Reshaping Localities in Romania: the Local Economic Development Strategy of the Municipality of Gherla

There is empirical proof that some localities consistently grow faster than others and these differences in economic growth rates cannot be explained only with respect to one local factor. However, economists have given surprisingly little attention to the question of the sources of variation in local growth rates, especially to the ones related to strategic planning. Moreover, in many cases, regional strategies have failed to address local development patterns. Previous scientific contributions on good government issues show a strong correlation between the per capita income growth and various measures of local strategic planning. The aim of this paper is to integrate different approaches on local economic development, by elaborating a local strategy for the Municipality of Gherla, in North-West Romania. The analysis of the economic pre-conditions is based on a collection of micro-data, while the planning outputs are the result of a participative process, including a survey among citizens and workshops with local business and public bodies. The study concludes that when focusing on local economic development, strategic planning should be a task of local participative process that considers not only the regional and national priorities but also the local specificities. Moreover, the study gives recommendations for continuing the process of local strategic planning.