Post-industrial landscape evolution in Hunedoara.

Abstract

– Post-industrial landscape evolution in Hunedoara. The development of steel industry in Hunedoara (1882-1989) had social and economic consequences, generating structural and functional changes in the geographical landscape in Hunedoara, with local, regional and national repercussions. The industrial landscape in Hunedoara took shape around the steel industry, a platform that supported the entire local community (by employment) and galvanized the economic relations with other cities in the county of Hunedoara (Deva, Călan, Haţeg, Petroșani, Brad, Orăștie), and also with cities in the neighboring counties (Timisoara, Reșița, Sebeș, Alba Iulia, Tg. Jiu, Craiova, Sibiu). The changes that occurred in the economic policy in Romania, after 1989, have resulted in major structural changes in the landscape of Hunedoara. The process of de-industrialization left a significant mark in the physiography of the landscape in Hunedoara and its functionality. The dismantling and demolition of the industrial platform (a pennant of industrial development in socialist Romania) led to the abandonment of a steelworker lifestyle, to retraining, to migration of specialized workforce and especially young people, to other destinations. The city today is looking for a new identity, embracing the steel industry tradition and tourist resources of the area.