STRONG POINTS
• Strategic geographical location. The Metropolitan Area Constanţa is located at the confluence of several pan-European transport corridors, at the eastern border of the European Union.
• The Metropolitan Area Constanţa is the second largest urban agglomeration (about half a million inhabitants) in Romania after the capital Bucharest.
• The Metropolitan Area Constanţa is one of the most important sales markets int the extended region.
• Functional relationships on various levels between the municipality of Constanţa and other cities and towns in the metropolitan area.
• The second major economic center of Romania, after the capital Bucharest.
• Complex, well-defined economic infrastructure.
• Over 90% of the local economy is privately owned.
• Well-developed tertiary sector.
• Remarkable agricultural potential.
• The Commercial Port Constanţa, the largest port on the Black Sea and the fourth in Europe, and the Tourist Port Tomis.
• The international airport Mihail Kogălniceanu, one of the largest and most modern airports in Romania, and the Tuzla airfield.
• Substantial energy resources.
• Main tourist landmark in Romania and one of the largest in the region, both in terms of the existing accommodation capacity, and in terms of tourists visiting the area.
• Good natural environment for the development of tourism activities (the Black Sea, fine and sunny beaches, sandy and completely free of stones sea bottom, with a very low slope, lack of tide).
• Increased spa potential. The Techirghiol lake has therapeutic properties unique in Europe.
• Significant water resources.
• Labour force highly trained in various economic sectors (trade, services, industry, tourism, port activities, etc.).
• Multi-ethnic area unique in the country and lack of inter-ethnic conflicts.
• University centre with tradition, and currently expanding.
• Historical and cultural heritage of great value (museums, theaters, architectural and archaeological monuments and other cultural institutions).
• Local mass media is well represented in all segments: television, radio and print media.
• Low level of pollution. |
WEAK POINTS
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Lack of coherent policies and strategies of integrated economic development for the area.
• Gap in terms of comfort and social indicators of urban development between the municipality of Constanta and towns in its vicinity.
• Chronic lack of financial resources for the development of infrastructure projects.
• Chaotic development of areas near the municipality of Constanta.
• Infrastructure deficit in some areas (lack of sewerage and water supply, of central heating system and adequate access roads).
• Public transportation between the towns of the metropolitan perimeter is made at low standards and is undersized in relation to need.
• Poor state of the health system as a whole and poor emergency medical services, far from European standards.
• Over-agglomeration of areas in the metropolitan perimeter, especially during the summer (the resorts Mamaia and Eforie, the area around major shopping centers, etc.).
• Low adaptability of economic agents to market demands.
• Considerable distance from the western border of Romania.
• Old real estate patrimony, built mostly in the period 1965 - 1980.
• The poor state of housing for many disadvantaged groups (Roma, youth, people with low incomes, families with several children).
• The negative relationship between the active and the inactive people.
• Low proportion of people with basic higher education, compared to the similar indicator in the EU.
• Insufficient use of modern informatic technologies and the Internet in the educational process, but also in economic activities.
• Poor physical condition of some archaeological monuments and buildings of special architectural and historical value.
• Lack of administrative capacity of local authorities to develop and implement strategies and common policies for integrated development of the entire metropolitan area.
• Shortage of specialists in the field of management of non-reimbursable financial assistance from the European Union.
• Weak involvement of civil society in the social, political and economic life of the area, particularly in the rural environment.
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OPPORTUNITIES
• Intensification of the process of decentralization and increasing of local autonomy, as well as increasing of financial resources.
• Access to European programs of non-reimbursable financing, and to other national and local financing.
• Location on the transit route for oil and other natural resources of the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus.
• Trend to increase private investment including foreign investment.
• Start of work for implementation of a new ring road around the entire metropolitan area and thus providing the ability to bypass traffic congestion and heavy traffic.
• Accelerated development of the construction sector and the creation of new housing areas in the peripheral area of the municipality and the surrounding communities.
• Development of infrastructure with gas supply and its expansion throughout the metropolitan area.
• Development of higher education and increasing number of foreign students.
• Growth of the administrative capacity of local public authorities, including the possibility of smaller communities to access information resources and specialists. |
THREATS
• Appearance of some delays in the process of regional and local decentralization, with effects on the development and implementation of a unified strategy for the development of the entire metropolitan area.
• Fear of certain mayors of towns around Constanţa that they may lose the present decision-making, through integration and implementation of development policies at the metropolitan level.
• The allocation of public funds for infrastructure development on arbitrary criteria or political criteria.
• Promotion of personal interests in the sphere of the administration of the metropolitan area and of its component cities and towns.
• Inability of local authorities to provide the financial resources necessary to access EU pre-accession and structural funds.
• Perpetuation of the global economic crisis.
• Permissive policy in the field of territorial planning, which allows the construction of buildings and economic objectivs without a unified plan of development of the area and without taking account of environmental and architectural aspects or of the ability to access public services.
• Competition in the region with other major urban centers.
• Increased trend of over-agglomeration of areas in the metropolitan perimeter, particularly in the municipality of Constanta.
• Over-solicitation of public infrastructure (roads and water supply systems, sewerage, electricity, gas, lighting, etc.), and inability to respond quickly to development trends of the area, especially of certain perimeters within the metropolitan area.
• Trend of migration to Western Europe demonstrated recently by the skilled labor, particularly young people, which can affect on medium-term the development of economic activities incorporating high added value.
• The continuing erosion of the cliffs and beaches. |
