What is it about?
By using a novel geohumanities methodology based on GIS mapping of all major maps published from the 1900s to the present time, in this study, we are interested in understanding how the changes of street naming have been reflected in the city of Timișoara, Romania in the last century and where and why some spatial ethnolinguistic contacts are visible in the public space.
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Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Recent studies on urban street (re)naming practices have highlighted the importance of political power when changes occur from one political regime to another. However, longitudinal studies on different political power changes and their relationship to spatial ethnolinguistic contacts that are unfolding in the urban landscape have been little researched.
Perspectives
The findings indicate that street renaming and the long-time maintenance of some street names depend not only on the political power but also on preserving memories for certain local ethnic names. Findings also highlight that spatial ethnolinguistic contacts of street names are mainly preserved in central areas of the city. Therefore, political memory of past ethnic leaders is still inscribed in the city-text of Timișoara. Our results are important as Timișoara’s street renaming in the last century could stand as a model of multiethnic survival names (i.e., names of German origin) as well as a dense spatial ethnolinguistic contact of some street names, given that some ethnic minorities are not so well reflected today in the ethnic structure of the city.
Dr Remus Cretan
west university of Timisoara
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Street (Re)Naming Practices and Spatial Ethnolinguistic Contact: A Longitudinal Study in Timișoara, Romania, GeoHumanities, May 2026, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/2373566x.2026.2616056.
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