Development Strategies and Cultural Policies in Romania. The Case of Cluj-Napoca

Abstract

Once with Romania’s integration in the EU, a long series of structural reforms have been at the core of the national, regional and local policies. There are three major aims of this paper. The first is to investigate the culture-oriented policies that have been envisaged in post-communist Romania, before and after joining the EU, in order to point out the correlation with the European cultural agenda, and to observe the transition towards a decentralized vision on culture that would redirect the cities’ contributions to their urban development. The second is to analyze what types of development strategies and cultural policies have been developed and implemented in Cluj-Napoca (Romania) that frame a new vision on the city and propose the concepts of ‘participation, creativity and university’ at the core of its transformation. The third is to question the role of the festival use (as a cultural form involving large participation) and to discuss the specificity of the city of Cluj-Napoca where the enthusiastic support from the local authorities for this type of actions is balanced by a more reasonable consideration within the cultural strategy. The research is based on document analyses and interviews with decision-makers and stakeholders’ representatives