We, at Oradea City Hall, seek to find timely solutions to the increasingly complex problems that arise and that urban communities, regardless of their size, will face in the years to come.
I’m a follower of that saying that says that the responsible man makes his sled in the summer, and his cart prepares in the winter. Of course, in the difficult international context we are going through, we can expect unpredictable developments. However, we owe it to the community to take all those measures that have already yielded results and that we know will bring development even further.
An article part of the cover story in TB 111 magazine – “Oradea: Business Next Level & LifeNouveau” available here.
We are determined to continue the development of the city by making maximum use of the grant funds. We also want to be as attractive as possible to potential investors, being aware that we also have the obligation to find solutions to attract talent here, including highly skilled workforce. It is the reason why we continue to develop industrial parks and maintain the incentives we offer to investors. We are looking for Oradea to become the place they call home for as many young people as possible, and not only. In this sense, we run programs such as “Make IT in Oradea”, addressed to IT professionals, as well as the “Diaspora Quarter” initiative, to stimulate our compatriots to return to the country. Here, in Oradea, we await them with open arms.
We prioritize everything related to infrastructure. From that of transport and urban mobility to the medical, respectively educational, and from everything related to our obligations on the energy side and smart-city elements to the green lung, respectively the network of sport campuses. I will give you some examples, to be more concrete. In recent years, Oradea has excelled in terms of investments in transport infrastructure. Time has proven that this policy was the correct one. New streets, passages and underground and above-ground parking were built, a tram line was put into operation and new trams and buses were bought.
We will continue on the same path, with the difference that our new projects are getting more complex and larger. The number of cars in Oradea is increasing spectacularly and we don’t want the city to become choked with traffic. The quality of the environment in which we live greatly influences the quality of life. That’s why we are investing in streamlining traffic, creating underground passages in major intersections in the city. Thus, we will also increase the speed of travel for public transport, aware that this is the only way we will make public transport even more attractive for our citizens.
People want to feel comfortable in their city. That is why we emphasize the need for quality green spaces, both in the center and in the neighborhoods, even if their maintenance is also a serious challenge. This is the reason why several new parks have been set up in Oradea in recent years, and the central ones will be rehabilitated and modernized as soon as possible. We are also further expanding the pedestrian areas in the city center and continuing the buildings rehabilitation program to enhance their architecture.
The pandemic years have shown us how vulnerable we really are to health challenges. That is why in Oradea we will build an ultra-modern hospital for infectious diseases. In parallel, we are continuing the investments already made in the city’s hospitals. By spring 2023, work will begin on the new integrated outpatient clinic that will be built in the courtyard of the County Hospital and which will be adjacent to another complex investment – the much-needed multi-story parking lot.
In addition to the rehabilitation of schools and the construction of campuses for students, we are aware that we need to invest in sports. This year we inaugurated the new Multipurpose Hall, an investment where we worked well with the Romanian Government. We are planning a new modern sports complex, which will also include the city’s future stadium. And here, we rely on the partnership with the Government of Romania.
We are fast-forwarding major energy efficiency projects at a time when energy costs have exploded. In terms of heating, we know that we cannot afford any more losses on the network. That is why the third stage regarding the rehabilitation of the municipal heating system is being executed. We intend to efficiently exploit the geothermal bag on which the city is located, through a project whose execution will start soon and as a result of which the contribution of geothermal energy to the municipal heating system will increase considerably. In the coming years, we will necessarily access financing for the installation of photovoltaic panels in several locations in the city.
I have tried to present to you, synthetically, what we propose in Oradea, in the coming years, aware that we cannot afford any breaks, if we want our city to remain an attractive one for this part of Romania. Especially for the younger generation, who have to find their future they want here, at home.
Strategic development objectives 2027
- Bihor aims to become a dynamic and competitive county by the year 2027, where the well-being is directly felt by all the inhabitants of the county and wants to be recognized as an entry and exit gate to Western Europe.
- Complementarily, the county wants to be recognized as an important tourist destination, both in Romania and abroad, with an accessible and adequate infrastructure.
- Municipalities members of the Oradea Metropolitan Area have finalized their sustainable development strategies for the period 2021-2027.
- Supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, so that there is fair competition; the business environment must be supported by reducing bureaucracy and strengthening the partner role of public institutions for the business environment.
- The economic areas of interest that need to be strengthened and that can be approached in an integrated manner with other sectors of activity are: “agriculture”, “tourism”, “technology & communications”. Capitalizing on existing office spaces can be a point of attraction for multinationals on a local level.
- Investments in energy efficiency represent a point of interest for the local public administration & for the business environment
- Metropolitan Development & Urban Mobility – increasing the capacity of public transport by tram from 65% (current capacity) to 80%; the purchase of hydrogen-powered buses; the introduction of the metropolitan train or the tram lines that ensure the connection at the metropolitan level to increase mobility at the level of the entire metropolitan area.
- The digitalization of medical services in the context of the pandemic, even if it was done in a forced way, must be seen as an opportunity, the digitalization process can be continued in directions such as: teleconsultation, teleradiology, telemedicine.
- From recent experience, attractive tourist destinations (e.g. Aquapark, Oradea Citadel) and increased connectivity (e.g. road infrastructure, diversification of airlines) increase the attractiveness of the metropolitan area, stopping the migration of local entertainment tourism and contributing to the development of the local economy.
- Investments for the completion of monuments and building facades in the central area of Oradea Municipality play an important role in attracting visitors – the continuation of these investments
- It is opportune to build an Exhibition Pavilion, also an element that could represent an asset of the municipality of Oradea could be the setting up of a stadium.
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