For the professional training of university students in the field of Geography, at the Faculty of Geography, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, the curricula in all years of study, at the Bachelor's level, include two field trips organised by the faculty, where professors coordinate the activities. The aim of our paper is to realise proposals for improving these activities. Therefore, we chose to find out the opinions of a sample which was represented by university students in their 3 rd year of study, at all specialisations within the field of Geography (Geography, Geography of Tourism, Cartography, Hydrology-Meteorology, and Territorial Planning). We collected the data (students' answers) using an online questionnaire. They informed us about the reasons they had for taking part at the respective field trips, about the efficiency of diverse activities, about students' diverse roles during fieldwork and the usefulness for their learning and training, about what they recommended and preferred. They also realised a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis of the field trips they participated at. Taking into account the findings, we concluded that students considered field trips relevant for their professional training and we were able to provide a series of recommendations for improving them, based on students' opinions and suggestions.

After World War I, Transylvania became part of Romania in 1918 through what is called the Great Union. After 100 years, Alba Iulia authorities celebrated the Unification Centennial in a symbolic way by testing and implementing 100 smart digital projects. The research question is asked, Is Alba Iulia a true smart city? Methodologically, we centralized the urban regeneration and sustainable development projects, plotting them on a map using geographic information system ArcGIS 16.2 software. The results were interpreted using the arch over time method and emphasized the sustainable development tendencies of the Union City a century later. Its policies and projects make Alba Iulia a model for emergent development despite some unsolved gaps such as social inclusion of marginal communities or real urban smart functionality. Conclusively, the current poor implementation of smart applications certifies Alba Iulia’s digital city status, not as one of smart city.

More than ever before, today's cities are significantly multi-cultural and heterogeneous. Intrinsically, the modern city centre is the most easily recognisable urban area by both locals and visitors or tourists, due to a concentration of significant functions. In this paper, we discuss the physical and historic centre of Cluj-Napoca, the place that exhibits distinctive structural and functional features and which, throughout history, was shaped and adapted to different ages and needs. As a result, it is the most refined and monumental cultural landscape, granting the city a strong identity and a space rich in cultural significances. Analysing the cultural landscape of these spaces from a past, present and future perspective, it is necessary to emphasise the link between the users' perception of the city centre and the "cold demarcation", through official urban planning, based mainly on quantitative data and on urban indicators (e.g. consistency of the built space, buildings height, proportion between inhabited space and the organised one, accessibility, urban connectivity, etc.). Quite a lot of times, urban planning ignores users' perceptions, being focused on businesses and ensuring people's daily needs and not necessarily on preserving or creating symbolic places, which inhabitants are attached to and where they feel "at home". Therefore, our aim is to highlight the cultural significance of the public spaces within the city centre of Cluj-Napoca and to assess users' perceptions of these places more and more altered and affected by globalisation spaces. We used the results of two questionnaire surveys and of an extensive research on the history and present features of these spaces. The first survey consisted of 150 filled-in questionnaires designed to set the perceived limits of Cluj-Napoca central area and, the second one, with 300 filled-in questionnaires, aimed to establish the inhabitants' perceptions of the public squares' aesthetics and functionality. Many cities are part of or head towards the so-called cultural vacuum, mainly a result of a profound globalisation and of interpreting culture itself in a wrong way. One more reason for such research approaches to be welcomed and up to date.

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