The Question of the Danube and the Planning Myopia

Abstract

This is our first paper in a sequence of studies dedicated to the Danube. Hence, the following text should be considered as an introduction to a more ambitious research project in the field of spatial planning. In essence, the article forms a critical synthesis of the various arguments that have been put forwardover the past hundred years in support of the Danube’s significance as a vector for development. This exercise in synthesis is both a necessary and an instructing prerequisite for the entire research project: In due course, we wish to formulate a basic set of hypotheses concerning Romania’s development in connection to the Danube. If proven feasible, we wish to subsequently test them in as much detail as possible. The rationale behind this review paper is a reasoned examination of the functions the Danube can still fulfil from a Romanian spatial planning perspective.

Keywords

• Danube
• Romanian Studies of the Danube
• Romanian Planning Myopia