Regeneration in rural Transylvania

This paper argues that efforts in rural conservation of the Saxons villages of Transyvania should be reinforced through long term rural regeneration policies that would benefit the present local population. While much welcomed, the attention that the conservation of Saxon villages in Transylvania brought to the region did not benefit the local population. Organizations such as Mihai Eminescu Trust and others put an invaluable effort into preserving the former rural apearance of the Saxon villages, however, the long term solution to the viability of the area needs more than an outdoor museum picture perfect solution. So far the conservationists focused on reproducing the appearance of the former Saxon viilages, with notable success in some cases. We argue that the next step in insuring the preservation and continuation of this success stands in a mix of socio-economic policies and specific property market mechanisms that would bring life to this special area of the Carpathian region. In order to preserve the social fabric of this idylic way of life, the solutions should not be limited to the proceeds obtained from eco-tourism, self limited in nature. The solutions that we see is a combination of economic policy and property market development that would see the present population benefiting directly from the investment in history.