摘要：In 2008 the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Housing (now the Ministry ofRegional Development and Public Administration) prepared the growth poles policy for Romania, establishingseven growth poles to be financed through the Regional Operational Programme 2007-1013, under thePriority Axis no. 1. For 2007-2013 there were also established 11 urban development poles. At present theMinistry is discussing with the European Commission the new Regional Operational Programme 2014-2020in which the main policy lines regarding integrated territorial development also take into consideration theimprovement of the quality of life and the “appearance” of towns and strengthening their role in the region.The main urban agglomerations (county seats) are seen as development engines of the regions. The authorsanalyze the results obtained and the problems that appeared at regional level in what concerns the projectsfinanced under Axis 1 of the ROP 2007-2013 by answering two main questions: did they really had theestimated impact on the growth and urban development poles and on the regions? and was there really anintegrated approach used? Based on the results obtained from the analysis of the previous programmingperiod the authors try to recommend some improvements that could be taken into consideration for thedevelopment of the Integrated urban development plans and priority projects that are going to be financed byESI funds under Axis 4 of the new ROP 2014-2020, recommendations that could be taken into considerationwhen preparing the Guidelines for applicants for this axis
关键词：growth poles; urban development poles; urban development policy; regional operational;programme
