Recent Urban-to-Rural Migration and Its Impact on the Heritage of Depopulated Rural Areas in Southern Transylvania
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- (1)
- What challenges face rural heritage in a counterurbanisation or “back to the village” trend, and how are newcomers perceived among the host communities?
- (2)
- How does rural gentrification work due to the newcomers and what is the role of the NGOs in the post-communist transformation of rural areas?
2. From Rural Heritage and Depopulation to Counterurbanisation and Rural Gentrification
3. Materials and Methods
4. Study Area
5. Results
5.1. Counterurbanisation, Integration of Newcomers, and Rural Gentrification
5.2. Small Entrepreneurs and Tourism
5.3. Rural Gentrification and Its Influences on Local Rural Heritage
“I’d like a new house, a traditional house… I don’t know what you mean. […] I liked our old house, but it’s harder though. I’ll tell you, those windows were harder to wash. […] Now I wouldn’t build a traditional house, if I were to build a house, I think half the walls would be glass. […] These traditional houses really have small, narrow windows. They’re cool like that, but I don’t know… […] Now in this century of speed, what can you do with a traditional house?”
“I love history, and I think it’s worth saving for us and for future generations; if we do it together, we might attract visitors who like this kind of village.” (M, 54, newcomer) Others even feel that “if I can create objects that go with the houses and the architecture of the buildings, that’s what I enjoy doing the most. You have to combine simple things with modern design, but not everyone does that well.”(M, 36, investor)
6. Discussion and Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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No. | Age | Gender | Educational Level | Category | Locality |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 45 | M | University degree | Newcomer/NGO | Hosman |
2 | 39 | M | University degree | NGO | Hosman |
3 | 41 | F | University degree | Newcomer/NGO | Hosman |
4 | 64 | M | University degree | Public administration/Town planning officer | Hosman |
5 | 29 | F | University degree | Local | Hosman |
6 | 30 | F | High school | Local | Hosman |
7 | 54 | M | University degree | Newcomer/Entrepreneur | Hosman |
8 | 56 | F | High school | Local | Hosman |
9 | 52 | F | Post-secondary education | Local/Town hall official | Hosman |
10 | 36 | M | University degree | Newcomer/Contractor/Blacksmith | Hosman |
11 | 39 | M | University degree | Newcomer/NGO | Hosman |
12 | 36 | M | University degree | Newcomer | Râu Sadului |
13 | 48 | M | University degree | NGO | Râu Sadului |
14 | 38 | F | University degree | Agro-tourism entrepreneur | Râu Sadului |
15 | 38 | M | University degree | Public administration/Mayor | Râu Sadului |
16 | 40 | M | Postgraduate qualification | Newcomer | Râu Sadului |
17 | 40 | F | University degree | Newcomer | Râu Sadului |
18 | 38 | M | University degree | Local | Râu Sadului |
19 | 54 | F | University degree | Local | Râu Sadului |
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Dragan, A.; Ispas, R.T.; Crețan, R. Recent Urban-to-Rural Migration and Its Impact on the Heritage of Depopulated Rural Areas in Southern Transylvania. Heritage 2024, 7, 4282-4299. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7080202
Dragan A, Ispas RT, Crețan R. Recent Urban-to-Rural Migration and Its Impact on the Heritage of Depopulated Rural Areas in Southern Transylvania. Heritage. 2024; 7(8):4282-4299. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7080202
Chicago/Turabian StyleDragan, Alexandru, Raluca Tatiana Ispas, and Remus Crețan. 2024. "Recent Urban-to-Rural Migration and Its Impact on the Heritage of Depopulated Rural Areas in Southern Transylvania" Heritage 7, no. 8: 4282-4299. https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7080202