The Design Festival is a global platform to explore local resources and develop unique architectures, products, services, and urban design solutions in Târgu Mureș and the larger Transylvanian region.
The goal of the project is to create a common platform for artists, designers and various businesses to reenergize the artistic, cultural, ecological, social, and economic tissue of Târgu Mures (Romania) through a reevaluation of local resources in their relation with planetary conditions and exchanges.
The multidisciplinary collective of artists, designers, and scientists from various fields will conduct research focused on the social, economic, urban, and ecological issues in the region - as part of yearly Design Festivals.
About Targu Mures
TARGU MURES
With a population of 144,806 inhabitants, Targu Mures municipality is the capital of Mures County. Mures County is part of the “Center” Regional Development, together with Alba, Brasov, Covasna, Harghita and Sibiu. The “Center” Regional Development is located, as its name suggests, in central Romania, at approximately equal distances from it to the border crossing points.
INFRASTRUCTURE
The central geo-strategic positioning, with access to the European road E60, to the railway network, the existence of the ‘TRANSILVANIA’ airport, the positioning at the point of connection of future highways - Transilvania and Targu Mures- Iasi highway perspective, provides Targu Mures important advantages to express its national and international vocation.
The Periphery
Targu Mures Municipality, together with its peripheral area, totalizes a population of about 215.000 inhabitants. The peripheral area comprises Ungheni city and 13 communes, laying over an area of approximately 678.40 km ², bordering the Municipality of Tirgu Mures.
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green for food vs green for visual aesthetic
Almost 20% drop of the population since 1990
MIGRATION
As of 2011 census data, Târgu Mureș has a population of 134,290, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2002 census.
Climate Change
Climate zones in the city
2000
2010
Tourism
Targu Mures Municipality is a welcoming city, given the multicultural character due to the various cultures that live in symbiosis on its territory.
diversity
The origin of the cultural diversity is an ancient one, being expressed in human plan by ethnic and religious groups. The predominant populations are the Romanians and the Hungarians. The opening to the West (and others) is also proven by the languages spoken in the area, among which, along the national language, Hungarian, German language (there are schools that teach in Hungarian and German), English language.
The urban area of Targu Mures has a diverse architectural heritage, with monuments dating from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and in particular - the "Art Nouveau" period.
heritage
These include the “Rose Square” urban complex which is considered the "emblem” of the city, the Medieval Fortress, the Theatre Square, the Palace of Culture, the City Hall, the Teleki-Bolyai Library, the Royal Plate, etc.
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steps and performances
The streets of the city …
Targu Mures Municipality is attractive in terms of landscape. Nearly one third of the county’s area is covered by forest.
hills and mountains
The city itself is surrounded by forests, from which, a significant part is situated in its administrative territory.
forests
Targu Mures Municipality is attractive in terms of landscape, nearly one third of the county’s area is covered by forest. The city itself is surrounded by forests, from which, a significant part is situated in its administrative territory.
mures river
Another defining natural element for Targu Mures is the Mures River, to which is connected the identity of the city itself, by the name it gives and by the crucial role it has played in shaping the current form of the city.
salt mines
Salt mines around the region are important objectives to visit both in terms of tourism, as well as from a therapeutic standpoint.
Because of the large amount of saline, this region is often called Salt Land.
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leisure
The city has a tradition in providing leisure services, two of them being cherished by the locals and tourists: “Muresul” Recreational Complex called "Weekend" - a place for beach and bath, the Corneşti Plateau where, within a rich forest, is arranged a modern playground, the Zoo - the second in the country as size, bike tracks and hiking trails for running and walking through the forest. In addition to the already mentioned recreational items, there is the Hippodrome for the equine tourism and the Romanian Aero-club providing optimal conditions for flights with lightweight devices (extreme sports).
natural treatments
There are various type of spa services: hotel, recreational and treatment complexes many of them in a special landscape, with their own base treatment, with a program that consists of integrated medical treatments.
Housing
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Economic Activities
The city is currently in the process of transition from an economy based mainly on secondary sector activities to an economy based on services. The European and global changes in the early '90s and the economic reforms undertaken at national level have led to the fact that the economy, dominated by a traditional industry (with manufacturing units in the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical products, chemicals, furniture, leather, textiles, glassware, porcelain and food), knew a sharp decline, once the centralized economic system broke-up and the large manufacturing units privatized and were restructured.
service economy
Compared to 1996 there was a decrease by 45% of employees in the industry due to the major restructuring that occurred in this sector. In manufacturing industry, the number of employees decreased almost by half. The downward trend in industry has occurred because of a significant growth of the share of tertiary sector represented by trade activities and services.
Trade and services
The number of persons employed in commerce increased by 17%, and of those employed in services increased by 50%. In education there has been an increase of 6%, while health and social assistance increased with 31%.
Pharmaceuticals
The health sector has a very important role in the social and economic life of the municipality. The pharmaceutical products industry currently holds a 15.8% share of the city’s turnover business operators, being as well a sector with high labor productivity and with no generated losses.
chemicals
From the entire chemical and manufacturing industry, the largest company is SC Azomures SA - the leader of chemical fertilizer industry in Romania, which had a share of the export value of 82% in 2008 and about 60% in 2009.
infrastructure
Production, transportation and distribution of electricity, heat and gas, catchment and distribution of water, sewage and waste management is an economic area, which, although it is represented by a small number of economic operators, makes 36% of the turnover and 39% of the table gross profit recorded by the operators in Tirgu Mures Municipality.
Wood
Wood processing and exploitation industry is still one of the most representative industries, whose development is favored by the abundance of timber in Mures County. Moreover, Mures County outlines a cluster in the wood-processing sector, in which SC MOBEX SA - one of the largest companies of its kind in the country, based in Targu Mures - has assumed the role Company-leader.
Food and textiles
Other prolific industries in the city are: food industry- especially the production of milk, dairy and cheese – textiles, ready- made clothes, leather and footwear industry, electrical, electronic and optical equipment industry, manufacturing nonmetallic mineral products industry, metal and engineering industry.
export
The highest share of exports belongs to the chemical and pharmaceutical products, clothing, furniture and wooden articles industry. The biggest exporter, Azomureş SA, delivers chemical fertilizers both to European markets and markets in Asia, Africa and South America. The medicine produced by Gedeon Richter and Sandoz multinationals also have a wide international distribution.
The Medical Field
Hospitals
In the health care field, Targu Mures Municipality is a center of excellence not only in the county, but one recognized nationally and internationally by the quality and degree of specialization of medical care. The municipality has elite units equipped with performant devices and highly specialized medical staff.
medical tourism
In order to illustrate the influence exerted by the medical services of Targu Mures beyond the city and county’s boundaries, we can mention that more than 30% of the patients hospitalized in Mures County Clinical Emergency Hospital come from other counties.
Housing
COLLECTIVE HOUSING TYPOLOGIES
work in progress..