ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS and DEVELOPMENT

Residential areas with deficient access to urban parks in Bucharest –

priority areas for urban rehabilitation
CRISTIAN IOJA, MARIA PATROESCU, LIDIA NICULITA, GABRIELA PAVELESCU, MIHAI
NITA, ANNEMARIE IOJA
Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies,
University of Bucharest
1 Nicolae Balcescu Blvd., Sector 1, Bucharest, ROMANIA

Abstract: - The paper emphasizes the real dimension of the urban parks surfaces deficit upon the built
environment in Bucharest city. There were established residential area categories with deficient access to
urban parks of high quality, considered to be priority intervention areas for urban rehabilitation (residential
areas situated at more than 3 km from municipal importance parks, at more than 1 km from urban parks,
residential areas with access to crowded parks, or with access to parks that have degraded endowments).
Deficient access to Bucharest urban parks was correlated with the development projects of new residential
quarters, being obviously the tendency of city suffocation under the pressure of constructed surfaces and
agglomeration.

Key-Words: - urban parks, residential areas, housing, Bucharest, rehabilitation priorities areas

1 Introduction residential areas was completed by a tendency of

Green spaces represent an essential component in vertical development, initially through 4 floors
large urban environments, to which they offer constru-ctions, then 9 and 10 floors, in the present
numerous direct and indirect services (improving reaching 20 floors. These new residential surfaces
environmental quality, recreation and leisure, accentuated the real deficit of public green spaces.
climate amelioration etc.) [1], [2], [3]. Green spaces
deficit is expressed through the degradation of
housing conditions in urban environments [1], [2],
[3], automatically determining an increase of
housing costs [4], a degradation of the population’s
health state [5], [6] and the appearance of social
segregation problems [7], [8].
Once called “the city of gardens”, Bucharest
transformed in only 16 years in a real urban semi-
desert, the green surface decreasing with 34,5 %
between 1990-2006 (from 3471,2 ha to 2274,4 ha)
[9], mean while the households and population
increasing with 25 % [10]. The most important
decreases (over 60 %) were recorded in the south of
Bucharest (sectors 4 and 5), were it was already
present an important deficit of green spaces (Fig. 1).
In 2006, in Bucharest, the green spaces surfaces
were of 2,274.38 ha (9.56 % of the city’s surface,
respectively 11.8 m2 / inhabitant). From these 679.2
ha (29.9 % of the green spaces surfaces) were
occupied by parks and public gardens, with an index
of 3.51 m2 / inhabitant [9].
In the same time, residential areas had a strongly
ascendant dynamic, developing especially on former
Fig.1 – Urban parks distribution in relation with
open spaces [11], [12]. The spatial development of
Bucharest’s residential areas

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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS and DEVELOPMENT

2 Problem Formulation Table 1

Housing quality in urban residential areas is directly Population distribution on categories of residential
proportional with the covering degree of public habitats in Bucharest (2002)
Categories of Household Habitat % Population
green spaces of high quality [13], [14]. Areas with residential -number- from total habitats %
green spaces deficit (situated at over 3 km from habitats from total
municipal importance parks or at over 1 km from Central urban
55,000 7.1 4.9
quarter parks, areas with access to crowded parks, or type
with access at parks with degraded endowments) are Urban parcels
20,000 2.6 2.3
type
characterized by social and environmental problems, Homogenous
reflecting in the housing quality of residential 35,000 4.5 4.0
frontal type
spaces. Their delimitation and classification allows Blocks 630,000 80.8 82.8
identifying urban areas that require urgent measures Rural type 25,000 3.2 3.8
of urban rehabilitation. New rural type 15,000 1.9 2.3

2.1 Spatial distribution of urban parks Most of the population lives in apartments from
In Bucharest, urban parks represent the main large housing ensembles (82.8 %), over-lapping
supplier of leisure services and regulator of the mostly areas with parks deficiencies.
rapport between nature and constructed surfaces [9],
[12]. According to the complexity of presented
services, Bucharest urban parks were classified into
parks of metropolitan importance (Herastrau,
Tineretului, Titan, Cismigiu, Padurea Baneasa),
municipal importance (Carol, Plumbuita, Circului,
Gradina Botanica, Drumul Taberei, etc.), quarter
importance with medium attractiveness (Obor,
Motodrom, Gradina Icoanei, Ioanid, Pacii,
Morarilor, Tei, etc.) and quarter parks with reduced
attractiveness (Verdi, Crangasi, Pieptanari, Venus,
etc.).
Their spatial distribution isn’t regular, being noticed
an agglomeration of urban parks in Bucharest’s
northern and eastern parts (alongside Colentina).
Areas with the most reduced accessibility to urban
parks are found in the periphery, where de ascendant
dynamic of residential surfaces is strongly expressed
(Fig. 2).

2.2 Present rapport green spaces –

residential spaces in Bucharest
In Bucharest, residential spaces have suffered a
special spatial and structural dynamics, with
adjustments according to requirements, economics
dynamic, residential mobility or plans promoted at
national or local level by state institutions or private
economical agents [10], [15].
In 2002, in Bucharest were inventoried about
780,000 housings, most of them (80.8 %) being
found in large residential ensembles (blocks). Rural
type housings have a reduced percent of the total in
Bucharest, but they generate a high impact upon the
quality of urban endowments (including parks)
(Table 1).
Fig.2 – Residential areas accessibility to parks of
metropolitan and municipal importance in Bucharest
2.3 The role of new residential projects and
the accentuation of green spaces deficit
The liberalization of the real-estate market allowed
the un-precedent development of the housing
construction private sector [15].
Currently, are developed over 80 residential
projects, with building’s heights of more than 10
floors, most of them being localized in the northern
and eastern part of Bucharest (Fig. 3).

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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS and DEVELOPMENT

the southern parts of the Aparatorii Patriei, Berceni

and Ferentari) with predominantly rural types of
housings; from these spaces the access to parks is
difficult and the unbalances between constructed
surfaces and open spaces are acute;
- residential spaces situated at more than 1 km from
all categories of urban parks (24 % of al residential
spaces in Bucharest), corresponding to periphery
areas (with acute green spaces deficit), to the Vitan,
Militari, Ferentari, Berceni, Colentina quarters and
to some components of the Drumul Taberei quarter.
In periphery area predominant are rural type
housings, and blocks are specific to the quarters.

Fig. 3 – Correlation between urban parks and new

residential projects in Bucharest

They are concentrated in areas with good

accessibility to urban parks, but which are
overcrowded. Thus, these residential spaces, besides
their housing function, don’t create the infrastructure
that will generate services necessary for maintaining
a high standard of living, and instead are inserted on
the already present infrastructure. For example, the
housings from the micro-quarters Garden and
Planorama will be serviced by the Plumbuita Park,
where are already present real problems of
overcrowding and the poor quality of the park’s
infrastructures. Their finalization will bring an extra Fig. 4 – Categories of residential spaces with
number of visitors in nearby parks, with direct deficient access to urban parks
consequences on endowments quality and presented
services. - residential spaces with access to overcrowded
parks (48 % of the residential spaces) are found in
the central area, the Drumul Taberei and Rahova
3 Residential areas categories quarters. In their case, the number of parks visitors
function of accessibility to urban parks is already high, their recreation value being thus
After classifying residential spaces in Bucharest diminished.
function of their access to urban parks were - residential spaces with access to parks with
identified the following categories with deficient degraded infrastructure (2 % of the residential
access to parks: (Fig. 4): spaces in Bucharest), corresponding to spaces
- residential spaces situated at more than 3 km from situated in the proximity of the Izvor, Gara de Nord,
parks of metropolitan and municipal importance (6 Verdi or Plumbuita parks. These parks have a
% of the total residential spaces in Bucharest), doubtful ownership status, or are situated in the
corresponding to periphery areas (Bucurestii Noi, proximity of areas that generate insecurity (for
Soseaua Chitila, Alexandriei, Progresului quarters, example, Gara de Nord – North Rail station).

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 ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS and DEVELOPMENT
- residential spaces with good accessibility to urban
parks represent almost 20 % of the total, being
found mainly in the northern and eastern parts of
Bucharest.
4 Conclusion
Residential spaces with deficient access to urban
parks represent priority areas for urban rehabilitation
[16], [17], their functionality being affected by the
unbalance induced by the heavy development of
constructed surfaces [18]. In order to avoid the
expansion of these areas is necessary to correlate the
space offer with the environment’s support capacity
for new residential areas. Also, in the southern and
western parts must be introduced financial
incentives for diminishing current unbalances. The
reconversion of restructured industrial platforms and
barren fields can offer solutions for the expansion of
green spaces surfaces in Bucharest.
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