Ungheni is the first Moldovan city that developed a General Urban Plan (GUP) for the next 15 years according to European standards and it will be submitted for approval to local councilors in September this year. The GUP has concrete goals until 2030 and plans to attracts investments of over 1 billion lei, to double the number of jobs, and to ensure that 100% of the city inhabitants have access to quality drinking water and to sewage services, IPN reports.
Ungheni Mayor Alenxadru Ambros declared during public debates of the GUP that Ungheni was one of the first cities to have a General Urban Plan between 1999-2009. Its updated version proposes an integrated approach. The official noted that GUP isn't limited to urbanism, but also concerns the solving of economic, social, demographic and other problems.
“Certainly, in 15 years, in 2030, the city will look better. We are working towards this. A GUP is absolutely necessary for any locality that wants to develop. The Plan will surely help us attract more investments because after the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU, we hope to have access to EU structural funds. The localities that have strong general urban plans, detailed technical plans, zonal plans, etc., will surely find funding. I'm convinced that in Moldova the lack of funds isn't the major problem, but the lack of feasible projects”, said Ambros. The mayor added that some of actions stipulated by the GUP are underway and the reparation of many streets has already started.
Mihai Roscovan, coordinator of the Joint Programme of Integrated Local Development, implemented by the Moldovan government through UNDP and UN Women, stressed that Ungheni developed the first GUP in Moldova through modern methods as early as 1997. “Back then, during the neo-Communist stagnation, there was no talk about European integration in Moldova. Now, in 2014, after the current government signed the Association Agreement, the Municipality of Ungheni will have the first GUP in Moldova that meets European standards. What do these standards mean? They mean that we do not only have a clear vision of how we want Ungheni to look in 2030, but we also know what we have to do to implement everything we planned”, he said.
Roscovan noted that the GUP is accompanied by a set of 45 programmes and 150 concrete projects that will improve public services, create new well-paid jobs and a modern and European city where people will enjoy a comfortable life.
Iurie Povar, the general architect of the Ungheni GUP, explained that the objective of the Urban Plan is the town's economic development in cooperation with Romania, as Ungheni is a border city. The most important task is to connect to the cross-border route Budapest-Odessa that passes through the Ungheni area. “The southern part of the city was chosen as the best point to make the connection. Thus, it will serve as both a beltway and an international highway”, said the architect.
Another provision concerns the development of free industrial zones and of each kind of infrastructure. Povar added that in the context of strengthening European integration ambitions, the updated GUP will be very useful for attracting investments.
The General Urban Plan of Ungheni was developed within the project “The drawing and management of integrated plans of human development”, part of the Ukraine-Moldova-Romania cross-border cooperation programme and funded by the EU.
