Interreg IIIB Project Donauregionen

The Spatial Development Concept of Interregional

Co-operation in the Danube Space
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Project overview
The Danube Space Regions in the respective danubian coun-
tries have faced new conditions as a consequence of the
elimination of political barriers, liberalization of economic
relations and opening of the transcontinental water route
Rhine-Main-Danube. The southern development axis is sup-
posed to move towards the East on the basis of the possi-
bilities to use the new water resources and will therefore give
rise to the Danube Development Corridor.
1. Summary Evaluation of the Development Potential in the
Danubian Area;
2. Typology and selection of development centres in the
Danubian Area;
3. Danube River Basin spatial arrangement concept;
4. Set of assertion tools for project plans implementation in
the Danubian Area.

The regions located in close vicinity to the Danube responded The agreed methodology has simultaneously established that
to the mentioned trends and potential benefits in connection the interaction among the participants of the planning proc-
with the formation of the new development corridor. As a con- ess throughout the Danube Region needs to be supported
sequence, the representatives have established ARGE DON- by enabling a permanent exchange of relevant information.
AULÄNDER, the Working Unity of the Danube Region Coun- A specialized group secured this latter by building the pur-
tries. The aim was, and still is, to initiate and synchronize the pose-oriented Working Information System (INFORM-ARGE).
co-operation among the countries of the Danube Region by
organizing their development and location throughout the After achieving the work of methodical character and the
region, with a special focus on the development of regions, experimental verification, the Working Group for Regional
towns and ports economically lagging behind. Arrangement and Spatial Planning recommended the imple-
mentation of the proposed Concept of Co-operation among
Within the scope of the Working Unity, in the framework of the Regions, Towns and Ports along the Danube River within
the Working Group for Regional Arrangement and Spatial the scope of INTERREG. The first phase of putting INTERREG
Planning, the Concept of Co-operation among the Regions, II/C into practice included the creation of a computer sup-
Towns and Ports along the Danube River was prepared. The ported catalogue of relevant territory planning and environ-
preparation of the concept led to the elaboration of a complex mental data. The catalogue, titled as the DonauDatenKatalog
methodology of joint analytic and planning activities. Conse- (DDK), has taken the form of a meta-information system. This
quently, the Slovak and Hungarian authorities had verified in helped to create basis for information support of the as-
practice the proposed methodology concerning the specific sumed analytical planning procedures.
complex of territorial planning documentation. The model
of Slovak-Hungarian part of the Danube Region was used for The next step of the implementation of the concept is the
this purpose. Summary Evaluation of the Development Potential in the
Danubian Area, which is the main task of the ongoing Inter-
The concept supposes, as it is visible from the scheme at- reg IIIB project-Donauregionen.
tached, that the phases of the whole long-term cooperation
concept are as follows:

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Methodology
The project follows the scheme of the Working Group for Project outputs and deliverables
Regional Arrangement and Spatial Planning of ARGE DON-
AULANDER (see below). 1. Updated metainformation system of Datenkatalog project
- accessible through the project web page;
2. Project information system containing documents in digital
Overview of the project activities form (graphical part in form of GIS)- Accessible through the
project web page;
1. Specification of the project methodology, an update of the
metainformation data catalogue system; 3. General Schemes – 4 studies;
2. General Development Schemes focused on Natural 4. Summary Evaluation of the Development Potential in the
Conditions, Settlement Structure, Transport and Danubian Area – 1 study;
Infrastructure and Economic Structure were elaborated 5. Typology of regions and Problem identification – 1 study
with participation of all partners, but partners from 6. Summary concept of the territorial arrangement and
Bulgaria, Hungary, Serbia and Slovakia had the overall proposal of the development crossdanube regions – 1
responsibilities for the final completion of each of these planning study.
latter. The overall coordination was executed by the team
leader, supported by specific workshops for each of the
different General Schemes separately;
3. A Summary Analysis of the potentials of Danube NUTS3
regions was completed by the lead partner on the basis of
selected factors from individual General Schemes;
4. A concept of spatial arrangement and development of
regions in the Danube area and consequently the typology
of NUTS3 regions and the specification of development
centres and cross Danube areas closed the project
activities.

General Scheme General Scheme General Scheme General Scheme

Natural Condition Settlement Transport Economy
steps Structure & Technical subject
& Human Infrastructure
Resources

Evaluation &
donauregionen analysis analysis analysis analysis Typology-Problem
Identification

Spatial
donauregionen + strategy strategy strategy strategy Arrangement
Strategy

Strategy
donauregionen ++ implementing implementing implementing implementing
Implamentation

data data data data

geodata geodata geodata geodata
inform arge metadata metadata metadata metadata outputs

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General Scheme Natural Conditions

Analysed data
The General Scheme Natural Conditions was focused on the • wetlands;
overall characteristics of the area of interest from the envi- • lands with specific regime;
ronmental and ecological point of view. The main objective
• rocky structures;
was to define the natural potential and the stress factors by
means of indicators concerning the natural richness and bio- • water streams and water bodies;
diversity of the area as a whole on one hand and the state of • built-up areas;
the environment expressed by the stress factors in the field • technical elements;
of atmosphere pollution, water pollution and waste manage-
• waste dumps;
ment on the other hand.
• chosen socio-economic complex components;
The analysis of the impact of the following stress factors gave • important air pollution sources;
rise to the main concept: • emission contaminated lands;
• specific abiotic complex components; • lands with contaminated soils;
• chosen biotic complex components; • waste deposits, important waste deposits.
• forest vegetation;
• non-forest woody vegetation;
• farm land;

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General Scheme Settlement Structure
and Human Resources

Analysed data

The objective was to specify the present status and the
trends of development of human resources and settlement
structures and to define their potential of international co-
operation. The principles of European Spatial Development
Perspective (ESDP) were followed, especially the potential of
inclusion into international, trans-regional and cross-border
polycentric settlement systems.
The basic issue was represented by the characteristics of the
human resources structure in the following classification:
• current population characteristics and the population
gender structure;
• housing standard expressed by the number of flats;
• qualification structure of the inhabitants;
• population development trends;
• evolution of the economically active population.
The evaluation of the current situation of the urban structures
was focused on the expression of the following:
• current position and function of the settlement centres;
• existence of agglomeration systems and the process of their
constitution;
• existence and functioning of settlement axes and
communication corridors;
• development potentials of the different centres and
settlement centres;
• connection to the European settlement system.

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General Scheme Transport and
Technical Infrastructure

Analysed data

The influence of transport on the process of rational distri- The transport area of the danubian area is assessed in this
bution is contradictory. On one hand the development of structure:
transport helps to overcome the economic and geographic
boundaries as it facilitates a more important dispersion and • highway and road transport;
decreases the dependence of production on the proximity of • railway transport;
material resources. On the other hand it creates conditions • air transport;
for a greater concentration of production and therefore an in- • water transport;
crease of the economic efficiency of the production.
• multimodal transport.
Transport networks, more precisely their density and techni-
cal quality are contributing to the dispersion of the transport Technical infrastructure potential was evaluated within these
process into the whole territory and are therefore contribut- aspects:
ing to further development. At the same time an underdevel-
oped or insufficient transport network acts as a development • electric energy supply (including RES);
barrier for the affected parts pf the territory. • gas and oil supply and distribution;
• water management;
• telecommunications.

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General Scheme Economy

Analysed data
According to the assignment of the Donauregionen project, The evaluation of the economic level of the regions at the
the aim of the General Scheme Economy was the following: NUTS 2 and NUTS 3 level was based on the GDP indicator for
the respective region in the period 1996 – 2005. This indica-
• evaluate the economic potential, the conditions of its devel- tor was expressed as following:
opment and the economic level of the regional development
in the area of the danubian development corridor; • GDP for the region in EUR;
• transpose the perspective development objectives and • GDP for the region in the national currency;
plans as well as the sectoral conceptions into the develop- • GDP for the region expressed in purchasing power parity;
ment of the different regions;
• GDP per inhabitant expressed in purchasing power parity.
• create a crucial basic document used for the elaboration of
summary reports for the whole area defined as the danu- The evaluation of the development economic potential in the
bian area. Danubian area consists of:
• primary resources (natural potential);
• secondary resources (potential created by human activity).

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Information system – Informarge
The Donauregionen project contains an information system
entitled Informarge. This latter is divided as following:
• Metainformation system entitled Donau DatenKatalog
• Geographical information system supporting the elabora-
tion of the Donauregionen project
• Web page presenting the Donauregionen project
Geographic information system
This information system is conceived as a working GIS stor-
ing all the geographical data necessary for the processing
of project outputs. The original is held by the project team
leader and every partner has a continually updated copy of
the information system.

All the geographical data are distributed in the WGS-84 sys-

Donaudatenkatalog tem of coordinates.

Project objectives Supported vector formats:

The main goal of this project is the support of the planning
activities and the standardization of the collection and dis-
semination of data within the entire project. This will be
achieved by a centralized data base that is accessible over
the internet. It records metadata about the project results
and provides project documents for the internal use by the
project members. The application of international accepted
ISO-Standards for the description of geographic data is man-
datory for the exchange with other information systems. The
technical basis for the implementation of the Danube Data
Base (DDB) is the Umweltobjektkatalog (UOK) of the Bavarian
State Ministry.
Structure of the Danube Data Base
• ESRI – Shapefile;
• ESRI – PC ArcInfo coverage;
• ESRI – ArcInfo coverage.
The preferred vector data format is ArcInfo coverage.
The team leader has provided a common basic document
containing the state borders in the WGS-84 format. All the
remaining geographical data, line and polygon layers, end
at this border.
The geographical data attributes are in English, code page
WINDOWS 1250 (CEE). Local names and designations are
transcribed into CEE.

The Danube Data Base (DDB) as described in the proposal in Project WEB page
the project was implemented on the technical basis of the
UOK. Write access (modification of entries or capturing of An official project WEB page was created – www.donauregio-
new data) is limited to registered users only. All project mem- nen.sk. The web page contains:
bers have access to the system over the internet. The DDB is
subdivided in four different groups: • basic information about project;
• list of project partners;
• Danube Data Catalogue (DDC)
• project activities and outputs.
This is the core of the DDB. It is used to describe the results
of the projects in a uniform and systematic manner;
• Danube Address
Repository of the addresses of individuals or institutions
relevant to the project;
• Danube Documentation
Documents regarding the organization of workshops,
meetings etc;
• Danube FAQ
Discussion forum (Frequently asked questions) for the
project members.

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Evaluation Final results
For the purposes of the evaluation specific indicators from
Rank Region Points
every General Scheme were selected. According to the values
of the different indicators, sorted by General Schemes, a sys- 1 Budapest 178
tem of scoring and ranking has been created. The position of 2 Bratislava 221
the different NUTS 3 level regions within the evaluated area
is expressed through the score obtained for the selected in- 3 Pest 236
dicators in the framework of the different GS. A ranking by 4 Győr-Moson-Sopron 253
indicator, by General Scheme and a summary ranking was set
up. The global summary ranking is shown in the table below. 5 Komárom-Esztergom 286
6 Fejér 294

Analysed indicators 7 Bucuresti 311

8 City of Belgrade 319
Natural conditions: 9 Ruse 326
• protected areas; 10 Bács-Kiskun 366
• water pollution; 11 Južnobački 370
• atmosphere pollution SO2;
12 Ilfov 382
• atmosphere pollution NOx;
13 Baranya 383
• landfills.
14 Tolna 395
Settlement Structure & Human Resources: 15 Veliko Tarnovo 399

• inhabitants living in municipality (LAU 2) with over than 16 Constanta 404

5 000 inhabitants; 16 Trnava 404
• inhabitants living in municipality (LAU 2) up to 2 000 18 Pleven 409
inhabitants;
19 Vratsa 448
• inhabitants living in municipality (LAU 2) with over 100 000
inhabitants; 20 Dolj 458
• dwellings per 1 000 inhabitants; 21 Nitra 461
• university students per 1 000 inhabitants; 22 Galati 463
• population density; 23 Sremski 483
• vitality index.
24 Mehedinti 484
Transport: 25 Južnobanatski 493
• motor and Expressways; 26 Montana 498
• railways Share; 27 Razgrad 499
• railways Density; 28 Giurgiu 506
• water Transport – Freight; 29 Zapadnobački 511
• air Transport – Passengers;
30 Podunavski 515
• air Transport – Freight;
30 Caras-Severin 515
• TEN-T Corridors.
32 Braila 516
Technical infrastructure: 33 Vidin 519
• natural gas; 33 Silistra 519
• drinking water supply; 35 Ialomita 521
• wastewater treatment.
36 Calarasi 532
Economy: 37 Borski 535
• regional GDP per capita in PPS as a share of EU 27(25) aver- 38 Tulcea 539
age (%); 39 Srednjebanatski 582
• labour force participation rate (%); 40 Olt 588
• unemployment rate in region (%);
41 Teleorman 598
• number of employed in tertiary branch (%).
42 Branicevski 611
Typology of regions in the Danube area
On the basis of the evaluation results, groups of NUTS3 re- 3rd group – stagnating regions:
gions were created. The summary ranking was combined with
the strengths and weaknesses of each NUTS3. The NUTS3 re- • Borski (SR102);
gions were divided into the following four groups: • Braila (RO221);
• Calarasi (RO312);
1st group – developed regions: • Caras-Severin (RO422);
• Bratislava (SK010); • Dolj (RO411);
• Budapest (HU101); • Galati (RO224);
• Győr-Moson-Sopron (HU221). • Giurgiu (RO314);
• Ialomita (RO315);
2nd group – stabilized regions:
• Južnobanatski;
• Bács-Kiskun (HU331); • Mehedinti (RO413);
• Baranya (HU231); • Montana (BG312);
• Bucuresti (RO321); • Podunavski;
• Constanta (RO223); • Razgrad (BG324);
• Fejér (HU211); • Silistra (BG325);
• City of Belgrade; • Sremski (SR206);
• Ilfov (RO322); • Tulcea (RO225);
• Južnobački; • Vidin (BG311);
• Komárom-Esztergom (HU212); • Zapadnobački.
• Nitra (SK042);
• Pest (HU102); 4th group – depressed regions:
• Pleven (BG314); • Braničevski (SR103);
• Ruse (BG323); • Olt (RO414);
• Tolna (HU233); • Srednjebanatski;
• Trnava (SK021); • Teleorman (RO317).
• Veliko Tarnovo (BG321);
• Vratsa (BG313).

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On the basis of NUTS3 comparative analysis of strengths and Stagnating regions (3 rd Group)
weaknesses the groups have the following main character-
• decrement of traditional economic basis branches in the
istics:
region;
• not enough dynamic change into a new economic structure;
Developed regions (1 st Group) • disponsible human potential;
• economic potential with diversified economic structure (so- • disponsible basic transport and technical infrastructure;
phisticated production, services); • settlement structure is relatively stable without any signifi-
• quality of human and innovation potential; cant population migration;
• high level of territory urbanization and equipments in the • natural conditions in good status – lower air, water and soil
region; pollution level.
• polycentric settlement character;
• region accessibility, location on multimodal corridors; Depressed regions (4 th Group)
• high level of landscape protection and presence of air, wa- • the main factor of the economic development is a low level
ter and soil pollution sources; of economic basis diversification, sensitivity to strong chan-
• sufficiency of internal development sources. ges of market conditions;
• economic basis decline causes population migration (main-
Stabilized regions (2 Group) nd ly young people with higher qualification);
• demographic structure deterioration, ageing of population;
• economic basis is constituted by industry branches;
• a lot of small municipalities with population decrease;
• labour force availability (quantitative and qualitative);
• low transport accessibility and low level of technical infras-
• sufficient transport infrastructure facilities (area with high tructure equipment in the region;
transport infrastructure capacity);
• natural conditions in good status with possibilities for a
• settlement system characterized by an important share of new functional usage;
small municipalities – resulting in migration movements,
• lack of internal development sources;
influencing the level of equipment of the territory;
• lower grade of concentration of air, water and soil pollution
sources.
Concept
The concept itself would be the main topic of the next phase The presented identification of ARGEDONAU Subregions and
– proposed project Donauregionen+. Within the Donauregio- Cross Danube Regions is considered as preliminary. The
nen project we have concentrated on problem identification process of their description and the strategy will be the sub-
based on: ject of the Donauregionen+ project, which is currently in the
preparatory phase.
• results of individual General Schemes;
• results of the evaluation and creation of NUTS3 groups;
• identification of strengths and weaknesses of each NUTS3. Conclusions
1. Danube region has a good quality natural potential;
Within the concept a preliminary specification of Cross-Dan-
ube Regions as potential growth areas was elaborated. The 2. Settlement structure is insufficiently developed, especially
basic criteria for their identification were as follows: concerning centres of regional importance;
3. Accessibility in the Danube area regions is poor. Lack of
• bilateral and trilateral cross-border areas indicated as Euro- Danube crossings and it is difficult to access transport
regions; networks of European importance;
• agglomerations and urban axis of regional importance at 4. Danube region has significant sources of energetic and
least water management potential;
• settlements and ports of regional importance at least; 5. Regional economic development is highly differentiated,
• transport terminals of regional importance at least; serious disparities exist between metropolis and the rest
• existing and potential Danube river crossings. of area, as well as between middle Danube area (SK, HU)
and lower Danube area (SR, RO, BG);
In order to specify the internal hierarchy of Cross Danube Re- 6. After previous political and infrastructure barriers the
gions between those representing the metropolitan growth potential cooperation of crossborder and crossdanube
poles and the ones representing the potential growth areas regions, towns and ports remains unused.
of regional importance, the ARGEDONAU Subregions were
proposed.
Recommendations
1. Research development strategies of Danube area regions
in terms of their mutual interconnection, as well as their
conformity with European development concepts (ESPON);
2. Identify development factors and projects which can help
improve the attractiveness of regions, towns and ports in
Danube territory ;
3. Differentiated approach to each part of Danube area. Project
propose following ARGE regions: Austrian-Hungarian-
Slovakian, Hungarian-Croatian-Serbian-Romanian,
Romanian-Serbian-Bulgarian, Bulgarian-Romanian,
Romanian-Moldavian-Ukrainian;
4. To develop crossdanube and crossborder growth poles of
regional importance. Project propose these Cross Danube
Regions:

• Bratislava – Mosonmagyaróvar
NUTS 3: Bratislava, Győr-Moson-Sopron;
• Dunajská Streda – Györ
NUTS 3: Trnava, Győr-Moson-Sopron;
• Nové Zámky – Komárno/Komárom – Tatabánya
NUTS 3: Nitra, Komárom-Esztergom;
• Štúrovo – Ostrihom – Visegrad
NUTS 3: Nitra, Komárom-Esztergom. Pest;
• Budapest – Pest
NUTS 3: Budapest, Pest;
• Székesfehérvar – Dunaújváros – Kecskemét
NUTS 3: Fejér, Bács-Kiskun;
• Pécs – Szeksárd – Baja – Osijek – Sombor
NUTS 3: Tolna, Baranya, Bács-Kiskun, Zapadnobački;
• Vukovar – Novi Sad
NUTS 3: Južnobački, Srednjebanatski, Sremski;
• Beograd – Pancevo
NUTS 3: City of Belgrade, Južnobanatski;
• Smederevo – Pozarevac
NUTS 3: Podunavlje, Braničevski, Južnobanatski, Caras-
Severin;
• Moldova Noua – Golubac – Kladovo – Drobeta - Turnu Sev-
erin
NUTS 3: Braničevski, Caras-Severin, Borski, Mehedinti;
• Negotin – Vidin – Calafat – Lom
NUTS 3: Borski, Mehedinti, Dolj, Vidin, Montana;
• Bechet – Orjahovo
NUTS 3: Dolj, Vratsa, Olt;
• Turnu Magurele – Svishtov
NUTS 3: Teleorman, Pleven, Veliko Tarnovo;
• Bucuresti – Giurgiu – Ruse – Razgrad
NUTS 3: Ilfov, Giurgiu, Bucuresti, Ruse, Razgrad;
• Calarasi – Silistra
NUTS 3: Calarasi, Silistra;
• Fetesti – Cernavoda – Medgidia – Constanta
NUTS 3: Calarasi, Ialomita, Constanta;
• Braila – Galati
NUTS 3: Braila, Galati, Tulcea;
• Tulcea – Izmail
NUTS 3: Tulcea. 13
Summary Concept of Territorial Arrangement and Proposal of the Crossdanube Regions
 LE AD PART NER Ministr y of Construc tion and Regional Development of the Slovak Republic

PROJEC T PART NERS M in i s t r y o f E n v ir o n m e n t , H e a l t h a n d Co n s u m e r P r o te c t i o n o f t he B a y e r n

Re g i o ns Re s e arch Ce n t re ( Sl o v ak ia )

T he Self- Government of Bratislava Count y

T he Self- Gover nment of Nitra Count y

Scientif ic A ssociation for Regional Development ( Hungar y)

Self-government of Pest Count y

National A ssociation of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulg aria

INCD URBANPROIEC T BUCHAREST

Republic A genc y for Spatial Planning of the Republic of Serbia
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