New approach for elaborating environmental studies as part of Romanian territorial plans

While the science of ecology progressed towards a systemic approach, due to being a regulated activity, territorial planning was unable to keep up with its developments. As a consequence, the elaboration of environmental studies as a part of urban and spatial plans utilizes in Romania an outdated methodology. In parallel with it, several studies employed a new methodology, developed in accordance with the principles of systemic ecology. This paper attempts to develop an analytical framework to compare the two approaches. The results indicate that the new methodology has numerous advantages and should be used despite of not being imposed by the regulatory framework.