Bucharest urban planning is seen as a sequence of stages in the concentrated
effort towards the creation of the urban plans:
- the preparation stage in the first decade of the 20th century - with
the moment of 1906 public contest for Bucharest Urban Plan as the
first attempt to set a common goal for city’s development; marked
by the activity of Eng. Al. Davidescu, the forerunner of Romanian
urban planning whose great achievement was the success in
defining the need for scientific urban planning - the layout and start in the 1910-1920s – with the General Urban Plan
approved in 1921 (PGS|21) authored by Eng. C. Sfințescu; marked
by Sfintescu’s efforts that led to the settlement of Romanian urban
planning: research, journals, laws, official associations, consistent
international presence. - early maturity in the 1930s - the Guiding Urban Plan approved in
1935 (PDS|35) and the efforts of Eng. T. Rădulescu and Arch. I.
Davidescu in all phases of the planning process following the plan’s
approval, and the excitement stirred by the first comprehensive
planning laws to set the grounds for urban planning. PDS|35 was
at the heart of the planning debate starting 1928 till long after its
approval.
The following elements highlight a comprehensive overview of Bucharest
urban planning at the beginning of the 20th century:
- the progress and acknowledgement of the fundamental differences
between urban plans and street alignment plans - the gradual transition of urban planning towards the social welfare
- uncontrolled territorial expansion acknowledged as the major
problem of cities