TERRITORIAL MOBILITY OF THE ROMANIAN POPULATION. CAUSES AND EFFECTS

Abstract

For the first time in human history, more people are living in urban areas than in rural areas. Every year, millions of people decide to leave their rural homes and migrate to cities across the country or even across the border. Most of these people want to move to seek new job opportunities and, of course, to improve their lives, while others are forced to migrate because of sudden or slow-onset conflicts or natural disasters, such as rising sea levels, droughts and floods, which are often exacerbated by climate change and environmental stress. In addition, rural populations, whose livelihoods depend to a large extent on agriculture, are particularly vulnerable to pressures from migration. This article aims to provide an overview of rural-urban migration in Romania, detailing the causes and effects of this process. Romanian citizens from rural areas move to the country’s big cities to enjoy the facilities offered by urban areas. In the current context, migration is the population’s impulse from one topographical location to another, thus connecting temporary or permanent settlements. However, this process, like any other, brings with it both positive and negative economic, social and demographic consequences, which will be discussed in detail in this article.