IT Boom Gives Romania’s ‘Dust-Clad’ Iasi a Shine

Iasi in the northeast, the ugly sister among Romania's big cities, seemed to buck the trend. 

But today this once neglected city is changing fast, from a run-down post-industrial centre into a regional hub for IT, attracting international companies and global giants such as Amazon, Oracle and the research division of the German automotive manufacturer Continental. 

All have set up shop in Iasi in the last 15 years, drawn by low prices and the big, cheap pool of talent emerging from the local university.

Dan Zaharia, who runs the Iasi branch of the international network of technology co-work spaces Fab Lab, and also edits PIN magazine, dedicated to the IT industry in the region, cites official and private-sector statistics when he estimates that more than 21,000 people work in IT and related services in Iasi, of a total population of around 400,000. 

"The new class of young professionals is changing this city with their demand for better offices, restaurants, music festivals and, of course, better housing," Zaharia told BIRN.

The headquarters of Amazon in Iasi. Photo: BIRN

Hit by unemployment and mass migration

As the country's main economic and cultural hub, the capital, Bucharest, changed fast after the 1989 revolution, becoming a buzzing centre - by Romanian standards. 

But former Austro-Hungarian towns and cities, such as Cluj and Timisoara, also changed rapidly in the 1990s, taking advantage of their ancient traditions and fine architecture to become tourism centres and more refined alternatives to the model of wild development offered by the capital. 

Another metropolis, Constanta, on the Black Sea, was hit by a real estate spree that ruined most of its public spaces and landed its most iconic mayor...