The area covered by the project actions in Piatra Neamț is the city's cultural district. It is located on a hill that hosts the main historical monuments, such as the church, the town hall, one of the renowned schools in the county and the old synagogue, as well as Teatrul Tineretului, which symbolically marks the boundary between the monumental centre and the city of the communist regime and modernisation. The area develops along the city's main thoroughfare, close to which is a large residential neighbourhood that still houses public halls, cinemas and a large library. 

Teatrul Tineretului is the centre of an educational and cultural archipelago of great importance, in a city that has undergone a dramatic process of emigration by the working population and ‘shrinkage’ of the economy, of civil and political life. Today, Teatrul Tineretului is the main civic institution capable of representing the city's life and future. Its activity has been programmatically addressed to young people of school age, the largest part of the population, through the numerous activities developed both in the historical venue and also (during the annual Theatre Festival) in an unconventional but specially set up - Scena Mobila Studio - located within a sports and youth complex.

The relationship with the many layers of memory, the changes and contrasts that characterised Piatra Neamt in the past century constitute the living material of the performative actions of the UNLOCK THE CITY! project. These actions are not isolated but are a significant and structuring part of a dense programme of actions, dialogues and cultural activities promoted by the Theatre.

The city and 
the areas involved

The area affected by the project actions is the historical centre of Piatra Neamt - the Central Zone - a protected area that falls under the name of ‘The Royal Court protected area of Piatra Neamț Municipality’. This is both a residential and business area, hosts a high number of public facilities and administrative buildings, and is close to the city's main road junction. The Central Zone is considered by residents to be the main area of attraction for leisure time, with facilities and places - the only large intra-urban park, museums, cinemas, theatres, cafés, restaurants - that make it the only urban area capable of offering leisure time services to citizens. At the centre of this area is the Teatrul Tineretului.

Although the area directly affected by the project actions is the Central Zone, the performative actions conceived and realised by the artists within the UNLOCK THE CITY! project develop a reflection that takes into account the entire urban, historical and cultural context of Piatra Neamt. This choice stems from the importance that Piatra Neamt has held and holds in the light of the socio-cultural dynamics that have passed through it, in its present and past, both for the city itself and for Romania as a whole. Examples are prominent figures such as the poet and writer Calistrat Hogaș or the painter Victor Brauner, both of whom were forced to leave Piatra Neamț due to political pressures and historical turbulences. Piatra Neamt, in fact, in its history shows itself as a culturally alive city, capable of generating great personalities in the cultural scene, but, due to the various historical events that characterised it, it has suffered a progressive loss over time.

For deeply different reasons, it is also possible to continue to observe migration dynamics by shifting our gaze to the present. Over the past 30 years, the population of Piatra Neamt has decreased by 35 per cent, a phenomenon fuelled by continuous migration processes on the one hand, and the decreasing number of births on the other. Today, the city has a particularly high ageing population, with 163 elderly people for every 100 young people (against the national average of 129 elderly people for every 100 young people). In fact, the entry into the European Union in 2007 has produced a very strong migration towards rich and attractive countries for the working population, with a drastic decrease in the resident population, consequent family break-ups, and an imbalance in the average age of residents towards an elderly population and a young school-age population, with disruptive social consequences especially for young people.
 

Landscapes, spaces, communities 
and theatre 

Piatra Neamţ is the capital of the administrative region of Neamţ. Its geographical location is a key aspect in the morphology and territorial development of the city. Situated within a valley on the edge of the Eastern Carpathians, it is crossed by the Bistrita river and surrounded by the Pietricica, Cozla, Cernegura, Carloman and Batca Doamnei mountains, the last foothills of the Carpathians before the extension of the plains of Moldova. The city retains a mainly industrial vocation, inherited from the investments made during the communist regime. However, with the passing of time, many of the factories in the area have been closed or demolished, leaving a legacy of urban and territorial abandonment, apart from a few industrial activities in partnership with foreign capitals and investors.

Since the beginning of the regime in the 1950s, the transformation of cities has been concentrated around the rebuilt factories and new industrial settlements. Since 1960, urban development has mainly taken place on the outskirts of the city, with single-function buildings lacking commercial activities. Housing density increased between the 1960s and 1970s, thanks to the policy of integrated industrial development (the large Kombinats outside the city) and the construction of neighbourhoods of housing, collective services, and spaces for commerce and civic life, characterised by the emphasis of avenues and street fronts for commercial use on the ground floor. From 1966 to 2022, the number of houses increased from 12,931 to 47,067, with an average of 173 new houses per year. Since 1990, new construction processes have again affected the city's margins and former agricultural areas, with a predominantly self-propelled rhythm of urban development.

In the light of the significant emigration phenomenon, privatised housing assets have represented a reference in the country of origin for the emigrant population and a form of immobilisation of family capital. In fact, in spite of poor quality and frequent abandonment or under-use, the housing maintains relatively high values with consequent problems of access to housing for those who do not have it, in the context of only little investment in the maintenance and management of private and communal spaces. The result is an overall deterioration of the urban context in both buildings and communal spaces. On the other hand, the main urban transformations promoted by the local government concern the management of increasing urban mobility, which has a particularly strong impact on the central area of the city. Significant projects in the sector of tourism are also planned in order to intensify the flow of users visiting the city and to intercept the flow of visitors to the inner Carpathian areas. However, the absence of a long-term public strategy has made the substantial public investments of past years - the urban cable car is an example - still ineffective.

A response to the phenomena of progressive demographic depletion is also provided by Teatrul Tineretului. A key aspect of the theatre's artistic activity is the strong involvement of young audiences, not only through its theatrical programming, but also and above all through their direct participation in the space's management activities; this involvement takes place through collaboration activities between young people and professionals in the production of plays, through storytelling workshops and opportunities for artistic debate (meetings with actors, poets or other cultural exponents) or through guided tours of the theatre's spaces, in order to learn about its history and projects. The theatre audience ends up reflecting the demographic composition of the city, and its role as a social collector thus takes on a highly relevant function. For these reasons, the theatre's multifaceted action in the city (both in its main venue and in its branch venue at the sports ground, library and public spaces) is fundamental to the life and development of the city, highlighting how its ability to keep younger audiences interested can play a primary role in the relationship between theatre, the city and its spaces. 
 

Relevant issues during and after the pandemic