Bucharest.
Climate.
Law and government.
Justice system.
Crime.
Music and nightlife.
Communist architecture.
Contemporany architecture.

Bucharest.

By European standards, Bucharest is not an old city, its existence first being referred to by scholars as late as 1459. Since then it has gone through a variety of changes, becoming the state capital of Romania in 1862 and steadily consolidating its position as the centre of the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its eclectic architecture is a mix of historical, interbellum, Communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of the "Paris of the East" or "Little Paris". Although many buildings and districts in the historic centre were damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes and Nicolae Ceausescu's program of systematization, many survived. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom.

According to January 2006 official estimates, Bucharest proper has a population of 1,930,390. The urban area extends beyond the limits of Bucharest proper and has a population of 2.1 million people. Adding the satellite towns around the urban area, the metropolitan area of Bucharest has a population of 2.6 million people. Bucharest is the 6th largest city in the European Union by population within city limits.

Economically, the city is by far the most prosperous in Romania and is one of the main industrial centres and transportation hubs of Eastern Europe. As the most important city in Romania, Bucharest also has a broad range of educational facilities.

The city proper is administratively known as the Municipality of Bucharest, and has the same administrative level as a county, being further subdivided into six sectors.

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Climate.

Bucharest has a continental climate, characterised by hot dry summers and cold winters. Due to its position on the Romanian Plain, the city's winters could get windy, even though some of the winds are mitigated due to urbanisation. Winter temperatures are often below 0°C,even though they rarely drop below -10°C.In summer, the average temperature is approximately 23°C (the average forJuly and August), despite the fact that temperatures sometimes reach 35-40°C in mid-summer in the city centre. Although average precipitation and humidity during summer is low, there are infrequent yet heavy and often violent storms. During spring and autumn, temperatures vary between 18-22°C, and precipitation duringthis time tends to be higher than in summer, with more frequent yet milder periods of rain.

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Law and government.

The six administrative sectors of Bucharest

Bucharest has a unique status in Romanian administration, since it is the only municipality that is not part of a county. Its population, however, is larger than that of any Romanian county, and hence the power of the Bucharest General City Hall (Primaria Generala), which is the city's local government body, is about the same as, if not greater than, that of Romanian county councils.

The city government is headed by a General Mayor (Primar General), currently (as of 2007) Adriean Videanu. Decisions are approved and discussed by the General Council (Consiliu General) made up of 55 elected councillors. Furthermore, the city is divided into six administrative sectors (sectoare), each of which has their own 27-seat sectorial council, town hall and mayor. The powers of local government over a certain area are therefore shared by the Bucharest City Hall and the local sectorial councils with little or no overlapping of authority. The general rule is that the main City Hall is responsible for city wide utilities such as the water system, the transport system and the main boulevards, while sectorial town halls manage the contact between individuals and the local government, secondary streets, parks, schools and cleaning services.

The six sectors are numbered from one to six and are disposed radially so that each one has under its administration an area of the city center. They are numbered clock wise and are further divided into districts without any form of administration (cartiere):

• Sector 1: Aviatorilor, Aviatiei, Baneasa, Bucurestii Noi, Damaroaia, Domenii, Dorobanti, Gara de Nord, Grivita, Victoriei, Pajura, Pipera, Primaverii, Romana
• Sector 2: Colentina, Floreasca, Iancului, Mosilor, Obor, Pantelimon, Stefan cel Mare, Tei, Vatra Luminoasa
• Sector 3: Balta Alba, Centrul Civic, Dristor, Dudesti, Lipscani, Muncii, Titan, Unirii, Vitan
• Sector 4: Berceni, Oltenitei, Tineretului, Vacaresti
• Sector 5: 13 Septembrie, Cotroceni, Dealul Spirii, Ferentari, Rahova, Ghencea
• Sector 6: Crângasi, Giulesti, Drumul Taberei, Militari, Regie-Grozävesti

Like all other local councils in Romania, the Bucharest sectorial councils, the city's General Council and the mayors are elected every four years by the population. Additionally, Bucharest has a prefect, who is appointed by Romania's central government. The prefect is not allowed to be a member of a political party. The prefect's role is to represent the national government at local level, acting as a liaison and facilitating the implementation of National Development Plans and governing programmes at local level.

The Municipality of Bucharest, along with the surrounding Ilfov county, forms the Bucharest development region, which is equivalent to NUTS-II regions in the European Union and is used by the European Union and the Romanian Government for statistical analysis and regional development. The Bucharest development region is not, however, an administrative entity.

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Justice system.

Bucharest's judicial system is similar to that of the Romanian counties. Each of the six sectors has their own local tribunal, while appeals from these tribunals' verdicts, and more serious cases, are directed to the Bucharest Court of Appeals, the city's municipal court. Bucharest is also home to Romania's supreme court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice, as well as other national courts such as the Constitutional Court of Romania and the National Military Tribunal.

Bucharest has its own municipal police force, the Bucharest Police (Politia Bucuresti), which is responsible for policing of crime within the whole city, and operates a number of special divisions. The Bucharest Police are headquartered on Stefan cel Mare Blvd in the city centre, and has a number of precincts throughout the city. From 2004 onwards, each sector City Hall also has under its administration a Community Police force (Politia Comunitara), dealing with local community issues. Bucharest also houses the General Inspectorates of the Gendarmerie and the National Police.

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Crime.

Bucharest's crime rate is rather low in comparison to other East-European capital cities,with the number of total offences declining by 51% between 2000 and 2004. In particular, levels of violent crime remain very low, with 24 murders and 1069 other violent offences taking place in 2004. Althought here have been a number of recent police crack downs on organised crime gangs, such as the Camataru clan, organised crime generally has a reduced impact on public life. Petty crime, however, is more common, particularly in the form of pick pocketing, which occurs mainly on the city's public transport network. Additionally, confidence tricks are sometimes common, especially in regards to tourists, even though the frequency of these tricks has declined in recent years. Levels of crime are higher in the southern districts of the city, particularly in Ferentari, asocially-disadvantaged area mainly inhabited by people of Roma ethnicity.

Although the presence of street children was a problem in Bucharest in the 1990s, their numbers have declined significantly in recent years, currently lying at or below the average of major European capital cities. The same is true for beggars and homeless people, many of them from the Roma minority. However, there are still an estimated 1,000 street children in the city, many of whom engage in petty crime and begging. There has also been speculation that the street children are recruited by professional underground networks for criminal purposes. From 2000 on wards, Bucharest has seen an increase in illegal road races which occur mainly at night in the city's outskirts or on industrial sites.

A significant problem in the city remains institutional corruption, which is seen as the most important justice-and-law related problem in the city.

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Music and nightlife.

While many discos play manele, a Turkish-influenced type of music that is particularly popular in Bucharest's working class districts, the city has an increasing jazz and blues scene, and, toan extent, eurodance/trance and heavy metal/punk. The city's nightlife, particularly its club scene grew significantly in the 1990s, and continues to increase. The city does not have a central nightlife strip, with many entertainment venues dispersed through out.the city centre. One of the city's best known clubs is the Laptaria Enache and the La Motoare, located above (on the rooftop of) the National Theatre, as well as Fire Club and Club A. Most clubs and bars are located around the center of the city, from the Piata Unirii to Piata Romana. Also, a large concentration of rock clubs can be found in the Lipscani area, the old part of the city, in the vicinity of Piata Unirii. Another popular venue, especially among students from the Politehnica University campus, is Club Maxx, located on Splaiul Independentei No. 290.

The city also hosts some of the best electronic/house music clubs in Europe such as Bamboo and Krystal Club. During the summer, Cuba Club is an outdoor club on the shore of a lake and has two separate dance floors. The Office is one of the most exclusive clubs in Bucharest and has a long tradition in clubbing. One of the best cocktail clubs is Deja Vu situated on Balcescu Boulevard Near the Italian church. Other clubs are: Glamour, Tipsy, Cotton Club, Pat, Studio Martin and Embryo.

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Communist architecture.

A major part of Bucharest's architecture is made up of buildings constructed during the Communist era replacing the historical architecture with "more efficient" high density apartment blocks - one-fifth of the the city was demolished only for constructing the third largest building in the world: Casa Poporului - Palace of the Parliament. In Nicolae Ceausescu's project of systematization many new buildings were built in previously-historical areas, which were razed and then built upon from scratch. One of the best examples of this type of architecture is Centrul Civic, a development that replaced a major part of Bucharest's historic city centre with giant utilitarian buildings, mainly with marble or travertine façades, inspired by North Korean architecture. Communist-era architecture can also be found in Bucharest's residential districts, mainly in blocuri, which are high-density apartment blocks that house the majority of the city's population.

Since the fall of Communism in 1989, several Communist-era buildings have been refurbished, modernised and used for other purposes. Perhaps the best example of this is the conversion of sever alagro-alimentary complexes into shopping malls and commercial centres. These giant circular halls, which were most often known as hunger circuses due to the food short ages experienced in the 1980s, were constructed during the Ceausescu era to act as produce markets and refectories, although most were left unfinished at the time of the Revolution. Modern shopping malls like Bucharest Mall, Plaza Romania and City Mall emerged on pre-existent structures of former hunger circuses. Another example is the modernisation and conversion of a large utilitarian construction in Centrul Civic into a Marriott Hotel. This process was accelerated after 2000, when the city underwent a property boom, and many Communist-era buildings in the city centre became prime real estate due to their location. In recent years, many Communist-era apartment blocks have also been refurbished to improve the city's urban appearance.

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Contemporary architecture.

The newest contribution to Bucharest's architecture took place after the fall of Communism, and particularly after 2000, when the city went through a period of urban renewal - and architectural revitalization - on the back of Romania's economic boom. Buildings from this time are mostly made out of glass and steel, and often have more than fifteen storeys. Examples include shopping malls (particularly the Bucharest Mall, a conversion and extension of an abandoned building), office buildings, bank head quarters, the Bucharest World Trade Center and the Chamber of Commerce, which lies on the banks of the Dambovita. As of 2005, there is a significant number of office buildings in construction, particularly in the northern and eastern parts of the city. Additionally, there has been a trend in recent years to add modern wings and façades to historic buildings, the most prominent example of which is the Bucharest Architects' Association Building, which is a modern glass-and-steel construction built inside a historic stone façade. Aside from buildings used for business and institutions, various new residential developments are currently underway, many of which consist of modern high-rise buildings with a glass exterior, surrounded by American-style residential communities. These developments are increasingly prominent in the northern suburbs of the city, which are less densely-populated and are home to middle- and upper-class Bucharest ers due to the process of gentrification.

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