Centre for Research on Settlements and Urbanism Journal of Settlements and Spatial Planning J o u r n a l h o m e p a g e: http://jssp.reviste.ubbcluj.ro Delineation of the Urban Influence Area Using the Multi-Criteria Assessment Method. The Case of Focşani City, Romania Florentina-Cristina MERCIU* 1, Irina MARVU 1, Oana Bianca ILIESCU 1, George-Laurenţiu MERCIU 2 * Corresponding author 1 University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography, Department of Human and Economic Geography, Bucharest, ROMANIA 2 University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography, Department of Geomorphology, Pedology and Geomatics, Bucharest, ROMANIA E-mail:
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[email protected] DOI: 10.24193/JSSP.2019.1.02 https://doi.org/10.24193/JSSP.2019.1.02 K e y w o r d s: urban influence area, connectivity, urban-rural interface, territorial ties, regional development A B S T R A C T The delineation of urban influence area has been analysed since the beginning of the 19 th century and has also attracted the interest of specialists in the current period, as a result of the socioeconomic changes that have a strong impact on the evolution of urban agglomerations. The importance of delineating influence areas results from the need to quantify the polarization degree of cities and the extent to which they influence adjacent territories. The aim of this study is to delineate the influence area of Focșani city, a second- ranked urban centre and the seat of Vrancea county. The main hypothesis of this paper is that Focșani city is able to structure the urban and rural surrounding areas through the influence and power of attraction it exerts on them.