Analysis of Romania’s County Performances Regarding the Three Pillars of Sustainability

With the signing of the 2030 Agenda, most countries around the world have committed to making the Earth a better place for current and future generations. Sustainable development involves balancing economic, environmental and social plans; therefore, a series of indicators were chosen in the study to define these three pillars. Also, given Romania’s low results compared to other EU member states, it was desirable to implement an analysis aimed at exploring this country in more detail, which is why a regional investigation was implemented. Through a panel cluster analysis for the period 2015–2023, an attempt was made to determine the degree of homogeneity between the counties of Romania in order to identify the most affected regions. Among the results obtained, it was noted that geographical location had an influence on how counties were grouped into classes, with the most affected areas being those in the immediate vicinity of the capital. This fact once again reinforces the idea behind the concept of “agglomeration shadows”, according to which areas around large cities are deprived of certain resources or economic activities.