Andreea (ACASANDRE) PENE, assistant professor, Faculty of Urban Planning, „Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning, e-mail address: a.acasandre@gmail.com.  Antonia DINU-PANAITESCU, Ph.D. Candidate, Doctoral School of Urban Planning, Faculty of Urban Planning, „Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urban Planning.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

ABSTRACT

The article examines the way in which induced participation, defined as stateinitiated participation implemented through bureaucracies, can be mobilized as a planning instrument to address less visible structural problems. Using Tărlungeni Village (Brașov County) as a case study, the article argues that proximity to Brașov City generates a risk of functional dependency and “annex” development, while the commune’s unusually young demographic profile (approximately one quarter of residents are aged 0–14 years old) creates both demand and opportunity for the development of new local social infrastructure. The paper’s central claim is that an inclusive cultural and educational center can operate simultaneously as [1] a complementary amenity that reduces weekly leisure and education outflows to Brașov and [2] a soft integration mechanism in a community marked by ethnicity-based segregation, particularly in education. From a methodological standpoint, the study employs a mixed-methods design: demographic and administrative statistics are triangulated with a consultative study conducted by the authors, who were contracted by an independent agency that, together with the local government, provides funding through New European Bauhaus funds. The research consisted of three theme-based focus groups (problems, needs, solutions) and an opportunity-sample survey conducted both online and in the field in all the villages of Tărlungeni (Tărlungeni, Purcăreni, Zizin, Cărpiniș). Results show a high perceived need for the center (4.27 / 5.00), a strong stated desire to volunteer for future activities aimed at establishing this center (72.5%), and recurrent narratives of limited interethnic interaction despite a local public discourse mentioning the “absence of interethnic tensions”. The results of the consultative research formed the basis for a set of proposals designed to support the establishment of a future community center. 

However, the article also demonstrates a key constraint of the induced participation: implementation lag driven by bureaucratic, financial, political blockage in Romania, which risks eroding trust and reinforcing the very segregation the process seeks to mitigate. Keywords: induced participation, participatory urbanism, vulnerability, social segregation, community. IN

DOI: 10.59277/RJSoc.2026.1-2.01

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