Bucharest: A City That Shapes—or Distorts—Character

A conversation with Ciprian Ciucu, Mayor of Bucharest

In this conversation, Ciprian Ciucu speaks of Bucharest as a city he envisions as he manages it. His vision of a less concrete-filled city center, a Magheru freed from through traffic, and a creative Bucharest inevitably intertwines with infrastructure, budgets, negotiations, and daily “crises.” We have preserved this tension, as it reveals something essential about the reality of the role. It is, in fact, the first interview granted to Arhitectura magazine by a mayor of Bucharest.

IOANA ALEXE: You said that Bucharest needs ten years. If you look at the city at the end of those ten years, what image would you like to see?

For me, Bucharest must once again become an eminently European city. Because when you formulate public policy—even if it’s local or urban—you look at the different types of cities around the world for comparison. From what I’ve studied