3S RECIPE – Smart Shrinkage Solutions: Timisoara (RO) Policy Brief #2. Compact Connected City

Since 1989, during Romania’s post-communist transition, almost all industrial facilities in central areas of the city have either shut down or relocated outside the city boundaries. The closed factories left behind over a dozen large brownfield sites very close to the medieval city centre, with each possessing a real potential for urban regeneration. By offering some fiscal incentives, the local authority has been able to attract private sector developers to repurpose the city’s abandoned land. This policy brief showcases a successful smart shrinkage solution to make Timișoara more compact and dense by developing its brownfield sites into brand new large real estate projects for residential and office use. Even though all of these interventions have been private sector-run, the municipality has maintained control over densification by functionally integrating new real estate projects into the urban grid and arranging for their access to public services. Vertical development, thus, emerges as a valuable approach to compacting a shrinking city, especially, if the new inner-city housing can offer an adequate alternative to living in sprawling suburbs.