6Economics of Agriculture SI - 1 UDK: 314.137
TERRITORIAL DISPARITIES CAUSED BY THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THE TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN RURAL AREAS - CENTRAL REGION1
Mihai CHITEA2
Abstract
At European level, the arrangement of the territory is defined as "a spatial expression of the economic, social, cultural and ecologic policies of all societies" ("European Charter of the arrangement of the territory" - 1983). In Romania, the arrangement of the territory and urbanism activities are regulated by the Law 350/2001 regarding the arrangement of the territory and urbanism, with the afterwards changes, which sets the following objectives for the arrangement of the territory: social and economic balanced development of the regions and areas, in compliance with their specificity, improvement of the quality of life for people and human collectivities, responsible management of the natural resources and environmental protection, rational use of the territory.
Key words: arrangement of the territory, regional disparities, rural development
INTRODUCTION
The inequalities generated by the endowment of the territory from the Romanian rural communities lead to regional disparities regarding the economic, social and cultural development.
The indicators taken into consideration for the analysis of the endowment of the territory (housing comfort, technical - utilities infrastructure), of the rural areas of the Center Region, are: living area per inhabitant (square meters); the quantity of drinkable water distributed to the consumers for domestic use per inhabitant (cubic meters); the simple length of the drinkable water distribution network (km); the simple length of the
1 Contract no. 92072/01.10.2008 Socio-economic models for inequalities attenuation from the rural areas in regional profile (MESAIR) - Program no. 4 "Partnerships in priority domains"
2 Mihai CHITEA, Institute of Agricultural Economics, Romanian Academy, Casa Academiei Romane, Calea 13 Septembrie 13, sector 5, Bucure§ti, cod 050711 , mihai_chitea@yahoo. com
sewerage network (km); the simple length of the natural gas distribution network (km).
The available statistical data at the level of the Romanian rural communities where used for the calculation of some indicators afferent to the 5 relevant criteria (endowment of the territory, demographic and social dimension, social infrastructure, economic dimension, investments) for building a matrix that can describe the present status of the rural socio-economic inequalities.
The calculated indicators where subjected to the cluster type analysis which represent a set of techniques that allow the construction of relative homogenous groups - clusters, depending of the considered variables.
RESULTS OF RESEARCH
The Cluster 1 is the best equipped one regarding the endowment of the territory (habitation comfort, infrastructure) of the 3 clusters, the counties that are detaching being Bra§ov (Bran, §inca, Harman, Cristian, Sanpetru communes), Sibiu (§elimbar, Cristian communes) and Mure§ (Riciu, Santana de Mure§, Ceua§u de Mure§, Sanpaul, Band, Albe§ti communes).
In terms of the living area per inhabitant, in the Center Region, the mean value is 16,39 sm/inhab. being greater than the national mean value of 15,87 sm/inhab. The mean value of Cluster 1 and 3 is higher than the national mean value. There are no noticeable differences regarding the mean living area per inhabitant, neither between clusters or counties: - the lowest value is the one from Cluster 3 -15,12 sm/inhab., and the highest is the one from Cluster 1 - 18,06 sm/inhab.; - the lowest value is the one from Covasna county 15,60 sm/inhab., and the highest is the one Sibiu county - 17,10 sm/inhab.
Table 1: Centralization of indicators regarding the endowment of the territory - Center Region
Total Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3
Living area per inhabitant sm (stable population at 1st of July) 16,39 18,06 16,01 15,12
Quantity of drinkable water distributed to the consumers for domestic use cm/ inhab. 20,37 49,47 10,45 10,29
Simple length of the drinkable water distribution network - km 9,39 17,04 7,23 5,16
Simple length of the sewerage network - km 1,81 6,02 0,46 0,05
Simple length of the natural gas distribution network -km. 12,01 13,63 12,90 6,31
Source: Romania's Statistical Yearbook 2008, NIS
There are some bigger inequalities between communes in terms of living space, even if the mean value at county or Cluster level is acceptable in comparison with the national mean. Thus:
- The communes with the lowest level of housing comfort are: Bunila (Bra§ov) -7,58 sm/inhab., Augustin (Bra§ov) - 8,01 sm/inhab., Poiana Vadului (Alba) - 8,47 sm/inhab., Lemnia (Covasna) - 9,32 sm/inhab., Apata (Bra§ov) - 9,82 sm/inhab.,
- The communes with the highest level of housing comfort are Corunca (Mure§) -45,85 sm/inhab., Fundata (Bra§ov) - 37,03 sm/inhab., Bereni (Mure§) - 36,64 sm/ inhab., Mereni (Covasna) - 34,59 sm/inhab., Bruiu (Sibiu) - 27,81 sm/inhab.
Table 2: Living area per inhabitant (sm/inhab) - Center Region
County/Cluster Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Total
Alba 15,04 16,34 16,24 16,07
Braçov 18,25 16,55 14,50 16,91
Covasna 20,96 14,36 15,80 15,60
Harghita 18,38 16,24 14,63 16,71
Mureç 19,52 15,42 15,32 16,08
Sibiu 17,53 17,90 13,91 17,10
Total 18,06 16,01 15,12 16,39
National mean 17,44 16,48 14,40 15,87
Source: Romania's Statistical Yearbook 2008, NIS
Regarding the distribution of drinkable water utility, for the Center Region, even if the mean length of the drinkable water network is lower than the national mean, the mean quantity of water distributed to consumers is higher than the national mean.
The Cluster 1 detaches from the rest, both in terms of length of the network and of mean quantity of water per inhabitant. There is a large discrepancy between the Cluster 1 and the others, but even in the case of Cluster 1, there are big differences between the components counties, especially in the case of the length of the drinkable water network.
Table 3: The quantity of drinkable water distributed to consumers for domestic use per inhabitant (cm/inhab.) - Center Region
County/Cluster Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Total
Alba 11,05 6,82 7,16 7,70
Braçov 99,46 12,92 32,37 54,43
Covasna 16,11 14,41 8,15 13,57
Harghita 31,90 17,30 14,68 21,51
Mureç 14,18 5,48 4,48 6,75
Sibiu 77,00 13,57 0,00 32,81
County/Cluster Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Total
Total 49,47 10,45 10,29 20,37
National mean 33,48 14,58 5,08 14,77
Source: Romania's Statistical Yearbook 2008, NIS
The Bra§ov and Sibiu counties rank best in terms of the drinkable water distribution, the lowest ranking counties being Alba and Covasna.
The communes that protrude, in terms of: - The length of the drinkable water network, are: Bran (Bra§ov) - 68 km, Tärlungeni (Bra§ov) - 65 km, Lupeni (Harghita) - 59,10 km, §elimbär (Sibiu) - 58,90 km, §inca (Bra§ov) - 45,00 km; - The quantity of drinkable water consumed, are: Hoghiz (Bra§ov) - 343,55 cm/inhab., §elimbär (Sibiu) - 80,01 cm/inhab., Cristian (Sibiu) - 61,25 cm/inhab., Tärlungeni (Bra§ov) 56,56 cm/ inhab., Feldioara (Bra§ov) - 56,27 cm/inhab.
The number of communes that have no drinkable water distribution network is 123, out of which: 26,83% in Sibiu county; 21,14% in Mure§ county; 20,33% in Alba county; 12,19% in Harghita county, 11,38% in Covasna county and 8,13% in Bra§ov county.
Table 4: The simple length of the drinkable water distribution network (km) - Center Region
County/Cluster Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Total
Alba 9,71 5,96 4,79 6,50
Bra§ov 27,19 7,86 8,04 16,35
Covasna 3,88 7,64 3,40 6,34
Harghita 21,26 9,58 9,26 13,17
Mure§ 11,06 8,37 5,70 8,37
Sibiu 15,67 2,81 0,00 6,70
Total 17,04 7,23 5,16 9,39
National mean 19,78 11,45 4,94 10,63
Source: Romania's Statistical Yearbook 2008, NIS
Table 5: The simple length of the sewerage network (km) - Center Region
County/Cluster Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Total
Alba 1,92 0,03 0,05 0,40
Bra§ov 4,52 0,00 0,14 2,01
Covasna 0,12 0,90 0,10 0,64
Harghita 12,87 1,32 0,07 4,76
Mure§ 6,42 0,43 0,00 1,34
Sibiu 5,49 0,00 0,00 1,87
Total 6,02 0,46 0,05 1,81
National mean 2,85 0,27 0,19 0,77
Source: Romania's Statistical Yearbook 2008, NSI EP 2012 (59) SI - 1 (280-286)
The Center Region ranks also well, in terms of the sewerage utility, compared to the national mean. The communes from the Cluster 1 benefit from a sewerage network with a length of 6,02 km, detaching from the rest of the clusters, where the length of the network varies from 0,4 km, in Cluster 2, to only 0,05 km in Cluster 3.
The communes with the longest sewerage network are: §elimbar (Sibiu) -50,60 km, Joseni (Harghita) - 37,90 km, Remetea (Harghita) - 35,00 km, Santa de Mure§ (Mure§) - 29,30 km, Horman (Bra§ov) - 26,20 km.
Despite this, there is still a large number of communes (269), in the Center Region, that have no sewerage network, out of which: 23,79% in Mure§ county, 22,30% in Alba county, 17,10% in Sibiu county, 14,50% in Bra§ov county, 12,64% in Harghita county and 9,67% in Covasna county.
The Center Region also detaches from the national mean, in terms of the natural gas distribution, both at global and cluster levels. There are some smaller differences between clusters, in terms of the mean length of the network.
Table 6: The simple length of the natural gas pipeline distribution (km) Center Region
County/Cluster Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Total
Alba 10,12 9,30 3,31 8,48
Braçov 17,36 8,96 6,03 12,08
Covasna 1,08 2,27 0,00 1,70
Harghita 7,53 3,42 4,90 4,88
Mureç 24,59 26,79 11,46 23,90
Sibiu 12,94 12,03 7,68 11,60
Total 13,63 12,90 6,31 12,01
National mean 9,69 5,26 0,81 4,44
Source: Romania's Statistical Yearbook 2008, NIS
Between the components counties, there are some important differences; the county that detaches from the others, in terms of the length of natural gas distribution network, is Mure§ county - 23,90 km of network, followed by Bra§ov county, with 12,08 km and Sibiu, with 11,60 km; the lowest ranking county, from this point of view, is Covasna, with only 1,7 km of network.
The communes that benefit from the longest natural gas distribution network are situated in Mure§ county (Band 77,20 km, Acatari 63,00 km, Riciu 60,70 km, Ceua§u de Campie 60,10 km, Gorne§ti 58,20 km, Valea Larga 58,20 km, Sanpetru de Campie 56,20 km communes).
The number of communes without a natural gas distribution network, from the Center Region, reaches 169 localities, out of which 45 are in Alba county, 39 in Harghita county, 32 communes in Covasna county, 19 in Bra§ov and Mure§ counties and 15 in Sibiu county.
CONCLUSIONS
The Center Region, in terms of technical - utilities infrastructure, ranks better than the national mean value, at all the analyzed indicators levels.
In terms of territory endowment, there are 61 communes in the Center Region that have no drinkable water distribution network, sewerage network or natural gas distribution network, out of which: in Alba county - 22 communes (36,07%); in Covasna county -10 communes (16,39%); in Harghita and Sibiu counties - 9 communes in each (14,75% each county); in Mure§ county - 6 communes (9,84%) and Bra§ov county - 5 communes (8,20%).
The communes that rank high, in terms of technical - utilities infrastructure are: §elimbar (Sibiu county) - 58,90 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 50,60 km length of sewerage network, 33,20 km length of natural gas distribution network, Santana de Mure§ (Mure§ county) - 35 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 29,30 km length of sewerage network, 32,10 km length of natural gas distribution network, Frumoasa (Harghita county) - 28 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 25 km length of sewerage network, 28,90 km length of natural gas distribution network, Albe§ti (Mure§ county) - 24,90 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 18 km length of sewerage network, 38,30km length of natural gas distribution network, Harman (Bra§ov county) - 16,60 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 26,20 km length of sewerage network, 37,70 km length of natural gas distribution network.
There are also communes that rank good, in terms of drinkable water distribution network and natural gas network, but very low in terms of sewerage network, for example: Bran (Bra§ov county) - 68 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 45,60 km length of natural gas distribution network, 0 km length of sewerage network, Riciu (Mure§ county) - 35 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 60,70 km length of natural gas distribution network - 2 km length of sewerage network, Ceua§u de Campie (Mure§ county) - 30,40 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 60,10 km length of natural gas distribution network - 0,30 km length of sewerage network, Sancraiu de Mure§ (Mure§ county) - 41,60 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 39,30 km length of natural gas distribution network - 8,8 km length of sewerage network, Sanpaul (Mure§ county) - 43,40 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 39,50 km length of natural gas distribution network, 0 km length of sewerage network, §inca (Bra§ov county) - 45 km length of drinkable water distribution network, 31,10 km length of natural gas distribution network - 6 km length of sewerage network.
REFERENCES
1. *** "European Charter of the arrangement of the territory" (May 1983)-
European Council document, Spain
2. *** Guideline principles for a durable territorial development of the European continent (September 2000) - European Council document - Hanovra, Germany
3. *** European Territorial Agenda (May 2007)- European Commision document
4. *** The development plan of the Center Region for the 2007-2013 period
5. *** The strategic reference framework of the Center Region 2007-2013
6. *** Romania's Statistical Yearbook 2008, NIS
