The Romanian National Register of Historic Monuments: the heritage phobia and the need of an objective analysis
The Romanian National Register of Historic Monuments: the heritage phobia and the need of an objective analysis

Summary/Abstract: The paper emphasises on the need of proper documentation and information when intending to elaborate heritage and development strategies. With respect to recent allegations on the over-representation of buildings in the National Register of Historic Buildings, the author demonstrates not only that the number of historic monuments in Romania is not exaggerated, but also that with respect to other countries within the EU Romania is less “endowed” with monuments. In order to assess the relationship between the heritage constraints and the need for development the author analyses several connections between the heritage stock and the local budgets, and uses comparisons between the GDP per capita in EU countries and each country’s heritage. The increasing number of historic monuments in the national register in the last decades may lead to misunderstandings or even to subjective interpretations in favour of speculative pressures upon the built heritage. The paper emphasizes upon the objective processes that lead to an important increase in the built heritage stock after the 1989 Romanian anti-communist uprising (but not only in the case of Romania), calling for a scientific analysis of the cultural heritage geography and economic impact.

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