Romanian cities are facing two opposing patterns of urban development that are common worldwide: a significant number of small cities are undergoing a process of shrinkage, while large cities are experiencing dense urban sprawl. This study examines the framework of the current legislation and urban codes that impact the growth of Romanian cities. The aim is to establish a critical analysis of the current urban codes of residential areas in Romania and to create a framework for an integrated neighbourhood tool of analysis for Romanian residential areas, using urban form as a starting point. This direction starts from the fact that international documents such as the “New Leipzig Charter” recommend a resilient and environmentally friendly approach to urban development, while current Romanian normative documents on resilience and sustainability focus mostly on buildings, ignoring a broader vision that includes the urban scale of the neighbourhood or city while considering the multidisciplinary requirement for understanding urban morphology and phenomena. Existing urban legislation in Romania is characterised by several deficiencies resulting from the fragmentation of outdated regulatory bodies in the field of urban planning. Furthermore, this study has demonstrated that urban indicators can serve as a versatile tool for the assessment and enhancement of residential areas in the country.

Inspired by the video-games industry that simulated the design and development of fictive cities (e.g. the SIM City series), CIM - City Information Modeling, aims to create a platform that allows architects, planners and other specialists to collaborate on the study and design of city-wide projects. Similar to BIM - Building Information Modeling, CIM utilizes 3D modeling that goes beyond the traditional know CAD - computer aided design, capabilities in order to incorporate data and information that are specific to a city. In this way the actual form of the city is linked to the infrastructure, to the public services, to the people's mobility and interactions through the urban space and other aspects that are attributed to the urban life. The chaotic development of the new residential areas in Romania has been usually attributed to different social, economic or political factors. To fully understand the current urban form of the Romanian cities we must also look into the influence of urban regulations on the current development and anticipate how they will evolve. The aim of the study is to use CIM as a scientific and educational tool of understanding how urban regulations impact the residential areas through time. The focus will be on what can we learn from the simulation of a certain Romanian residential area and how changing the urban regulation impacts not only the urban form but also other aspects concerning the quality of life. Thus, the simulations will allow the parallel study of different urban regulations in a controlled environment.

The System in the Room is an art installation inspired by mathematician Mihai Botez and architect Mariana Celac’s book The Systems of Spatial Planning, published in 1980 in Romania. Developed and presented in the context of the Utopian Cities, Programmed Societies (2019-2020) project, the art installation reinterprets Botez and Celac’s ideas on housing in a contemporary context using playful and participatory methods. It aims to allow the players to experience and reflect on the housing concepts advanced in the book. The practice of urban planning has changed dramatically since the book was published. Still, it fascinates by its attempt to define urban systematisation as a science that deals with the organisation and complex remodelling of territorial structures and cities to ensure the optimal framework necessary for the development of human activities and the mutual relationship between the environment and its inhabitants. It is one of the first of its sort to address systemic thinking and, in the context of a socialist country, the book points to the role of science (mathematics in particular) in the planning and management of urbanism and economy. By performing and representing housing concepts, we sought to bring back a historical perspective, its resurgence into today’s urban studies debates and the role of citizens and urbanists in today’s political decisions regarding the city. By using games and participatory methods we aimed to critically discuss a specialist book in urban studies and to encourage more engaging perspectives in today’s urban planning decision-making contexts. At the intersection of urban studies, cultural studies, STS, game design and artistic research, this paper takes an urban planning book and its contemporary context as a starting point and discusses an original art installation as a form of critical reading and participatory engagement in the urban planning decision-making process.