After World War I, Transylvania became part of Romania in 1918 through what is called the Great Union. After 100 years, Alba Iulia authorities celebrated the Unification Centennial in a symbolic way by testing and implementing 100 smart digital projects. The research question is asked, Is Alba Iulia a true smart city? Methodologically, we centralized the urban regeneration and sustainable development projects, plotting them on a map using geographic information system ArcGIS 16.2 software. The results were interpreted using the arch over time method and emphasized the sustainable development tendencies of the Union City a century later. Its policies and projects make Alba Iulia a model for emergent development despite some unsolved gaps such as social inclusion of marginal communities or real urban smart functionality. Conclusively, the current poor implementation of smart applications certifies Alba Iulia’s digital city status, not as one of smart city.

Die Fachzeitschrift "Mitteilungen der Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft" (früher "Mitteilungen der k.k. Geographischen Gesellschaft in Wien") • ist das wichtigste regelmäßig erscheinende Organ der "Österreichischen Geographischen Gesellschaft", erscheint seit 1857 und ist die älteste noch existierende Fachzeitschrift geographischen Inhaltes im deutschen Sprachraum, • vermittelt neue Erkenntnisse aus allen Bereichen der Geographie, Kartographie und verwandter Raumwissenschaften, • informiert über Fachfragen in Forschung und Lehre, nationale und internationale geographische Aktivitäten, sowie Personalia, • erscheint im Umfang von mindestens 400 Druckseiten (mit Kartenbeilagen) im Jahr

The rehabilitation of abandoned mining sites is an increasingly pressing issue in the context of sustainable development. Recent research has emphasized the need for a holistic approach to the abandoned mining sites and their environmental rehabilitation. Based on field analysis, environmental assessments, satellite imagery processing and geographic information operations, this paper pushes forward the existing knowledge by conducting a comprehensive assessment of abandoned mining sites in the Romanian Carpathians and by proposing innovative and sustainable rehabilitation solutions. Our findings highlight that abandoned mining sites and their surrounding territories in the Romanian mountains have significant ecological imbalances and complex socio-economic issues. The findings also suggest that by adopting innovative, integrated, and sustainability-oriented approaches, territories affected by mining can be transformed into valuable and sustainable spaces to meet human needs. We conclude by presenting the importance of innovation in ecological reconstruction and spatial–functional reintegration of mining sites in mountain areas as a useful tool in making fair decisions, both in the context of implementing appropriate development policies as well as for the resilience and environmental sustainability of mining-affected mountain areas.

Academia Romana - Centru de Studii Transilvane Cluj Napoca

The university city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania is one of the clearest examples where ‘the night’ (including restaurants, bars, discotheques, clubs, and also museums, exhibitions, and theatres) has been essential for the vitality of the city. Despite the importance of ‘the night’ for the everyday life of the city, the role of the night-time leisure economy in the social and urban change of European post-socialist cities remains underexplored. Based on mixed research methods, this paper aims to examine the recent development of the night-time leisure economy of Cluj-Napoca. After a theoretical approach in which we highlight the long underexplored path that still exists in relation to the study on the political, social, cultural and economic factors of ’the night’ in post-socialist cities from South-Eastern Europe, the paper shows a quantitative approach about a range of variables that define the different (and unequal) forms of consuming the night in the city centre of Cluj-Napoca. The second part of the paper shows the results derived from the quantitative study about the different perceptions and visions that employees, residents, venue owners, and municipals have about nightlife in Cluj-Napoca. The paper concludes by suggesting that a greater institutional attention should be provided to the development of the night-time leisure economy in the city centre of Cluj-Napoca in order to avoid the reproduction of 'segmented nightscapes' that highly feature the night in Central and Western Europe.

The rehabilitation of abandoned mining sites is an increasingly pressing issue in the context of sustainable development. Recent research has emphasized the need for a holistic approach to the abandoned mining sites and their environmental rehabilitation. Based on field analysis, environmental assessments, satellite imagery processing and geographic information operations, this paper pushes forward the existing knowledge by doing a comprehensive assessment of abandoned mining sites in the Romanian Carpathians and by proposing innovative and sustainable rehabilitation solutions. Our findings highlight that abandoned mining sites and their surrounding territories in the Romanian mountains have significant ecological imbalances and complex socio-economic issues. The findings also suggest that by adopting innovative, integrated, and sustainability-oriented approaches, territories affected by mining can be transformed into valuable and sustainable spaces to meet human needs. We conclude by presenting the importance of innovation in ecological reconstruction and spatial-functional reintegration of mining sites in mountain areas as a useful tool in making fair decisions, both in the context of implementing appropriate development policies as well as for resilience and environmental sustainability of mining-affected mountain areas.