Abstract In the last decades human society came to realize that pollution and irrational use of resources diminish the capacities for future generations to satisfy their needs. That is why policies regarding environment protection start being implemented at city level with the participation of local authorities and the support of citizens. Moreover, such policies are beginning to have results, at environmental level. The example of the city of Ploiesti is commented upon in this paper. The city under scrutiny here is a Romanian medium size city, a new member of the European Community that starts showing the results of the projects implemented by local authorities.