Urban planning through major planning documents after 1999: urban centrality between vision and realityFig. 2
Bucharest, the localization of
development poles proposed
through the General Urban
Plan in 1999 – a system of
19 main poles situated in
attractive locations with
complex functions in order to
ensure a metropolitan visibility.
(PUG 1999, interpretation by
Alexandru)
A crucial document for the development of Bucharest was the GUP drafted
and approved in 1999, in which the idea of polycentricity was clearly stressed
out; this idea was closely related to the ambition of Bucharest of becoming
a European metropolis. As an urbanistic sub-objective, the plan previsioned
nineteen attractive and highly accessible areas in order to channel and absorb
new economic pressure in terms of companies headquarters, locational
pressure for national and international corporations etc. The mentioned
locations were predetermined on complex criteria and were supposed to
constitute consolidated poles of the city that could ease the pressure put
on the city-center and to drive development in a sustainable way. Another
objective proposed by the ‘99 GUP was the increase with 40% of land reserved
for urban representative functions in the central area of the city, including in
the ”Bucharest 2000” area^13. We could say, a healing gesture for the city. The
historical center is confirmed by the GUP, on its 1995 perimeter and included as
a special Reference Unit with clear regulations.It is noteworthy that the open-mindedness of the authors of the GUP, anticipating
the aspiration of Bucharest to become a European capital, led to formulating
ambitious objectives for the future development, putting Bucharest alongside
central European capitals such as Budapest or Prague.