Bihor County might turn into the first Romanian metropolitan area if Oradea City and the seven neighbouring localities (Bors, Santandrei, Nojorid, Sanmartin, Osorhei, Cetariu and Biharia), with a total population of 40,000 inhabitants, join forces.
Under such circumstances, the administrative boundaries of Oradea might expand by more than 7,300 hectares adding to the 7,800 hectares on which the city spreads now.
The discussions between the representatives of the eight City Halls led to two collaboration protocols that were signed in February and July 2001. They settled only the general framework of collaboration and the agreement of the local authorities to provide each other with information in order to build a joint database.
The idea of the Oradea inhabitants was agreed in Bucharest, as well. The next stage was the contract signed with the Ministry of Public Works and Territory Planning, which last week delivered the first funds.
The 700 million ROL will aim to draw out a draft backing the general urban plan devised for the eight localities to be part of the metropolitan area. "Before we link the administrative territories, we have to trace the flaws and eliminate them," Andrei Lucan, the chief architect, says.
"The population will be consulted for the general urban plan and the best suggestions will be considered. After the project takes shape, we will submit several propositions of legislative modifications to the Government. We need a clear legislative framework in order to make the metropolitan area effective. The expenses will be partially supported by the budget of each locality, but the bulk of the money will come from government sources. The participation of international financial institutions is not ruled out," Lucan said.
The metropolis will be ruled by a joint council, with an equal number of representatives from each locality.
If Oradea turns into a metropolis, the inhabitants of the neighbouring areas will enjoy the most advantages, as they will benefit from the same public facilities as Oradea dwellers: public transportation, sewerage, water and heat supply.
On the other hand, this move would help the urban crowd to get dispersed. "We are planning to push the districts to the places where the town's outskirts are now and build new districts there," Luncan says.
The metropolitan area will be both a tourism and business attraction. As a metropolis, Oradea will be more likely to attract foreign investments.
Although it is too early, the municipality has received the first bid from a foreign company to build a general water supply network under an investment worth more than 200 million euros.
The metropolitan area will make Romania the fourth European country having such an urban system. The first country was France, with Paris having been added the adjacent territories four years ago.
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