INDUSTRIAL RESTRUCTURING IN SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED TOWNS FROM ROMANIA – EVOLUTION BACKGROUND AND POSITIVE PERSPECTIVES WITH CHALLENGES

Small and medium sized industrial towns of Romania faced numerous challenges and difficulties together with the postsocialist transformation processes under the transition to the market economy. The paper analyses small and medium sized industrial towns from Romania through their socioeconomic evolution under the impact of the industrial restructuring process that started in the 1990s. Employing several sets of statistic data, the analysis evidences also several directions for the development of these towns through urban regeneration actions and different economic alternatives.