Discussion Papers 1993. No. 17.
Settlement Network Development Policy
in Hungary in the Period of State Socialism (1949-1985)
CENTRE FOR REGIONAL STUDIES
OF HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
DISCUSSION PAPERS
No. 17
Settlement Network Development Policy
in Hungary in the Period of
State Socialism (1949-1985)
by
HAJDU, Zoltan
Series editor
HRUBI, Laszlo
Pecs
1993
Discussion Papers 1993. No. 17.
Settlement Network Development Policy
in Hungary in the Period of State Socialism (1949-1985)
The Discussion Papers series is sponsored by
BAT Pecsi Dohanygyar Kft.,
a Member of the British-American Tobacco Company Group
The research and publishing of this paper are sponsored by
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ISSN 0238-2008
© 1993 by Centre for Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Technical editor: Dombi, Peter
'
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Printed in Hungary by G—Nyomdasz Ltd., Pecs
Discussion Papers 1993. No. 17.
Settlement Network Development Policy
in Hungary in the Period of State Socialism (1949-1985)
CONTENTS
Introduction (5)
The basic structure of the stock of settlements on the basis of the National
Census of 1949 (8)
The establishment of the socialist settlement development policy (10)
Conceptions of settlement development at the time of the „consolidation"
and in the period of „laying down of the foundation of socialism" (17)
Settlement development policy in the „shadow" of the reform endeavours
of economic management (21)
Settlement development policy in the 1970s and its corrective attempts
until the mid-1980s (23)
Summary (30)
Bibliography (31)
Figures (34)
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
INTRODUCTION
Settlement and settlement network development policy seems to be alien
to direct high politics but upon examining their essential relations we can
say that in fact these „politics" signify the basic outcomes and spatial con-
sequences, i.e. the synthesis of the economic, social processes and politi-
cal changes.
The evolution of the settlement development policy of state social-
ism was greatly influenced by the conception of society in the new system,
the historically developed socio-economic spatial structure of the country,
the sectoral-structural objectives of economic development and structure
policy in a wider sense. Settlement development had to be integrated with
the centralised structure of management, public administration and plan-
ning. In the practical activity a reply had to be given to the peculiar re-
gional and settlement problems of the country (Budapest—the provinces,
Budapest—the large cities, large cities—small towns, towns—villages, the
system of small detached farms) and priorities had to be assigned under
the circumstances of limited resources.
Regional policy and regional, settlement and settlement network de-
velopment are not the „creatures" of the socialist turn in Hungary, the
state used to interfere with the regional and settlement network processes
formerly as well. The changes of the frontier after World War I, then the
National Work Plan (1932) resulted in the unfolding of a peculiar regional
development policy.
In the formulation of the goals, the direction and the instruments of
regional policy science participated periodically and to an altering extent.
In the 1950s science had a ceremonial role, then it took part in the estab-
lishment of the regional and settlement development policy depending on
the political interests and objectives with a changing content and varying
successfulness. From first to last the scope of movement of science was
restricted, since the determining characteristic feature of the period was
that the judgement of every professional issue obtained an ideological and
political content.
The regional and settlement development policy of the period was
determined to a great extent by the long-term, planned, ideal notion of so-
ciety as well as by the direct conception of the society and the actual
practice of the organisation of society. Perhaps the most often used phrase
5
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
in the writings of the period was the socialist society. Several levels and
groups of interpretations of this category developed changing with time,
but there remained some permanent elements, too. In the everyday prac-
tice and the political activity philosophical, ideological and propagandistic
elements got mixed.
In addition to the system of values of the socialist transformation of
the society, the directly formulated economic development strategy (the
two were related in a lot of cases) determined the objectives and possi-
bilities of the prevailing settlement and settlement network development.
In the period of the extensive development of the economy, in the case of
developments of sectoral (industrial) character regional and settlement de-
velopment was a partial result, a kind of consequence related to the major
investment projects.
In connection with settlement and settlement network development
once again arises the issue of periodisation as well as that of the attitude
to be taken in relation to the international processes and scientific tenden-
cies. We regard the whole of state socialism as a homogeneous but not
undifferentiated whole. The typical phases of settlement and settlement
network development policy coincide with the structural changes of the
economy, politics and public administration but the coincidence is not of a
mechanical nature.
At the beginning of the period the endeavour to imitate the Soviet
practice (or rather the pressure to do so) the undiscriminating adoption of
the Soviet scientific accomplishments is obvious but „the representatives
of the bourgeois science" are still present and elements of earlier views
also emerge. From the early 1960s in the interest of promoting moderni-
sation, the western scientific achievements were more powerfully integra-
ted (often with a content and in a form strongly trans-ideologised). Such
elements of the western practice gained ground which seemed to serve the
efforts and plans of „catching up and overtaking".
The regional and settlement development policy of the 1970s was
characterised by a kind of peculiar eclecticism. The limited, hesitant mar-
ket economy initiatives clashed with „the system of values of the socialist
society", the aspiration towards the materialisation of the ideal society
and social equality, the requirement of successful development and effi-
cient functioning intensified.
6
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
The parliamentary resolution of 1985 can be regarded as the final
chapter of the regional and settlement development policy of state social-
ism. In the resolution the alleged values of the socialist society were still
present, but there appeared the basic elements of a more open develop-
ment policy and practice, differing from the earlier practice by reckoning
with possible uncertainties, too, and acknowledging also the differences of
the social interests on the regional and settlement level.
7
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
THE BASIC STRUCTURE OF THE STOCK OF SETTLEMENTS
ON THE BASIS OF THE NATIONAL CENSUS OF 1949
According to the census of 1949 the population of Hungary was 9,204,799
out of which 1,589,065 (17.3%) lived in Budapest, the capital of the
country; 1,107,905 (12%) lived in towns subordinated to the county coun-
cils (their number was 24) — these were the more important densely
populated towns — , 643,806 inhabitants (7%) in towns subordinated to
the district councils (29), while 5,864,023 (63.7%) lived in the 3,143 com-
munities of the country.
The division of the towns and communities according to order of
magnitude was extremely peculiar. The number of communities with in-
habitants below 499 was 562 and in these communities lived 2.1% of the
whole population; 867 communities belonged to the category with 500-
999 inhabitants and in these lived 6.9% of the population. 850 communi-
ties belonged to the category with 1,000-1,999 inhabitants, amounting to
13% of the population. Consequently, in all, 22% of the population lived
in (2279) communities with a number of inhabitants below 2,000 and this
is very important because from the early 1950s onwards the communities
with 2000 inhabitants were regarded as the ideal „socialist" or „rational"
size to a greater and greater extent.
The number of settlements with 2,000-10,000 inhabitants was 812
and in these settlements lived 33.9% of the population. These settlements
were extremely different with regard to function. In the Great Hungarian
Plain they were mainly of an agrarian character while in Transdanubia
towns already appeared at the upper limit of the category in the functional
sense.
In the settlements with a number of inhabitants over 10,000 (106)
lived 44.1% of the population of the country. From the viewpoint of pub-
lic administration the settlements were of a different character, only half of
them had the legal status of towns. Besides the two settlements with more
than 100,000 inhabitants (Debrecen and Miskolc) Budapest had no rival
at the other end of the hierarchy based on order of magnitude.
One of the peculiar problems of the Hungarian settlement network
was the high proportion of the population living on the peripheries. 17.1%
of the population, about 1.58 million people lived on the peripheries. The
number of the inhabited peripheral places was 16,799 and most of them
8
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
(53%) had inhabitants below 30. The number of the inhabited peripheral
places with more than 2,000 inhabitants was 35. Although some 76.5% of
the settlements had population living on the peripheries, on the territory of
the country the peripheral population had an extremely uneven distribu-
tion. The majority of the peripheral population lived in the Great
Hungarian Plain, 41.5% and 32.6% of the population lived in Bacs Kiskun
-
and Csongrad and Bekes counties, respectively, mainly on scattered iso-
lated farms or groups of small farms.
9
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SOCIALIST SETTLEMENT
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
The political turn of 1948, then its acknowledgement in the Constitution
of 1949, the switch of the economic, social and political system, the
changes in the place, role and character of public administration logically
brought about the shaping of a settlement policy expressing, representing
and projecting the economic, social and political objectives and endeav-
ours of the socialist society. Settlement policy is of the same age as the
system, nevertheless we can say that political and socio-political consid-
erations had appeared already in the coalitional period or even earlier —
because of the communist direction of the Supreme Economic Council
and the Ministry of the Interior — in the regional and settlement decisions
the legal declaration of town status.
In the development of the new settlement development policy the
basic points of departure were constituted by the political, economic sys-
tem of values and the direct political objectives of the new society. The
ideological basis of the social and regional division of labour was provided
by the Marxist doctrines on the historically changing relationship of town
and village and by the settlement development practice having occurred in
the Soviet Union. But above all, it was the Stalinist approach which got
across.
According to Stalin 's approach the socialist revolution was to con-
quer first in the towns, the socialist ownership would be created there, the
socialist transformation of the economy and the society was bound to oc-
cur first in the towns. The socialist towns were to reform the villages as
well. The villages would not follow the socialist towns mechanically,
therefore the socialist ownership and later the social relations of socialism
were to be formed in the villages by means of external intervention. On
the long term the whole settlement system was to be transformed in ac-
cordance with the construction of socialism.
From 1950 Khrushchev formulated his theory, which had a political
impact, on the „socialist agrarian towns". One of its significant compo-
nents was that the antagonistic contradictions of town and village as well
as the long-term economic, social, cultural, architectural and supply-re-
lated etc. differences would cease to exist under socialism but also mod-
10
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
ern settlements uniting all the advantages of both town and village would
come into being without the disadvantages involved.
For the Hungarian political leaders settlement policy was one of the
instruments of economic development and of the radical transformation of
the society, partly an objective and a consequence.
Gradually the conception of the First Five-year Plan was gaining
also a political content related to settlement development from April of
1949 until its adoption by the Parliament in December, 1949. In his
speech, held in Kecskemet on August 20, 1949, Matyas Rakosi, secretary-
general of the party, connected the possibilities of rural development with
the urgency of rapid collectivisation in agriculture. He determined „the
disappearance of the difference between town and village" as a political
objective. In the beginning the socialist transformation of the village in-
volved mainly the transformation of ownership, then it was aimed at the
decomposition of the proprietors' society. The possibility of the establish-
ment of „kulak villages" also emerged but in the end a decision in favour
of the labour camps was made.
Erna Gera, the chief organiser and leader of the economy, touched
upon the settlement and regional aspects of the five-year plan from several
aspects. One of the objectives of the five-year plan was to change the
„socio-economic map of our fatherland". The main endeavour of the
government was to industrialise those regions of the country which were
in need of industry by means of the construction of 263 industrial plants,
the transformation of a great number of agrarian towns into „towns being
industrialised" and the establishment of „two new industrial centres in
addition to the one in Budapest". The living conditions of the peasantry
were to be improved by means of setting up 250 regional centres for the
small detached farms, the drilling of 2,000 new wells, the large-scale de-
velopment of the allocation of supplies in the field of transport, telecom-
munications and electricity.
In the early 1950s the regional, settlement and economic differences
increased as a consequence of the extensive, heavy industry-oriented de-
velopment and in contrast with the original plans. Especially the develop-
ment of Komarom and Borsod-Almnij-Zemplen counties was accelerated.
In accordance with the political objectives and needs the elaboration
of the socialist settlement development policy and its approval on the state
level took place. The most important scientific role in the settlement de-
11
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
velopment policy was taken by the Institute of Regional Planning and the
Council of Small Detached Farms. The Institute of Regional Planning
elaborated the national, regional, settlement network and settlement de-
velopment conceptions while the Council of Small Detached Farms
elaborated the socialist principles of the peripheries and of the policy of
the small detached farms in particular, trying to co-ordinate their concep-
tions in accordance with the frequently modified political requirements.
In the course of both activities the former scientific achievements
and aspirations were often trans-valuated, a viewpoint of relevance was
the copying of the current Soviet practice, but basically the direction
taken was determined by the directly asserted political positions and the
system of values.
Finding a solution to the situation of the peripheries, mainly to that
of the small detached farms, was an integral part of the settlement policy
of the period. The Council of Small Detached Farms was set up under the
chairmanship of Ferenc Erdei in January of 1949 with the purpose of
finding a final, integral, socialist solution to the situation of the population
which living on the periphery and it. was functioning as a inter-departmen-
tal government committee. According to the preliminary directives of the
political leadership the issue of the small detached farms was to be solved
by the assignment and development of 200-250 centres for the small de-
tached farms.
The executive decree on the restriction or ban of peripheral con-
structions was made with the substantial contribution of the Council of
Small Detached Farms. The building of permanent houses was permitted
only in central districts and assigned centres of small detached farms. Any
utilities of public purpose could be built only in the assigned centres of the
small detached farms, only in these settlements was it desirable for the
decision-makers to give trade licence for the practising of any useful ac-
tivities.
In accordance with the changes of the political conditions and the
financial resources, the Council of Small Detached Farms always re-
evaluated its activity, the aspects and possibilities of the development of
centres. In this work rational and irrational elements were both mixed, the
functions and also the number of the centres of small detached farms were
often re-defined according to the changing requirements.
12
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
The attempt to solve the issue of the small detached farms gradually
began to be associated with the need of the collectivisation of agriculture,
in certain spaces it became the most effective instrument of collectivisa-
tion. In the interest of solving the issue of the small detached farms eco-
nomic and extra-economic administrative instruments were used alike.
The most spectacular component in the activity of the Council of
Small Detached Farms was the „communitisation" campaign, in the
course of which 150 new communities were formed, largely in the Great
Hungarian Plain, where there were a lot of small detached farms. In the
process the normatives of settlement development coincided with those of
public administration. From the viewpoint of the Establishment it was
easier to „handle" the society of the Great Plain when it was concentrated
into communities. Communitisation was promoted by the approach which
tried to merge the issue of the small detached farms with that of the ku-
laks.
In November of 1950 the Supreme Economic Council determined
the institutional system, the hierarchy and the mechanism of plan ap-
proval, the framework for the harmonisation of the investments, regional
and settlement developments. The country and regional planning was to
become the basis of the development and planning of cities and townships,
but since such plans had not been completed, the two planning activities
had to be carried out simultaneously.
In connection with country and regional planning the Supreme Eco-
nomic Council announced that
— the regional plans should be made with regard to economically
contiguous regions (geographical units) exceeding the boundaries
of a single county as a rule,
— the regional plans shall consist of economic and technical plans,
— the drawing up of regional plans is a central task and shall be
made by the Central Planning Office with the contribution of the
Institute of Regional Planning, with the initiation of the compe-
tent ministries and the affected organs,
— the regional plans have to be made on the basis of the data pro-
vided by the five-year plan and those of the long-range aspects
going beyond the plan period by making use of the data of devel-
opment (eleCtrification, road construction, afforestation) plans.
13
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
The Supreme Economic Council prescribed that „each town and
community should make its own town and community planning pro-
gramme". It is also determined that
—administration and economic planning is a central (governmental)
task,
—economic planning is the basis of technical planning: economic
planning is directed by the Central Planning Office, technical
planning by the Ministry of Housing and Public Construction,
—the planning of cities and communities shall consist of a pro-
gramme recording the results of economic planning and also of
the (general and detailed) technical plans; the planning pro-
gramme should include all the economic and political aspects in
accordance with which it is possible to use the territory of the
cities or communities on a range longer than that of the economic
plan period.
The Supreme Economic Council prescribed the classification of
towns and communities into three categories from the aspect of city
(community) planning. The classification was determined by the Supreme
Economic Council upon the proposal of the Minister of the Interior in
agreement with the Minister of Transport and Communication and the
Minister of Housing and Public Construction.
The aspects of the classification of settlements in connection with
the planning programmes are as follows.
—The 1st class should be made up of settlements (towns and com-
munities) which have to be developed to an extent above average
already in the period of the First Five-Year Plan as well as the
ones on the territory of which major industrial all other invest-
ments have to be located.
—The 2nd class should include the settlements the urban develop-
ment of which is required but which do not develop to an extent
above the national average. On their territory the location of such
institutions is desirable which meet the needs of both the locality
and the environs (gravity zone).
—All the other settlements should be included in the 3rd class. On
the one hand, these are settlements the rural character of which
still has to be developed further to meet the local needs and also
ones on the territory of which permission for investments in the
14
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
period of the First Five-Year Plan can be granted only in excep-
tional cases on account of their poor economic and transport
conditions.
The Institute of Regional Planning elaborated the conception of
classification in several versions and in the process of co-ordination with
the county party committees the classification of the individual settlements
was modified even further until the political approval and announcement
of the range of a „special class" or of 1st class settlements occurred. Ac-
cording to this conception only Budapest and Miskolc belonged to the
class of special settlements, ensuring thereby „the possibilities of their es-
pecially centralised direction". In the final version 47% of the settlements
was classified into the III/c category (not to be developed) (Table 1,
Figure I).
Table I
The classification of the villages and towns on 21 December, 1951
Number of
% of all
Classes
classified settlements
settlements
Special class
2
0.06
I class
73
2.27
II class
II/A
52
1.61
II/B
29
0.90
III class
III/A
1,254
38.91
III/B
283
8.78
III/C
1,530
47.47
All settlements
3,223
100.00
The categorisation of the settlements outgrew the original destina-
tion (orientation of the industrial and communal investments of the First
Five-Year Plan) and in a short time it transformed into a settlement and
settlement network development conception, with the basic elements of
the new regional and settlement development policy outlined.
The regional development policy deliberately reckoned with the
confinement of the development of the (Yugoslavian, Austrian) border
regions, the planning and construction of new towns was launched and the
socialist town partly obtained a historico-philosophical content. In the
15
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
central planning of the processes of the regions and settlements a devel-
opment endeavour centralised in a decentralised way got across in which
the long-range need for the homogenisation of the socialist society also
obtained a role.
The persons involved in the drawing up and approving of the plans
did not deny the class character of the conception, its commitment to the
„workers party". The following basic targets were aimed at: the develop-
ment of the industrial and new socialist towns, the improvement of the
allocation of supplies and the favouring of the special settlements (by fix-
ing the rates of certain services). On account of the scarcity of the re-
sources to be spent on settlement development and the exaggerated re-
quirements of the outlined objectives this conception could be asserted in
the real processes only to some extent, yet the special settlements and
spaces obtained a more favourable position in several respects, developing
at the cost of the neglect of other settlements.
In 1953-1956 the endeavours of regional planning and regional set-
tlement development were incorporated into the regional reform attempts
of the public administration. The fundamental issue of each reform plan
was the possibility and extent of decentralisation but the solution was
planned within different regional frames. In these plans and projects the
development of the settlement network was presented in subordination to
the interests of public administration.
16
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
CONCEPTIONS OF SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT AT THE
TIME OF THE „CONSOLIDATION" AND IN THE PERIOD OF
„LAYING DOWN OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIALISM"
From 1957 the „new" regime started to rethink the economico-political,
development and planning practice of the former period. An attempt was
made to re-determine the proportions of sectoral development within this
framework and with precedence cautiously given to the role of infrastruc-
ture, the political and economic endeavours accepting the raising of the
living standards and turning it into a propagandistic goal of primary im-
portance became marked.
In 1958 a Governmental Resolution (on the System of Regional
Planning) on re-starting the regional research activity and the making of
regional planning programmes was passed. The future of long-range na-
tional economic plans was still uncertain, therefore the measures were
formulated in a provisory way: if long-range national plans are made
„regional development plans will have to be elaborated as well". Thus in
1958 the planning of regional development was raised in connection with
the making of long-range national economic plans.
The resolution of the Politburo of the Hungarian Socialist Workers'
Party (HSWP) (October 29, 1958) on the location of industry wanted to
lay stress upon the forces of production, the regional aspects of the in-
dustrial development in particular, in contrast with the one-sided assertion
of sectoral considerations. With this purpose in mind it was prescribed
that the long-range, five-year and annual plans should also have a „chapter
on the settlements". The need for the more proportional industrial and
regional development of the country was also formulated. The problem
was to be solved by means of the planned reduction of the dominance of
Budapest in the industry, the industrialisation of the industrially underde-
veloped areas, the harmonisation of the internal economic structure of the
individual regions, the increased assertion of economic efficiency.
By translating the resolution of the HSWP into a state measure the
Economic Committee highlighted the significance of regional research and
the development plans first of all from the viewpoint of the co-ordinated
location of the industrial investments. It also laid down the principle of the
„proportional development of the different regions of the country".
17
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
The long-range planning activities blossoming out in the early 1960s
(a 15-year housing construction plan, national water management general
plan etc.) were to become elements of an organic and coherent conception
asserting also the considerations of the regional and settlement develop-
ment. The process, however, got stuck because the elaboration of the
long-term regional conception was halted in the early stage out of political
and economic considerations.
In the Second Five-Year Plan some kind of normativity was also as-
serted in the planning of the regional processes. This was shown by the
formulation of the requirement of a more proportional industrial develop-
ment. The development of Miskolc., Ncs, Debrecen and Szeged
cities into centres of large-scale industry, the so-called counter-pole con-
ception primarily served the reduction of the predominance of Budapest.
The other towns could expect only moderate development and develop-
ment means, since the majority of the resources were tied down by the
collectivisation of agriculture and its unfavourable consequences. The de-
velopment of the villages remained again only a propagandistic promise
related to collectivisation.
Beyond its economic, social and political connections, the collectivi-
sation of agriculture appeared also in the theory and practice of settlement
and settlement network development. At the very beginning of the 1960s
the creation of the „socialist system of villages" became the main issue of
settlement and settlement network development.
In 1961 a governmental resolution prescribed the elaboration of a
study project of the settlement network covering the whole country. The
governmental functions, duties concerning the long-term development —
with the exception of the ones within the competence of the Council of
Ministers — were relegated to the competence of the Minister of Housing
and Public Construction.
The regional research activities started again at the Town and Ur-
ban Planning Department of the Ministry of Housing and Public Con-
struction were one of the bases of the study project. The other intellectual
workshop was VAROSTERV,
the research, planning and development
studies of which embraced all the problems of the Hungarian settlements
and settlement network.
The Settlement Network Development Study Project (Study Project)
was a kind of a compromise summarising the political, planning and sci-
18
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
entific endeavours of the early 1960s. The Central Planning Office wanted
to form the settlement network by means of the proportional regional lo-
cation of the productive forces, of the industry in particular, in compliance
with the economic and social relations of socialism. A basic element of
this endeavour was constituted by the building up of the 5 large cities as
counter-poles. With regard to the other towns the needs and possibilities
of an organic, proportional but not too rapid growth was aimed at. The
network of villages based on the socialist agriculture was handled as a
system with moderate development prospects concerning both the single
villages and the regional structure. The Ministry of Housing and Public
Construction and also the related technical experts and architects ap-
proached the long-term system of settlement network from the aspect of
the hierarchical system and functional role of the towns.
The Study Project laid great emphasis on the elimination of the in-
stitutional disproportionateness of the settlement network, the prevention
of the appearance of further disproportionateness, the need for the liqui-
dation of the economic and social disadvantages arising from the system
of settlements. The regional functions of the settlements and the regional
structures built on them were elaborated systematically. In the assignment
of the centres of the village districts and sub-regions co-ordination with
the county, sometimes even with the district party and council organisa-
tion took place, thus some kind of local interest could be asserted, too.
The classification of the settlements according to the regional func-
tions (Table 2, Figure 2) would often be justified by peculiar but ap-
proved principles and normatives. The 9 regional centres and 9 regional
co-centres carried the possibility of a more decentralised development.
66.5% of the settlements became subordinate villages. Some of these
would have continued to exist in the long run any way but most of the
„villages unable to develop and the detached groups of houses in the out-
skirts would cease gradually". In comparison with the earlier conception
the proportion of the lowest category significantly enhanced.
The village district became the smallest regional unit of the settle-
ment network as the potential area of large-scale agriculture, habitation
for the agricultural population and primary unit for the allocation of pro-
visions. The area of the village districts varied between 21.5 and 414.3
km2, the population being around 1,600-15,000.
19
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
Table 2
The regional importance of the settlements according to the Settlement
Network Development Study Project in 1963
Number of classified
Regional importance
% of all
settlements
settlements
Regional centre
9
0.27
Regional co-centre
9
0.27
Sub-regional centre
80
2.42
Major settlements without
regional importance
27
0.82
Village district centre
979
29.71
Subordinate village
2,191
66.51
All settlements
3,295
100.00
The sub-region is an intermediary regional unit of the settlement
network determined concerning production and the allocation of provi-
sions. In the sub-region so-called internal and external zones were distin-
guished. The internal zone embraced mixed economic activities and
population while the external zone was made up of an area which was
purely agricultural. The sub-regions incorporated 8-17 village districts as
a rule but there were also sub-regions with 1 or 40 village districts as well.
The area of the sub-regions was between 382 and 2,976 km 2 , the long-
term population varied between 24,000 and 409,200.
A region is the largest territorial unit of the settlement network
which forms a framework of organisation and allocation concerning both
production and provisions. The area of the regions is between 8,342 and
12,620 km 2 , their planned long-range population varied between 609,100
and 1,630,400. The problem of the outskirts also appeared in the Study
Project. It intended to develop 211 of the peripheries into subsidiary vil-
lages, 3 into centres of village districts on the long term but the majority
of the peripheries were doomed to elimination. There was no desire to
permit either investments or building on the peripheries.
The Study Project was not approved by the government, for a while
it was struck from the agenda together with the other long-range plans,
yet strangely enough it was used obviously as a basis of reference in the
planning of the regional processes on the county level at the time of the
fusion the co-operatives and communities.
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
SETTLEMENT DEVELOPMENT POLICY IN THE „SHADOW"
OF THE REFORM ENDEAVOURS OF ECONOMIC
MANAGEMENT
In connection with the economic reform activities the problems of the
settlement and settlement network development emerged again in the mid-
1960s. The Regional Planning Major Department of the Ministry of
Housing and Public Construction and City Planning and the Regional Of-
fice of the City Planning Institute was asked (again) to elaborate a settle-
ment network development plan which „would promote the proportional
and planned development of the country's settlement network". The de-
velopment project had to be set before the Council of Ministers until the
middle of 1969.
In 1967 the work of long-range regional planning was commenced
again. Regional planning as an organic part of the long-range national
economic planning got under the administration of the Major Department
of the Central Planning Office and of the Long-range Regional Planning
Committee. The elaboration of the long-range regional development strat-
egy became the major goal with the consideration of the framework of the
changing economic management system.
The Nation-wide Settlement Network Development Framework
Plan (Framework Plan) gave a comprehensive and detailed analysis of
Hungary's spatial structure and the regional structure of the settlement
network as well as that of the development having taken place in the pe-
riod of the construction of socialism. The sectoral structures exercising a
direct influence on the development of the settlement network were also
explored. The Framework Plan formulated the long-range functional cate-
gories of the towns and the urban communities of the country as well as
the consequences of the individual categories from the aspect of develop-
ment. In the Framework Plan the development process was divided into 2
phases. It was regarded as a medium-range process until 1985 and as a
long-range one until 2000.
In the Framework Plan the communal system of the institutions was
formulated as one consisting of 9 grades which would play a decisive role
in the shaping of the inter-settlement relationships. The long-range hierar-
chy was modelled, or rather planned, within a regional system of a three-
grade (low-, intermediate- and high-grade) long-range hierarchy.
21
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
The planned regional functions of settlements (Table 3, Figure 3)
and the structural classification of the stock of settlements do not signifi-
cantly differ from those contained by the Study Project of 1963. The
range and the internal division of the settlements classified as high-grade
and partially high-grade settlements changed only slightly. 67% of the
settlements were assigned to the village calegoly. The settlements in the
latter category could expect and assert a right to only being provided with
the minimally required low-grade communal institutions in the future.
Table 3
The regional importance of the settlements according to the Nation-wide
Settlement Network Development Framework Plan in 1969
Regional importance
Number of classified
% of all the
settlements
settlements
National centre
1
0.03
Special high-grade centre
7
0.22
Partially high-grade centre
I I
0.35
Intermediate-grade centre
66
2.08
Partially intermediate-grade centre
39
1.28
Lower grade centre of high priority
123
3.87
Lower grade centre
524
16.49
Partial lower grade centre
270
8.49
Village
2,137
67.29
All settlements
3,178
100.00
After the sectoral, regional and social agreement the Framework
Plan got into the cross-fire of the political sphere and within the range of
the political movements.
22
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
SETTLEMENT DEVELOPM ENT POLICY IN THE 1970S AND
ITS CORRECTIVE ATTEMPTS UNTIL THE MID-1980S
The Economic Management Reform introduced in 1968 continued to be
introduced in the other spheres only partially and controversially. There
was not genuine change in the political structure, in the power relations
and the decision-making mechanism. In fact, there was hardly any change
in the ideologically determined social objectives and the system of values.
In connection with the reform steps it is the new Council Act of 1971, the
re-regulation of the national economic and regional planning, which de-
serves attention from the aspect of our topic.
The reformulation of the settlement and settlement network develo-
pment policy was embedded (again) in this cautious reform process con-
taining contradictions as well. At the Economic Political Department of
the HSWP's Central Conunittee from 1969 the rethinking of the regional
development policy and the elaboration of its guidelines were started in
accordance with the new economic mechanism. Teams of internal and
external experts were formed, the scientific institutes were allowed to
participate and co-operate in preparing studies. The elaboration of the
guidelines of regional development and long-range development policy
was taking place on a wider professional base than ever before.
The regional development guidelines of the Politburo of the HSWP
(March 10, 1970) laid stress upon the economic efficiency in the field of
regional development policy and envisaged the balancing of the dispropor-
tionalities in the economic development of the different regions, harmoni-
sation between the interests of the counties, and the regions of the country,
the economic, scientific and cultural development of the provinces.
The most important goals of the regional development policy to be
enforced simultaneously became:
a) the efficient utilisation of the national economic resources and of
the individual regions, the modernisation and rationalisation of
the settlement network,
b) the moderation of the differences in the financial and cultural
standards of the population by approaching the values of the in-
dividual regions in employment, production and the allocation of
provisions.
23
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
With regard to the relationship between the economy and the settle-
ment network it was explicitly stated that a more planned efficient spatial
and temporal harmonisation of the territorial location of the productive
forces and of settlement network development should be ensured. The
concentration of the productive forces leads to concentration also in the
system of the settlements. In the development of the settlement network
greater emphasis should be laid on the long-range prognostication of ur-
banisation and trans-stratification. In the interest of the proportional de-
velopment of the settlement network the criteria of the legal declaration of
the town or township status of the individual settlements should be identi-
fied and the general guidelines of town-planning should be formed in ad-
dition to the determination of the normatives of the allocation of cultural,
social and cultural provisions.
The long-range economic national plan was determined as the deci-
sive instrument of the implementation of the regional development policy.
In the national economic plan the main directions of regional development
should be determined with regard to an economic district which covers
the area of the country and incorporates some counties.
The governmental resolution recording the guidelines of regional
development as a state document stated that regional development policy
is an organic part of the social and economic policy while industry is a
powerful but not the only element of regional development. The guide-
lines of the territorial location of the productive forces, the socio-political
objectives of the regional development policy, the need for the harmonisa-
tion of the development of the productive forces and the settlements and
the system of the instruments of regional development are enlisted in de-
tails.
The National Settlement Network Development Conception
(Conception) was organically integrated with the economic, social, politi-
cal and regional development endeavours of the period. The basic en-
deavour of the Conception was to encourage the shaping of such a net-
work of settlements which would create the preconditions of the expedi-
ent, long-term location of the productive forces and ensure population
supply, approach the standard of supply for the settlements of identical
functions, reduce the exaggerated differences between the living condi-
tions of town and village, orientate the location of the institutions of dif-
ferent levels, allow for the development of the national and technical net-
24
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
works in harmony with the settlement network and ensure the acceptable
level and qualitative requirements of commutation.
On the basis of the socio-economic organising-directing activities as
well on that of their servicing-providing functions within the regional di-
vision of labour, their gravity zones and number of inhabitants the settle-
ments were classified into the following categories: national, high-grade,
intermediate-grade, low-grade centres and other settlements. The guide-
lines of the development of the settlements belonging to the individual
categories were laid down, too.
In formulating the guidelines of settlement network development it
was emphasised that the division of the settlement network, the functions,
character and order of magnitude of its units should be in accordance with
the regional location of the productive forces. The regional system of the
settlement network should ensure social efficiency as much as possible,
the development of the individual settlements may occur only in the light
of the need of the national network for proportionate, co-ordinated devel-
opment.
The conception determined the range and directions of the develop-
ment of national, special high-grade, high-grade, partially high-grade, in-
termediate-grade, partially intermediate-grade centres, the long-range
number of the inhabitants, the direction of the desirable development of
the relationships between centre and gravity zone and it pointed out the
peculiarities of the agglomerations in particular.
The definition of the low-grade centres and districts was delegated
into the scope of authority of the counties. Every county prepared its own
plan of settlement network development and the complete Conception
was made up of these (Table 4, Figure 4).
The Conception classified 64% of these settlements as other settle-
ments but in this case there is no question of the perspective elimination of
settlements (any more). The conception is restricted merely to the state-
ment that these settlements do not perform organisational-administrative
functions so for them low-grade service and supply have to be ensured
mainly locally — in proportion to the order of magnitude of the popula-
tion — and in a rational organisational form.
In several respects the regional and settlement development proc-
esses of the 1970s were formed according to the „requirements" of the
Conception but also processes differing from it occurred. In the socio-
25
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
Table 4
The number of settlements classified by their importance
on 1 January, 1972 according to the National Settlement
Network Development Conception
Number of classified
% of all the
Central importance
settlements
settlements
National centre
1
0.03
Special high-grade centre
5
0.15
High-grade centre
7
0.22
Partially high-grade centre
11
0.34
Intermediate-grade centre
65
2.02
Partially intermediatelly
grade centre
41
1.28
Lower centre of high priority
142
4.43
Lower centre
530
16.52
Partial lower centre
292
9.10
Settlements belonging to the
agglomeration of Budapest
44
1.37
Other settlements
2,071
64.54
All settlements
3,209
100.00
political and settlement political debate arising and intensifying because of
the socio-economic and settlement tensions, the Conception was „to
blame" for all adverse processes. In our opinion, however, the Concep-
tion only strengthened the concentration processes inherent in the eco-
nomic, social, political and management system and in the majority of
cases these served as a source of legitimation (e.g. in the case of the de-
velopment of special county seats) but it did not bring about the distortion
processes of the settlement network by itself.
As a result of the economic crisis unfolding in the late 1970s, the
restriction of the resources to be spent on settlement development and the
more and more intensifying debates about settlement policy also affecting
other fields, the modification of the Conception took place (Table 5, Fig-
ure 5) but basically it resulted only in changes implying mere „touching-
up". At the time of the modification of the Conception the classification
of a new settlement development policy adjusted to the changed con-
ditions started.
26
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
Table 5
The number of settlements classified by their importance according
to the Modified National Settlement Network
Development Conception in 1982
Number of classified
% of all the
Central importance
settlements
settlements
National centre
1
0.03
Special high-grade centre
5
0.16
High-grade centre
7
0.23
High-grade co-centre
11
0.35
Intermediate-grade centre
69
2.22
Intermediate-grade co-centre
44
1.42
Lower centre
936
30.20
Settlements belonging to the
agglomeration of Budapest
43
1.39
Basic settlements
1,984
64.00
All settlements
3,100
100.00
As a critical response to the former practice of regional and settle-
ment development and with the intention of renewal, the resolution of the
HSWP Political Committee on the Guidelines of Long-term Regional and
Settlement Development was born in July, 1983. In fact, the points of de-
parture were defined on the basis of the old values („such regional and
settlement development should be implemented which advances the fur-
ther moderation of territorial disproportionateness, the continued asser-
tion of the economic and socio-economic tasks") but the details were pre-
sented in accordance with the changed conditions:
—the regionally differentiated development of the productive forces
and production adjusted to the spatial endowments of the space
and based on innovation and selection, the strengthening of the
local co-operatives and the regionally rational organisational rela-
tionships,
—better utilisation of the revalued natural resources increased, the
increased enforcement of the requirements of natural and envi-
ronmental protection, the complex development of the production
infrastructure,
27
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
—the improvement of the conditions of complete and efficient em-
ployment, raising the educational level of labour, strengthening
the certainty of existence,
—reduction of the existing and unjustified regional differences in the
living standards and conditions of the population, mainly in the
development and the system of preferences of the population in-
frastructure, increasing the ability of the appropriate communities
to keep their population,
— distinguished treatment of the special regions,
—increase of the economic independence and responsibility of the
local councils, development of democratism.
The wording of the proposal of the Council Ministers and then the
parliamentary resolution based on political guidelines belong to a very pe-
culiar genre as opposed to that of the detailed documents of the former
period, forming a bridge, as it were, between the position of principle and
the long-range plan conception. It went into greater details than the politi-
cal resolution but it deliberately avoided precise qualifications and nu-
merical definitions.
From the viewpoint of „national economic development, the im-
provement of the living conditions of the population and the unfolding of
the socialist life-style", the regional and settlement relationships were
handled as relationships of primary importance and the goals were formu-
lated up to the turn of the millennium. The point of departure which says
that „regional and settlement development should serve our main social
and economic goals to a greater extent and create more favourable condi-
tions in the interest of the more intensive development of the national ec-
onomy and the further moderation of territorial disproportionateness, the
improvement of the living conditions and general feeling of the popula-
tion, the strengthening of democratism" are of the greatest importance.
As opposed to the formerly asserted policy it was directly formu-
lated that „the regional structure of the economy and the system of settle-
ments have to be developed in a more balanced way, moderating the con-
centration of the productive forces and the population". The realisation of
this objective of decentralisation was to -be achieved by the different ex-
tent of the development of the productive forces and production in the
different regions and by laying emphasis on the spatial approach and pro-
portionateness. The role of the natural, historical environment, the system
28
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
of quality requirements gained ground. It was prescribed that in harmony
with the modernisation of economic management and public administra-
tion, the administrative system of regional and settlement development
should be modified.
The resolution of 1985 contained also value elements of the
„population front" in addition to the approaches of the former party state.
It opened up towards the social traditions and values and the protection of
nature and environment got a new emphasis.
29
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
SUMMARY
At all times regional and settlement policy appeared and in the period of
state socialism went through a change in a form organically interlinked
with the given political, economic and social objectives. Looking at the
whole period we can speak about some continuity in the sense that from
first to last the direct decisive role of the party and politics was asserted in
regional and settlement development (as well).
The socio-political considerations changed to some extent, yet in
the views, practical activity of the Power, in the determination of class
politics, the privileges of the strata and settlements and mainly in the
propaganda the favourising of the working class was asserted all the time,
even if this was one (of the) class(es) which was excluded from the real
decision-making processes, functioning only as an instrument of ideology
and legitimation.
In evaluating the settlement and settlement network development
policy from the aspect of the realisation of the objectives we may come to
the conclusion that luckily the declared objectives were not always real-
ised (e.g. planned thinning of the communities in the early 1950s) and
even the proclaimed „proportionately planned development" was not ade-
quately enforced according to the objectives. On the one hand, the re-
gional and settlement differences decreased, on the other hand, new dis-
proportionateness came into being. In the allocation of the development
resources lasting (nearly continuous) preferences can be observed for the
good of the industrial regions (the point of the matter being that for these
areas this did not result in a stable economic structure capable of growth).
The position of the large cities (Gyar, Debrecen, Miskolc, Pecs and
Szeged) strengthened in the settlement network, even if they were func-
tioning insufficiently. In contrast with the plans, however, they did not be-
come real counter-poles in comparison with Budapest. The development
of the county seats accelerated, their development levels often approached
each other. The real losers of the settlement development policy and
practice are the majority of the communities. Their traditional economic,
social, institutional system had been smashed in the last four decades and
they were left without the new conditions of survival or new paths of de-
velopment being planned.
30
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
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33
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
FIGURES
Hajdú, Zoltán: Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in the Period
of State Socialism (1949–1985). Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 1993. 33 p.
Discussion Papers, No. 17.
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Discussion Papers 1993. No. 17.
Settlement Network Development Policy
in Hungary in the Period of State Socialism (1949-1985)
The Discussion Papers series of the Centre for Regional Studies of the
Hungarian Academy of Sciences was launched in 1986 to publish summaries of
research findings on regional and urban development.
The series has 3 or 4 issues a year. It will be of interest to geographers,
economists, sociologists, experts of law and political sciences, historians and
everybody else who is, in one way or another, engaged in the research of spatial
aspects of socio-economic development and planning.
The series is published by the Centre for Regional Studies.
Individual copies are available on request at the Centre.
Postal address:
Centre for Regional. Studies of Hungarian, Academy of Sciences
P.O. Box 199,7601 PECS
HUNGARY
Phone: (72) 12-755,33-704
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Director general: Ivan ILLES
Editor: Laszlo HRUBI
* * *
Forthcoming in the Discussion Papers series:
Borderland Situation
as It Is Seen by a Sociologist
by ,
Ter& KOVACS
Discussion Papers 1993. No. 17.
Settlement Network Development Policy
in Hungary in the Period of State Socialism (1949-1985)
Papers published in the Discussion Papers series
No. 1 OROSZ, Eva (1986): Critical Issues in the Development of Hungarian
Public Health with Special Regard to Spatial Differences
No. 2 ENYEDI, Gyorgy — ZENTAI, Viola (1986): Environmental Policy in
Hungary
No. 3 HAJDU, Zoltan (1987): Administrative Division and Administrative
Geography in Hungary
No. 4 SIKOS T., Minas (1987): Investigations of Social Infrastructure in
Rural Settlements of Borsod County
No. 5 HORVATH, Gyula (1987): Development of the Regional Management
of the Economy in East-Central Europe
No. 6 PALNE KOVACS, Ilona (1988): Chance of Local Independence in
Hungary
No. 7 FARAGO, Laszlo — HRUBI, Laszlo (1988): Development Possibilities
of Backward Areas in Hungary
No. 8 SZORENYINE KUKORELLI, Iran (1990): Role of the Accessibility in
Development and Functioning of Settlements
No. 9 ENYEDI, Gyorgy (1990): New Basis for Regional and Urban Policies in
East-Central Europe
No. 10 RECHNITZER, Janos (1990): Regional Spread of Computer Technol-
ogy in Hungary
No. 11 SIKOS T., Minas (1992): Types of Social Infrastructure in Hungary
No. 12 HORVATH, Gyula — HRUBI, Laszlo (1992): Restructuring and Re-
gional Policy in Hungary
No. 13 ERDOSI, Ferenc (1992): Transportation Effects on Spatial Structure of
Hungary
No. 14 PALNE KOVACS, Ilona (1992): The Basic Political and Structural
Problems in the Workings of Local Governments in Hungary
No. 15 PFEIL, Edit (1992): Local Governments and System Change. The Case
of a Regional Centre
No. 16 HORVATH, Gyula (1992): Culture and Urban Development (The Case
of Pecs)