I would have never believed to pick up again the topic of Buzesti-Uranus axis that soon (see issue 91). “The Platform for Bucharest”, other NGO’s and the media have brought before justice a decision of Bucharest Municipality and the court pronounced the Master Plan of the operation illegal.
However, till we got to this stage, there was a period of stormy actions and protests accusing the destruction of monuments, the obsolete solution, and the abuses of the project. The court verdict is quite surprising and, yes, it could be rated as the success of civic society for no other reason than that for twenty years we have been powerless negotiators against various political agendas.
Given this stressful context and against the background of the city that has just suffered the ravages of bulldozers, the Chamber of Architects through the voices of its top representatives have offered to mediate between the municipality and the civic society and bring a more coherent vision. Maybe this moment of such tension and crisis will make room for more complex nuances to the initial solution.
Traffic, commerce, identity symbols, political marketing, gentrification, densification, resources, wastes are all part of city’s economy of values and energies that demanded a rapid coherent form.
With us, the world of architecture and urban planning does not prove a long gained tranquility and reflection. The project winner is always he who works fast, makes rapid decisions, and never wastes his time on details or, which is worse, with approvals and permits.
A couple of months ago, I heard about a legislative initiative proposing the elimination of building permits and the drawing of some ten standard projects for houses and apartment building for the whole country. Maybe we belong to a hurrying world because we have so much to do or because we must earn money or build our own history. However, this tiny episode in the history of urban practice policies in Romania should be marked as ground 0, a fresh start for more complex solutions to thorny issues implying the commitment of more professionals in interdisciplinary urban studies, to put it more politically, maybe time has come for a better city. And, of course, for no more trials.
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Photo: Dragos Lumpan
