition with these models are the German and British ways of locating the universities in smaller towns or around a very big city. The explanation can be found also in the fact that the French model, and especially the Soviet one, of the organizing the public and state life is characterized through authoritative – centralistic features, and the Romanian model wouldn’t be nothing more than a sequel of a previous organization of the year 1990. In the same time this situation can be a coincidence and it would be only about the inertial force of the tradition, which imposed the great urban cities of Romania as the top university centre.

A second feature of the Romanian superior education is that the main education system is not a private one, but one financial aided by the state (over ¾ of the total number of the students). The private education, being a young one, hasn’t managed yet to impose only partial on the educational market. Not only in absolute values, but also in relative values, the universities financial aided by the state outrun the private ones and these can’t be direct compared.

A very interesting aspect represents also the analysis made over the potential of research of the universities. Taking into consideration the main gaps shown in the distribution of the elements of infrastructure of the university research, some actions with results regarding the involvement of the universities in the processes of urban and regional development have been regarded as necessary. So, it can be remarked the attention, the universities pay to the research centers, which are involved directly or indirectly in the two processes. For such an action it is necessary : the achievement of university research networks on different fields at a national level and the participation together in national and international projects; the achievement of interdisciplinary clusters on a level of complex university centers, through which the transfer of knowledge from a fundamental field in other and from here to the practical use of the urban and regional development; the development of a selective research in the smaller university centers, which should assure beside the specific didactic activities also a research focused upon one or two basic fields.

It is obvious that a relative important space is granted to the way of implication of the universities in the field of urban reshaping. After this very complex process is defined, process which is in a close relationship with the industrial destructor and the third party, a careful analysis is made upon the way the universities have been involved in the urban analysis. The conclusion is that there are four categories of universities: the one which are permanently involved (here we mention :The University of Architecture and Urbanism „Ion Mincu” from Bucharest, and then the technical universities from the four big cities of the country :Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara), the universities which are frequently involved (here we mention twelve universities, the main are those with a mixed structure – here are to be mentioned the University „Babes-Bolyai” from Cluj Napoca, University of Bucharest and University „Al.I.Cuza” from Iasi), then follow the universities which are sporadic involved (there are almost thirty universities, among which there are three private universities), and the last category is the category of universities which haven’t been involved into the processes of urban development.

The regional development is based upon a very well defined strategy, on an institutional frame and on operational instruments, which makes that a good part of the European funds to be ceded to this target. After it is made an analysis of the way in which the process of regional development in our country, including the way of diminution of disparities, the degree of involvement of the universities in such a process is detailed. The result of the analysis is that of all universities, the UAUIM from Bucharest is permanently involved in the process of regional development. This detaches itself not only through the great and relatively constant number of projects regarding the arrangement of the territory and through the spatial development , but also through the activity of consulting, which is made by the professors in different central institutions. Frequently 20 universities, in general very well known universities, with complex structures, are involved into the processes of regional development. The projects are mainly the result of interdisciplinary collaboration and their main targets are fields as urbanism, geography, economy, environment, sociology and engineering. Accidentally there are involved 18 universities, for the rest of almost 70 not to be involved in no project of regional development in the last 3 years. These universities, which haven’t been involved in the process of regional development are superposing in general with the ones which haven’t had no project in the field of the urban reorganization. From the category of the state universities are those specialized in the field of Arts, music, theatre and sports. To those are added the universities of Medicine and Pharmacy, which only indirectly develop projects upon the quality of life. The most of the universities, which are not involved, belongs to the private domain. And it is known that those private universities are focused mainly upon the economic and legal field and that the activity of research in those institutions, and mostly in those authorized to function temporary, is unimportant.

In conclusion it can be said, that the results obtained in this first stage are to create a premise very favorable to the research in the next stage. This, through content completes the first stage, drawing an exactly appreciation of the potential which the universities have in the process of involvement for the resolving of the problems of a territorial nature.