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Romania Rural-Urban Migration
Romania's cities swelled not from natural increase but
from
migration. Already by 1966, almost one-third of the
population
resided in places where they had not been born, and fully
60
percent of the residents of the seven largest cities had
been born
elsewhere. Collectivization cut ties to the land, forcing
the young
and able-bodied to factories in the major cities
(see Agriculture
, ch. 3). Industrialization proceeded apace, focusing on
rapid
accumulation and quick return on investment, thus favoring
towns
with plants and infrastructure already in place. During
the period
from 1968 to 1973, nearly 2 million people migrated from
one
location to another, with rural-urban migrants a clear
two-thirds
majority.
Although the rate of natural increase in urban places
continued
to be largely insignificant, migrant-based urban growth
was
sustained, and rural areas lost population. Net population
loss in
the countryside grew from 6.3 per 1,000 in 1968 to 9.8 per
1,000 in
1973. Most of the movement was intraregional, drawing
people away
from small villages in the mountains and agricultural
areas in the
southern and western plains. Migration losses were
particularly
heavy in Moldavia, Muntenia, and Maramures.
Attempts to control migration to major cities were made
as
early as the early 1950s. With the advent of communist
power, all
Romanians fourteen years of age or older were issued
identity
cards, which indicated place of residence. Subsequently,
restrictions were placed on establishing legal residence
in the
larger towns. To take up residence in any new place, it
became
necessary to obtain a visa from the local police. Only a
few
reasons could justify the issuance of the necessary visa.
Work
could suffice as a reason to move to a "closed city" only
if the
applicant's commuting distance exceeded thirty
kilometers--and then
only if a legal resident of that city could not be found
to fill
the position. A few family-associated reasons were
considered
valid. Newly married couples could obtain visas if one of
the
spouses had been a legal resident before marriage.
Dependent
children were permitted to join their parents, and until
the 1980s,
pensioners could move in with their children. Later, the
elderly
were prevented from joining their children.
Government restrictions, however, were not effective in
controlling migration to the large closed cities. On the
contrary,
official estimates of population growth in those cities
during the
1966-77 period, as compared to growth actually realized,
suggest an
amazing lack of awareness, much less direct control of
population
movements. Predictions for 1977 populations in those
cities, based
on 1966 census data adjusted for births, deaths, and
registered
migration, were in every case underestimated--on the
average by 14
percent. The population of Bucharest, where one might
expect the
most effective control, was underestimated by some 200,000
inhabitants.
Data as of July 1989
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