Manifestations of spatial injustice and institutional practices (re)producing them. A view on the neoliberal spatial planning regime creating territorial underdevelopment in Romania

Abstract

To address the manifestations of spatial injustices as illustrations of territorial underdevelopment, I utilize the divergent development framework that emphasizes the centrality of the state to development outcomes. By highlighting institutional practices, I stress the contribution of both the top-down and bottom-up agencies in making andpreserving some spaces in a deprived condition despite the agencies' declarative aim of offering solutions to reduce deprivations.

Based on the RELOCAL research material, the ultimate aim of the article is to make a theoretical contribution to the interpretation of territorial underdevelopment as the result of a neoliberal spatial planning regime. After discussing its conceptual frameworks(in section 1), the article presents the brief historical summary of territorial inequalities in Romania (section 2) and the national territorial development policies (section 3). Afterwards, it examines some manifestations of territorial unevenness at the local level (section 4) and the local actions tackling spatial injustice (section 5).