Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 25 ISSUE 2
Written by Miruna Angela MUTU, Dragos Mihai PANAGORET, Sorina CERNAT, Andreea Anamaria PANAGORET, Rares Vladimir NITU

Since the Covid-19 pandemic imposed, to the entire planet Earth, a state of emergency and isolation, especially the population in urban areas has reoriented towards returning to their birthplaces or migrating to rural areas, attractive in terms of location and infrastructure. The purpose of the paper is to emphasize the difference in the attractiveness of the rural environment, for the years 2020-2023. In order to understand the population's motivation to relocate, translated into the benefits sought, the survey method was used, through a questionnaire distributed only online, to 87 people from big cities (Bucharest, Ploiesti, Alexandria, Targoviste, Brasov, Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca), who decided to move to the rural area in the pandemic and post-pandemic years. According to data provided by the National Institute of Statistics, the years after 2020 are marked by a clear reversal of the flow of internal migration between areas of residence, in favor of rural. The most conclusive figures are those of 2022 and 2023, when 31.6% and 34.9% of changes of residence take place from urban to rural areas. The entire study shows that the fear of a new life of isolation, as well as the opportunity to work from home, were the reasons that led most people to make this change.

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