The city, depending on its size, represents a pole of attraction for different groups of people situated both near and far from the city. The causes that lead to the movement towards the city of the population living in the rural area are related to a more developed economic activity, the possibility of finding a job (especially for middle-aged persons), the presence of learning institutions, hospitals, cultural centres and better living conditions. The city's power of attraction is

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... to its size: the larger the city, the more people come to it from great distances or smaller cities whilst a small city attracts only the population from the neighbouring settlements. Presently, in large cities the population shifts from the urban area towards the rural one through the development of the suburban settlements and residential districts. For the city of Piteşti, this migration is available thus in its peripheral districts as residential neighbourhoods appeared within the adjacent settlements, a fact which caused the decline of the city population opposite to the growth of the rural population. A major influence on the evolution of the city's population is the natural movement of the population and the industrial restructuration, which forced the affected population to move to the rural area or to work in a foreign country. Between 1990 and 2010, the city's population recorded three evolution periods: a slight growth between 1990 and 1997, followed by a period of stagnation between 1997 and 2001, and a period of regression between 2002 and 2009. These periods were influenced by the economic activities, which initially grew then declined, by the natural movement of the population and the migration towards adjacent settlements or across the borders.