HISTORICAL MONUMENTS REGISTERS AS INSTRUMENTS OF CULTURAL GOVERNANCE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN ROMANIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
HISTORICAL MONUMENTS REGISTERS AS INSTRUMENTS OF CULTURAL GOVERNANCE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN ROMANIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Summary/Abstract: The protection of built cultural heritage represents one of the essential directions of contemporary policies on sustainable development, territorial governance, and the preservation of states’ historical and cultural identity. In this context, registers of historical monuments constitute fundamental legal and administrative instruments for the identification, classification, and protection of immovable cultural heritage assets. This study provides a comparative analysis of the mechanisms for recording and managing historical monument registers in Romania and the Republic of Moldova, with a particular focus on the regulatory framework, institutional structures, administrative procedures, and the level of digitalization of systems used in the cultural heritage sector. The research highlights that both states maintain official registers of historical monuments and dedicated legal mechanisms for cultural heritage protection; however, significant differences exist in terms of administrative organization, data standardization, and interoperability of informational infrastructures. The analysis demonstrates that the Romanian system exhibits a more advanced level of organization and codification of historical monuments, as well as a stronger integration of protection regimes into cadastral and urban planning systems. At the same time, both Romania and the Republic of Moldova face persistent challenges related to the updating of registers, fragmentation of databases, and insufficient digital interoperability between cultural heritage systems and territorial management platforms.Furthermore, the study underscores the impact of digital transformation on cultural heritage administration and emphasizes the need to develop interoperable digital registers compatible with European standards on open data, GIS technologies, and digital governance. The research findings demonstrate that the effectiveness of cultural heritage protection depends not exclusively on the existence of official registers, but also on their capacity to function as integrated informational infrastructures capable of supporting contemporary administrative, urban planning, and cadastral processes.

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