When relating to hazards such as earthquakes, a primary task of a resilience approach is to evaluate vulnerability in an integrative manner by taking into account the most relevant indicators. Focused on Iasi, one of the major Romanian cities which are exposed to the earthquakes originating in Vrancea area, this study aims to assess seismic vulnerability using a multi-criteria analysis of buildings infrastructure and social vulnerability. Several indicators are taken into account, such as physical (related to the characteristics of buildings and terrain) and social indicators (related to population and economic income), as well as the accessibility from/to emergency services/hospitals. The indicators were processed by standardization (Z score), processed and correlated using the principal components analysis (PCA) and integrated within an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). By summing the weighted values of the standardized indicators, a (integrated) seismic vulnerability index was obtained. It is a pre-assessment of the seismic vulnerability in Iasi City and also a prerequisite for the identification of the necessary prevention measures to be taken in compliance with the identified spatial patterns of vulnerability as a part of a resilient approach.

In the context of deindustrialization and desurbanization, Romanian cities are confronted with issues related to natural demographic decline and out-migration, inducing apparently opposite, but complementary phenomena: slow-burn shrinkage and urban sprawl, which create peripheralisation processes both inside and outside the cities. The current approach acknowledges urban shrinkage within the context of post-communist transformations, but also as a “natural” process in the (adaptive) life cycle of cities. In this context, the study aims to explore the interdependencies between the causes and effects of shrinkage, on the one hand, and the operating feedback mechanisms which might lead to adaptation, on the other. It highlights the changes incurred by the territorial (un)balance combining the spatial analysis of urban shrinkage in relation to the diffused structures imposed by sub-urbanization or metropolisation processes. Using multi-criteria and time series analysis methods, the aim of the assessment is to determine and analyse the significant correlations and trends taking into account relevant demographic, social–economic as well as infrastructural and environmental indicators, in order to describe typologies of urban shrinkage in Romania and their adaptation potential. The results are interpreted in correlation with the need for sustainable strategies and planning, in order to tackle the issue of urban shrinkage in Romania.

Our paper aims to analyze the tendencies of population dynamics in the area of the Romanian Carpathians, as well as the factors and spatial processes that can explain the disparities, discontinuities and tensions of demographic evolution. Starting from the hypothesis of an existing set of well-known particularities of the three areas of the Romanian Carpathians (Eastern, Southern and Western), in close connection with the specific manner of using natural and human resources of each area, the main objective of our study is to pinpoint the significant aspects of depopulation and population redistribution. The database was established resorting to censuses from 1912 to the present time. Coupled with a typology of population evolution, a regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between population size changes through time and other variables. The results highlight the contrast between the sustained dynamic in the first part of our study period and the subsequent decline, particularly in the case of establishments specialized in industrial extraction activities. Despite all this, clear signs and tendencies of revitalization and dynamism can be observed, especially where urban and rural settlements are well adapted to the natural environment and can benefit from a significant tourism potential.

For the past 25 years, Romania crossed a contradictory evolution between the social–educational and economic aspects. From the inflexible educational system of the totalitarian regime, when all graduates from different levels of education immediately received a job (to avoid unemployment—a phenomenon that the communist authorities did not tolerate), there was a transition to an educational system marked by frequent structural and methodological changes and by an increasing gap between the educational offer and the real necessities of the labor market. In this context, the aim of this paper was to analyzes, in the light of the sociology of education, the difficulties met by the new generations that enter the labor market after following a previously established educational model, often intended to be changed according to European sociological principles, but with deeply rooted mentalities and structure, actually difficult to alter. The ability to adapt to the new socio-economic context and to adjust educational programs to the new labor market requirements, in a strong correlation with the European policies, is constantly taken into account by interpreting the results in the spirit of the sociology of education and sustainable development.

In this study we aim to highlight the spatial differences, intensity and frequency of causes of death associated with a range of diseases and the implications of the socio-economic impact on healthcare worldwide between 1990 and 2017: (1) Background: At the same time, an attempt was made to find regional spatial patterns that may be typical for a given geographical area, based on the assumption that global health care is in a permanent state of uncertainty as developed countries have a different morbidity profile than emerging or developing countries. (2) Methods: Using information provided by Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network, Our World in Data and the World Bank, a multidimensional analysis was carried out, comprising four types of statistical models: grouping analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) Bravais–Pearson linear correlation and multivariate regression. (3) Results: The results confirm the hypothesis of significant correlations between the frequency of causes of death, quality of health care and quality of public health infrastructure, validated by incidence with socio-economic indicators. The study contributes to the literature by analysing trends in the spatial distribution of causes of death worldwide, detecting regional differentiations and testing how socio-economic factors may limit the incidence of morbidity.