Discussion Papers 2006. No. 51.
Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest
CENTRE FOR REGIONAL STUDIES
OF HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
DISCUSSION PAPERS
No. 51
Rehabilitating the Brownfield
Zones of Budapest
by
Györgyi BARTA – Pál BELUSZKY – Márton CZIRFUSZ
– Róbert GYİRI – György KUKELY
Series editor
Zoltán GÁL
Pécs
2006
Discussion Papers 2006. No. 51.
Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest
Hungarian Scientific Research Fund
This paper was prepared within the framework of
OTKA KO–1940/2002: T 037316 research project
ISSN 0238–2008
ISBN 963 9052 61 2
2006 by Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
Technical editor: Ilona Csapó
Printed in Hungary by Sümegi Nyomdaipari, Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató
Ltd., Pécs.
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Discussion Papers 2006. No. 51.
Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest
CONTENTS
Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 5
1 Gaining and loosing ground of the manufacturing industry in Budapest ..................... 11
1.1 The industry of Budapest in the bourgeois era ..................................................... 12
1.2 The industrial districts of Budapest in the era of the Dual Monarchy
(1867–1918) ......................................................................................................... 17
1.3 The industrial zones of Budapest in the mid-war period ...................................... 20
1.4 The industry of Budapest during and after the fall of state socialism................... 21
1.5 Deindustrialization after 1989 .............................................................................. 25
1.6 Rust zones of Budapest......................................................................................... 26
2. Brownfield heritage in Budapest.................................................................................... 30
2.1 Typical features of the environment in the brownfield of Budapest..................... 30
2.2 Transition economy in the brownfield .................................................................. 35
2.3 Poorly utilised railway areas................................................................................. 39
2.4 The position and development possibilities of the residential function of the
brownfield in Budapest......................................................................................... 44
3 Spontaneous changes in the functions: Examples and plans ........................................ 47
3.1 The appearance of shopping centres ..................................................................... 48
3.2 Development of scientific and technological parks .............................................. 51
3.3 Preservation of industrial heritage ........................................................................ 52
3.4 Cultural use........................................................................................................... 53
3.5 Use for residential and office purposes................................................................. 55
4. Comprehensive projects for the rehabilitation of the brownfields................................ 56
4.1 Spatial changes of the brownfields ....................................................................... 56
4.2 Urban planning in the brown zone........................................................................ 59
4.3 Development of transport and road networks in the brown zones ........................ 62
4.4 The Budapest Urban Development Concept......................................................... 64
4.5 The Podmaniczky Programme – The mid-Term Development Programme
of Budapest ........................................................................................................... 67
References .......................................................................................................................... 69
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Discussion Papers 2006. No. 51.
Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest
List of figures
Figure 1 Contiguous industrial-transportation areas of Budapest at the time of the
Millennium........................................................................................................ 20
Figure 2 Contiguous industrial-transportation areas of Budapest during the 1940s ........ 22
Figure 3 The Brownfield and other extensively utilized areas in Budapest..................... 28
Figure 4 Areas with contaminated soil ............................................................................ 32
Figure 5 Brownfields – railway zones ............................................................................. 40
Figure 6 Location of shopping centre sin the brownfield ................................................ 50
Figure 7 Development of significant transportation lines in the brown zone .................. 63
List of tables
Table 1
Workshops employing more than 20 people in 1891 ........................................ 14
Keywords: Budapest, rehabilitation, brownfield, industrial zone, transition economy,
structural and functional changes, deindustrialization, urban planning
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Introduction
In the American literature, the notion of brownfield appeared for the first time in t
the early 1980s and at that time, this notion simply meant the abandoned industrial
areas. Simultaneous with the spread of the disindustrialisation process in a number
of developed countries, this notion has become more extensive and was given a
somewhat different meaning. In the European Union, in accordance with the
wording of the CLARINET (Contaminated Land Rehabilitation Network Tech-
nologies) working group, the brownfield is the area that has already been used but
is currently abandoned or less utilised, is facing discovered or presumed contami-
nation problems, is primarily located in urban areas and is in need of intervention
for the purpose of efficient re-utilisation.
In our research we have used the following definition for the brownfield: The
brownfields are those ex-industrial areas that are not used efficiently (under-
utilised) and are occasionally vacant. Also the mal-utilised or abandoned railway
areas and the emptied military barracks fall under this definition. Unclear
ownership relations and the lack of comprehensive legal regulations concerning the
respective problems are similar difficulties to those represented by environmental
contamination, which is usually an undiscovered problem. The extremely large
proportion of the brownfields in comparison to the Western countries represents a
qualitative difference when it comes to problem solving.
In relation to the delineation of brownfields, we had to define the following
terms:
− Transitional area: the area located between the inner city and the suburbs in-
cluding the brownfield and the connected, large agricultural and green areas
(cemeteries, sports grounds, etc.) and the areas of transportation and traffic.
− Brownfield areas, brown zone: this is the traditional (ex) industrial area with
transportation and housing estates inclusions. In practise, this is the actual
examination area in our researches (it represents one-third of the territory
of Budapest, which equals to approx. 68 square kilometres). A part of it has
already been rehabilitated, or is in the rehabilitation phase.
− Rust zone: the non-rehabilitated part of the brownfield, namely those areas
that had formerly been in intensive use (industrial, transportation, ware-
housing areas, military barracks, and – probably – residential areas, etc.), but
their utilisation was given up, or the intensity of utilisation was reduced con-
siderably (and where the unnecessary, deteriorated infrastructure of the
abandoned activities – vacant workshop buildings, warehouses, industrial
railway lines, etc. – can also be found).
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Barta, Györgyi - Beluszky, Pál - Czirfusz, Márton - Győri, Róbert - Kukely, György :
Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest.
Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
The development policy of the European Union increasingly focuses on urban
problems. Primarily as a consequence of this attention, several research pro-
grammes have been initiated during the past decade by the EU in the subject matter
of brownfield rehabilitation concentrated mostly in the large cities.
Between 1998 and 2001, CLARINET, which basically aimed at the assessment
of the level of contamination in the brownfields, and the elaboration of the tech-
nologies and decision-making techniques of remediation was the project of the
Fifth Mainframe Programme. The CABERNET (Concerted Action for Brownfield
and Economic Regeneration Network) projects were launched as the continuation
of CLARINET in 2002 with the aim to raise the awareness and the level of infor-
mation of the key stakeholders involved in the rehabilitation of the brownfields and
to elaborate integrated conceptual models for the uniform definition and manage-
ment of brownfield rehabilitation. In addition to the above objectives, finding and
disseminating Best Practices was also in the focal point of these projects. The
RESCUE (Regeneration of European Sites in Cities and Urban Environments)
project (2002–2005) examined, through the regeneration practises of four countries
(France – Nord-Pas de Calais – Great Britain – North-East England –, Poland –
Silesia – and Germany – the Ruhr-area and Leipzig) how the basic principles of
sustainable development could be integrated into brownfield developments. We
should also mention the NORISC (Network Oriented Risk Assessment by Insitu
Screening of Contaminated Sites) project (2001 and 2003), which was launched to
develop a decision-making software system. Such software might be useful in –
among others –assessing the contamination profile of the urban brownfields and
also in the evaluation of the possibilities of re-utilisation.
Though the EU gives considerable financial support for the elaboration of the
research projects, no comprehensive concept has yet been developed neither for the
revitalisation of the brownfield areas nor for a uniform, EU-level legal regulation.
Research and development activities were usually the result of local, regional or
national initiatives. For this reason, studying the brownfield development policies
of the different countries and the comparison of international practises is of utmost
importance to get a comprehensive picture about the European practise.
The most important research areas of the international projects dealing with the
rehabilitation of brownfields focused on the legal issues (ownership relations,
remediation and responsibilities for the risks), on financing (cost-reduction strate-
gies, involvement of the different financial resources), on joint management of
environmental problems (definition of the indicators of sustainability, technologi-
cal solutions to eliminate contamination of the environment), on promoting co-
operation (the organisational and institutional frameworks of co-operation, local
acceptance and support of brownfield developments), and on the possibilities of re-
utilisation (residential parks, protection of industrial monuments, commercial ob-
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
jects, green areas, mega projects, etc). In these projects, the following subjects
were also investigated: How can the basic principles of economic development be
harmonised with environmental protection in the course of brownfield rehabilita-
tion and how do the re-utilisation plans of brownfield areas fit into the long-term
development concepts of the affected cities.
The first industrial plants appeared in the 1830s in Hungary. The location of
these industrial plants inside the settlements was defined by „natural factors”; in-
cluding transportation facilities – vicinity of river ports and docks, and the access
to railway lines, freight yards and industrial railway lines after the second half of
the 19th century –, the vicinity of raw-material resources, real-estate prices, alloca-
tion of plots of unbuilt ground, etc. No construction regulations or spatial plans
have influenced the choice of premises of the industrial plants. In spite of the above
process of scarce industrialisation, Hungary had remained an agricultural country
until the First World War. In 1910, 18.3 percent of the earners worked in the in-
dustry (including small industrial). As a result, larger, coherent industrial areas had
developed only in some of our larger cities: in Budapest and in a few mining and
heavy-industrial towns (Miskolc–Diósgyır, Salgótarján, Tatabánya, Ózd, Gyır).
Budapest also represented the largest concentration of manufacturing industry;
until 1918, on a territory of 320 thousand square kilometres inhabited by 20 million
people (the country was significantly larger at that time than today), 32–33 percent
of the country’s manufacturing industry operated in the capital city, while during
the mid-war period, on a territory of 93 thousand square kilometres, 60 percent (!)
of Hungary’s manufacturing industry was located on the present territory of Buda-
pest. Already in the middle of the 19th century those industrial districts could be
delineated in the capital city that accommodated the majority of the industrial
premises until as late as 1990, and – somewhat shrunken – until today. The indus-
trial districts represented about 15–16 percent of the present administrative area of
the city.
After 1948, namely after the communists took over the power, the country’s
leadership started a forced industrialisation process. Industrialisation was put into
the focus of economic development: between 1948 and 1955, industrial production
increased by 130 percent, while the proportion ration of the industrial earners in-
creased from 21.6 percent in 1949 to 34.0 percent in 1960 (these were the years of
the census). A large number of gigantic industrial investments were launched in
that period. Industrialisation followed 19th-century patterns, in other words, it was
primarily limited to the production of raw materials, the energy sector and the clas-
sical heavy industry. Due to the shortage of capital goods, the decision-makers
were forced to concentrate the investments in the existing industrial areas of the
country and in the existing industrial districts of the cities. Between 1949 and 1960,
the number of industrial earners doubled in Budapest, increasing from 291 thou-
sand to 603 thousand, while the expansion of the industrial areas failed to follow
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this growth. The industrial plants were used more intensely and second and third
shift were introduced to find space and workplaces for the extra number of work-
ers. As a consequence, the number of modern industrial plants was very little, thus
industrial production was carried out in the old, often reconstructed and extended
buildings. Between 1960 and 1970, the number of industrial earners increased with
another 60 percent. This increase was then followed by stagnation for half a dec-
ade, and after 1975, the number of industrial warners started to decrease. Industrial
production started to loose ground for the first time and to the greatest extent in the
most industrialised areas, in the cities. The number of industrial earners started to
decrease already from 1965 in Budapest (1965: 612 thousand, 1983: 483 thousand,
1988: 318 thousand). However, there were hardly any changes in the spatial exten-
sion of the industrial districts, because industrial production was given up only in
some of the premises, leaving confused ownership relations, contaminated envi-
ronment and unused, deteriorated buildings behind.
The transformation in the political regime in 1989–1990 dealt the country’s in-
dustry another smashing blow: under market conditions, the unprofitable compa-
nies that had been artificially kept alive by the state earlier were liquidated, and the
termination of the COMECON resulted in considerable losses in market share for a
large number of the companies. Privatisation of industrial companies in state and
local government (council) ownership was possible. Production was terminated at
several industrial premises; the existing industrial buildings were either given dif-
ferent functions (warehousing, commercial, office-building, etc.) or were left va-
cant. In 1992, only 150 thousand industrial earners were registered in Budapest.
Large territories abandoned by the industrial sector were created in Budapest and in
some of the cities that used to be strong in industrial production.
Specific „brownfields” were created due to the fact that the Soviet troops sta-
tioned in Hungary used large areas for military purposes (military barracks, depots,
shooting ranges, airport, etc.). After the departure of the Soviet troops in 1991,
areas similar in nature to the brownfields (unutilised and difficult to utilise, con-
taminated, with deteriorated buildings) were left behind.
The Regional Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has been
dealing with the problem of brownfields in Budapest since many years. In our first
investigation we made an attempt to delineate the brownfields and to map its cur-
rent land use.1 This examination facilitated for the elaboration of uniform terminol-
ogy and for the development of the spatial delineation method. In the course of our
research, we interviewed by means of questionnaires about 2000 companies that
were still operating at the turn of the millennium in the delineated area. The re-
search called our attention to several, previously unknown relationships, like, for
1 Gazdasági átalakulás Budapest barnaövezetében [Economic transition in the brownfield of Buda-
pest]. Team leader: Barta, Györgyi. Pécs, MTA Regionális Kutatások Központja, 2002.
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example, to the aspects of corporate real-estate management and real-estate owner-
ship relations, which represent the key issue in every spatial rehabilitation pro-
grams. At the end of the research we could conclude that the economy and the cor-
porate history of the brownfields shall be investigated, together with the railway
and military areas and that the status of the environment, the ownership relations of
the terminated companies and those in transition shall be mapped, that the rental
systems shall be investigated in more details, and that the position of the brown-
fields on the real-estate market and the role of the metropolitan and district local
governments shall be clarified.
This was followed by the research presenting the solutions for rehabilitation ap-
plied in the European cities through four case studies.2 Useful conclusions could be
drawn from the case studies of the West-European cities concerning certain prob-
lems: how the issues of environmental remediation are handled, which are the ob-
stacles before brownfield rehabilitation represented by the contradictions between
the administrative and regional-development systems, what is the role of the city
local governments in the management of rehabilitation, how can the economic and
community stakeholders be involved in the planning process and in the implemen-
tation of the plans?
Subsequently, we carried out the comprehensive examination of the brownfield
in Budapest with wide research co-operation (architects, urban planners, real-estate
experts, historians, economists and sociologists were involved).3 We have pre-
sented the development of the industry in Budapest, its golden era and its with-
drawal, the size and extension of the developed brownfield, its limits and use, the
extent of environmental contamination, the vacant, ruined, but often valuable
buildings, the difficult heritage of the miserable housing estates closed off among
the factories, the spontaneous signs of renewal, and the instead of urban and spatial
planning about this region.
The present volume was complied as the final study of the research finished in
2004. The 22 authors of the volume investigated different aspects of the problems
of the brownfields. These studies were prepared around four specific subjects,
which – built on top of each other, present the current status of the rehabilitation of
brownfields in Budapest. The present volume is the synthesis of these studies, but
we have kept the original structure while preparing this volume. As a consequence,
it is divided into four parts.
2 Rehabilitációs megoldások az európai nagyvárosok barnaövezetében [Solutions for rehabilitation in
the brownfields of the European cities]. Team leader: Barta, Györgyi. Pécs, MTA Regionális
Kutatások Központja, 2004.
3 Barta, Györgyi (ed.) (2004): A budapesti barnaövezet megújulási esélyei [The chances for renewal
of the brownfiels of Budapest]. MTA Társadalomkutató Központ, Workshop Studies, Budapest.
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− The history of the industry in Budapest, the changes in the expansion of the
former industrial zone.
The history of the industry represents the preliminaries in the development
of the brownfield: in our research we put special emphasis on the economic
and the geographical reasons of the allocation of the former industrial plants
and their buildings, on the different aspects taken into consideration while
choosing the premises, and on the changes in the extension of the industrial,
transportation, etc. areas. In effect, this research in industrial history formed
the basis for the delineation of the brownfield zone.
− The current status of the former industrial zone.
This chapter deals with the varied land use of the former industrial zone. It
presents was of the most crucial problems of the re-use of the Budapest
brownfield: the extent of environmental contamination in the former indus-
trial and transportation areas, the present situation of assessing the damages
and hazards and of the remediation. It maps the sectoral and regional struc-
ture of the brownfield, analysing the model of economic transformation
through three, spatially and characteristically different zones. Finally, it
deals, separately, with the residential functions of the brownfield, and with
the specific problems of the housing stock, focusing on the former workers’
colonies.
− Spontaneous renewal in the brownfield of Budapest.
This chapter present the most typical forms of transformation in the brown-
fields, and also the respective examples taken from Budapest. It also deals
with use for office, residential and cultural purposes of the former factory
and workshop buildings and presents the related issue of protecting indus-
trial monuments, not to speak about the appearance of the shopping centres
and industrial and technological parks due to the upgrading of the area espe-
cially because these structures are alien to the initial functions and the ar-
chitectural heritage of the area.
− The brownfield rehabilitation plans of regional development and spatial
planning.
The final chapter of our volume deals with the future of the brownfield in
Budapest. The probable scenarios of the transformation of the brownfield are
presented, and the modernisation plans of the transportation infrastructure
are dealt with special emphasis. The different tools of urban spatial planning
and spatial development applied in Budapest are also presented. Finally, we
can read about the development concept and the mid-term development pro-
gramme of the capital city.
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1 Gaining and loosing ground of the manufacturing
industry in Budapest
Buda, located by the water-way of the river Danube establishing connection be-
tween the Balkans and the „East”, and also between Central and Western Europe
became the unquestionable power and economic centre and the capital city of the
Carpathian basin by the early 14th century (until the end of the First World War,
the Hungarian Kingdom extended to the whole Carpathian basin). However, join-
ing up of the city to the „West” was interrupted by the expansion of the Ottoman
Empire: the largest part of Hungary became under Turkish rule, and Buda herself
was also occupied by the Turks between 1541 and 1686. As a consequence of the
Ottoman expansion, the Hungarian Kingdom lost its independence, as after the
Turks were expelled, Hungary became part of the Habsburg Empire with limited
sovereignty. Buda lost its capital-city role. The city consisting of three, administra-
tively independent settlements – Buda, Pest and Óbuda –, started to become again
the economic centre of the country only at the end of the 18th century, primarily
due to the intermediary trade of agricultural goods: the tradesmen of the city pur-
chased the agricultural products of the fertile Great Hungarian Plain and exported
these goods to the Western provinces of the Habsburg Empire, and – occasionally –
to Western Europe. The growth of the population accelerated: in 1785, the number
of the population in the three towns did not reach 50 thousand, while in 1826, 94
thousand, and in 1846, 148 thousand people lived in the cities.
Until the second quarter of the 19th century, the industry of the cities was of
handicraft nature. The settlement of manufacturing industry, or its initial form, the
manufactures, was hindered by the feudal conditions, the modest accumulation of
capital and the lack of loans, not to speak about the competition of the more
developed Check and Moravian, Low-Austrian and Styrian regions. The handicraft
workshops were inserted into the residential areas, and the respective activities
were usually carried out in the homes of the craftsmen. Consequently, the industrial
activities of the time did not shape the urban structure. At the most, the economy
shaped and influenced the urban structure through the warehouses built on both
urban sides of the river Danube and by the „institutions with large space
requirement” (spaces of markets, animal markets, brick-making areas, stables,
boarding and eating houses, storage-places, cemeteries, etc.).
After some, mostly unsuccessful attempts to establish manufactures, the first
manufacturing industrial workshops were created in Pest-Buda in the 1830s. By
then, primarily through trade in land produce, certain amount of capital was accu-
mulated in the hands of the wealthier citizens, there was a need for the processing
of a part of the purchased land produce, and the increased circulation of commodi-
ties required the modernisation of transport. The shipyard of the Danube Steam
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Navigation Company was put into operation in 1835 in Óbuda (it was operating at
its original place until as late as the 1990s). Some years after its opening, the num-
ber of people employed reached 2000; the sugar refinery started to operate in 1834,
a matches factory in 1839 (the safety matches were invented by a Hungarian
chemist), and the first modern factory, the József commercial steam mill, which
later had a successful career, started to operate in 1839.
In 1848, a peaceful civil revolution broke out in Hungary, and the resulting ap-
proval of acts guaranteeing the functioning of a civil society created the basis for
rapid economic development. However, already in the very same year, an armed
fight broke out between Hungary and the ruling Habsburgs, this was called the
„fight for liberation”, which ended with Hungary’s military defeat in 1849, result-
ing in the absolutist ruling of Hungary from Vienna until as late as 1867. The
„compromise” of 1867 created a dualist rule, granting Hungary considerable
autonomy and political stability. The change for a civil society accelerated the eco-
nomic modernisation of the country already until 1867, and rapidly increased eco-
nomic performance. However, the real spectacular economic development started
only after the „compromise” (1867) and the years following the compromise were
the years of „gründerzeit” in Hungary.
1.1 The industry of Budapest in the bourgeois era
The circumstances for the modernisation and rapid development of the economy
had a fortunate coincidence after 1848 and after 1867:
− The years after 1850 were the years of boom in Europe. Considerable excess
capital had accumulated in the developed countries of the world, the capital
export of these countries increased rapidly (eightfold between 1855 and
1890). Hungary – where one of the obstacles before economic growth was
the lack of capital for many years – could receive unlimited amounts of for-
eign loans especially after 1867.
− Agricultural boom formed part of the European prosperity, and the resulting
affects for an agricultural country like Hungary was at the time, were excep-
tionally favourable. (The agricultural products – wheat, flour, sugar, live
animal, wool, etc. – were exported without any limitation to the „West” – the
competition of the American wheat appears in the 1880s –, Hungary was the
second largest flour-exporting country in the world, the agricultural export
gave a great impetus to the construction of railways, the development of
steam navigation, flood prevention and the development of food industry,
etc.)
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− Economic development was also promoted by the fact that in the middle of
the 19th century, the first „industrial revolution” created those technical and
technological conditions that facilitated for the rapid modernisation of pro-
duction and for its unprecedented growth (steam engine, steam boat, rail-
ways, agricultural machinery, etc.).
− After 1867, the consolidation of the political regime, the possibility to have
an independent economic policy, the development of a civil legal system and
institutional network, the multiplication effect of certain sectors (the export
of agricultural produce required the development of the railway lines, creat-
ing great demand for iron and steel production, for coal mining, etc.) equally
stimulated the rapid growth of the economy. In the beginning (between 1850
and 1880), this growth was manifest in agricultural production and in the di-
rectly connected sectors, like transportation of goods, building out of trans-
portation networks, flood prevention, while after 1867, also in the foundation
of banks and insurance companies.
The above trends could be monitored also in Budapest through the development
of the industry. The conditions for the growth of the manufacturing industry were
especially favourable in the capital city during the dualist period (in spite of the
lack of significant raw-material resources in the direct vicinity of the city).
− The city became the centre of the extremely centralised network already at
the start of the railway constructions in Hungary. This way, the raw-material
needs of manufacturing industry could be satisfied and the end-products
could be transported to any region of the country. In addition to this, the city
was located in the heart of the agricultural export directed from the East to
the West and also in the centre of industrial export going from the West to
the East, playing the role of a „switch-table”.
− During the years prior to the First World War, Budapest and its suburbs
represented a consumer market of more than one million people.
− Sufficient intellectual capacity was also available, as the professors of the
technical university in Budapest and the engineers of the large companies
contributed to the success of several sectors with a number of international
patents. (The transformer, for example, was the invention of a Hungarian
engineer and it became one of the most successful products of the Ganz fac-
tory; the bulb factory of Budapest broke into the world market with the pro-
duction of incandescent lamps as a result of several inventions, like the wolf-
ram-incandescent filament, bulbs filled with inert gas, etc; the first electric
engine operating also under industrial circumstances was manufactured in
Budapest; the telephone exchange was also a Hungarian invention, etc.).
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− Budapest was the unquestionably largest money-market and power centre of
the country, and it was an important factor when it came to finding financial
resources and receiving government orders.
In spite of all the advantages, during the years between the end of the civil
revolution (1848) and the „compromise” (1867) and the end of the 1880s, the
growth of the manufacturing industry in Budapest was rather slow. Its reasons were
similar to the problems of the whole country: the attention of the investors focused
primarily on railway construction, the foundation of banks, and the development of
a modern city (large construction activities changing the city structure, the con-
struction of new bridges over the river Danube, building out of the infrastructure,
and the construction of public buildings). As a consequence, the manufacturing
industry was still represented mostly by manufacture-type workshops with low
level of mechanisation in the 1850s and 1860s. However, one of the success stories
of the industry of Budapest, the development of a modern milling industry had
already started. At the time of the „compromise” (1867), a dozen large steam mills
ready for commercial milling and export had taken advantage of the great opportu-
nities offered by the boom. Though later, their number increased much slower, the
steam mills succeeded to triple their flour production until the end of the century
due to the level of technical perfection, their driving force, and the number of
workforce. During these years, Hungary was the largest flour exporting country in
Europe, and Budapest was the biggest milling town of the world. The other sectors
of food industry (production of distilleries and breweries) were also very prosper-
ous, and large industries were formed in other sectors by the 1880s (the Ganz cor-
porate empire manufactured milling equipment, engines, railway carriages, the
Óbuda shipyard and several factories manufacturing agricultural machinery were at
their peak). By 1891, the number of industrial companies employing more than 20
people was 367 (the total number of employees at these companies was 37 thou-
sand (Table 1).
Table 1
Workshops employing more than 20 people in 1891
Workshop size by the number
Number of workshops
Number of employees
of employees
20 –
100
285
10,781
101 –
500
72
15,881
501 – 1,000
6
4,094
1,001 – 1,000
4
6,527
Total
367
37,283
Source: Beluszky–Gyıri, 2004b.
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
After 1890, the size of manufacturing industrial plants increased rapidly on the
one hand, while several companies producing products at international level were
established on the other, especially in the most modern industrial sectors of the
time, where delay had already hindered the development of Budapest (electricity
and telecommunication, vehicle manufacturing, incandescent-lamp production,
pharmaceutical industry, etc.). Quantitative growth is indicated both by the in-
crease in the number of the companies and in the number of people employed: by
1910, the number of manufacturing-industry plants reached 1206 (tripled in twenty
years), while the number of earners quadrupled and reached 150 thousand. Manu-
facturing industry appeared also in the suburbs. In 1910, exactly 40 percent of the
manufacturing-industry earners of the country worked in Budapest and in its sub-
urbs, representing 49 percent of the workers of companies with more than thousand
employees. In addition to the quantitative growth, the high technological level, the
innovative nature of the products and the patents contributing to the „second in-
dustrial revolution” indicate the development and the – sometimes – international
character of the industry in Budapest.
By the end of the dualist period, the manufacturing industry of Budapest and the
related constructions – freight yards, industrial railways, warehouses, etc. – drew
visible and marked lines on the map of Budapest, shaping industrial districts and
industrial suburbs, whose extension has changed only a little since then. The
development of the rust zones started within these limits during the period of the
rapid withdrawal and partial termination of the so-called „socialist industry”.
The most important factors localising the industrial zones of Budapest are the
following:
− The waterway of the river Danube: As the engine of growth and develop-
ment of the capital city in the 19th century was the trade and processing of
agricultural produce and because during the first phase of development of
the manufacturing industry, the vast majority of produce trade was realised
on waterways and also because the largest part of the construction materials,
the timber, the coal also came to the city on waterways, the first „industrial
districts” of Pest-Buda were evidently built and developed by the river Da-
nube. The majority of the industrial zones that were „established” and com-
pleted by the end of the dualist era were thus also located near the Danube.
The railway lines had a similar role, though they did not move away from
the river the industrial districts „developed by” the Danube. The first railway
line was opened in 1846 in Pest. Running along the left bank of the Danube,
it established a connection with Vienna in 1851. The „rail way” promoted
the growth of the industrial districts brought to life by the river Danube.
Large industrial zones located far away from the Danube were only devel-
oped in Kıbánya and the Outer-Józsefváros, encircled by railway lines going
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
in the direction of the Great Plain; though the plants of this industrial zone
usually had close connection with the „rail ways” (vehicle repair plants,
factories manufacturing railway equipment, pig-farms, etc.). The railways
themselves, with their space-intensive stations, factory buildings, industrial
railway lines (the railways occupied 4.5 square kilometres already in 1870),
with their railway lines often creating obstacles in the urban structure, also
markedly shaped the urban structure (nowadays, a part of the railways’
buildings and establishments form part of the brownfield).
− Among the influences of natural circumstances shaping the industrial district
we should also mention some of the raw-material sites: construction stones
were mined in Kıbánya, then the abandoned quarries attracted the breweries
into this suburb using the ex-quarries as cellars and fermentation and matur-
ing sites. The clay suitable for the production of brick made the brick-facto-
ries settle in Óbuda and Kıbánya.
− In addition to the favourable transportation facilities and the natural circum-
stances, we have to take into consideration the influences of other factors as
well. During the years around the unification of the city (1873) even the ur-
ban development concepts have worded the need for the development of
functional construction zones. The construction plan of 1871 designated the
areas South of the residential areas of the time for the industry, though only
some small plants were operating in that zone on the bank of the river Da-
nube in Ferencváros. In addition to the South-Pest industrial zone, the fac-
tory zone of the construction plan included the industrial zone of South Buda
(Kelenföld) that developed later, the northern peak of the Csepel-island and
a part of Kıbánya. During the following decades, extensive industrial areas
were actually developed in the designated zone. The construction regulations
also made an attempt to force the polluting, noisy and hazardous plants from
the residential area. Naturally, the differences in real-estate prices, the possi-
bilities and the costs of building the infrastructure out also motivated the
choice of premises of the industrial plants. The relatively low real-estate
prices, the moderately strict construction regulations, the growth of the sub-
urban colonies and the increased offer in workforce living there gave a con-
siderable impetus from the last decade of the 19th century to the expansion
of manufacturing industry beyond the administrative limits of the time,
namely to Kispest, Újpest, Erzsébetfalva, Csepel, etc. More than 17 thousand
people worked in the manufacturing industry of the suburbs in 1910.
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
1.2 The industrial districts of Budapest in the era of the Dual
Monarchy (1867–1918)
The river Danube and, after 1846, the railway lines running parallel with the river
played a major role in the development of the industrial zone in North Pest. The
territory between the river and the railway lines had not been built in up to the cur-
rent place of the Parliament until the last third of the 19th century. The rafts float-
ing on the river were mooring and downloading their goods (firewood, board, tile
of wood, timber-goods, hay, etc.), here and some of the goods received were also
processed here (sawing of fire-wood, wood-mills, parquet production, etc.). As a
consequence, there were wood-storage buildings, construction-material storages,
and smaller and larger workshops located alongside the river. A part of the cargo
vessels using the river also landed on this section of the riverside, usually with
wheat and agricultural produce transported from the Southern part of the Great
Plain. This is the reason why the steam mills playing a crucial role in the economic
life of Budapest in the 19th century were settled here. The sugar refinery and sev-
eral distilleries settled near the railway station, while some smaller machine shops
were opened by the Váci Street. The germs of the future “industrial axis” (ship
repair, joinery shop, leather-processing workshops) located by the Northern part of
the road taking to Vác and in the suburb of Újpest have also appeared. At the end
of the 19th century, approximately 30 percent of the industrial workers of the
capital city worked in this industrial district. The metal and manufacturing indus-
tries started to determine the characteristic feature of the zone. The different estab-
lishments of the state railways were also rapidly expanding after the turn of the
19th and 20th centuries: railway repair shop, engine-house, the Rákosrendezı rail-
way-station, etc. In 1910, close to 12 thousand workers were working in the facto-
ries of Váci Street and its neighbourhood.
The first „birds” of manufacturing industry also appeared relatively early, in the
first half of the 19th century, in the industrial zone of Óbuda [North Buda]. Also in
this case, one of the motivating factors for settlement was the water-way of the
river Danube, while the railways joined the list of attractive features only in the
19th century (this fact hindered the growth of the industrial zone), because it was
the time when the railway line to the coal-mines of Dorog was opened and the
Northern railway bridge was built. The latter one offering the connection between
Óbuda and the Hungarian railway network. The oldest plants and workshops of
Óbuda were established in the textile sector (textile preparation and textile dying
workshops). The „flagship” of the industry in Óbuda, however, was the shipyard
built on the Óbudai-Island, which was opened in 1835 and was closed only re-
cently. The steam mills and the brick-factories also appeared in Óbuda. The huge
site of the metropolitan gas factory utilising the coal from Dorog was built after the
opening of the railway line to the Dorog coal-mines.
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The industrial zone of Outer-Józsefváros-Kıbánya started to take shape already
in the bourgeois period. It has a clear connection to the railways, because the Józse-
fvárosi Railway Station and the railway lines offered excellent transportation con-
nections. Initially, the trade sector profited from this favourable traffic situation.
Until the end of the 19th century, Kıbánya remained the largest pig-trading centre
of Europe, where the pigsties occupied more than 100 hectares of land. From the
1860s, the breweries of the city also started to settle in Kıbánya, profiting from the
possibility of using the abandoned quarries as beer cellars. The settling of brick
factories in Kıbánya can also be explained by the natural circumstances (availabil-
ity of material suitable for brick-laying). The vehicle repair shops and the different
factories of the railway manufacturing industry established at the end of the period
investigated were also directly connected to the railways (by now, the Ganz-enter-
prise had become one of the typical bad examples suffering from all the possible
problems of the „rust zone”). This industrial area had gone through permanent ex-
pansion during the dualist era, and new breweries were opened one after the other.
Modern manufacturing plants and chemical plants were also built by the Cegléd
railway line (for example: the Richter Pharmaceutical Factory).
It was also the waterway of the river Danube that established the future of the
South-Pest (Ferencváros) industrial zone. As the railway lines had reached the area
only after 1870, storage and commercial functions were predominant before that,
though one of the largest steam mills of Budapest, the Concordia was settled here
already prior to the „compromise”. After having direct connection with the South-
ern part of the Great Plain having extensive agricultural export by the construction
of the railway bridge over the river Danube, which also connected the area with
Trans-Danubia, and with the only sea-port of the country, Fiume, and also as a
result of the construction of the Ferencvárosi goods station, the transport situation
of the area became favourable all of a sudden. Between 1879 and 1881, public
warehouses were built – since about a decade, their utilisation is in the centre of
heated debates –, and the „elevator”, offering mechanised loading and storage of
wheat shipments, was put into operation in 1880. The railway connections with the
Great Hungarian Plain and the loading docks of Ferencváros functioning as river
harbours promoted the settlement of food industry (steam mills, public slaughter
houses, meat processing plants and canning factories, soap factory) in the first
place. The plants of the developing chemical industry, the fertiliser manufacturing
factory, the crude-oil processing plant and the distillery were partly settled in this
area due to the water reserve of the river Danube.
In this period only a few factories were operating in the industrial area of
Kelenföld-Lágymányos, which started its upheaval in the mid-war period.
Industrialisation of the suburbs started to accelerate in the 1890s. Until the
1890s, considerable large-scale industry was found only in Újpest (leather factories
and tan-yards, timber industry, distillery, ship-yard) and in Budafok (brewery, wine
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and champaign production). However, on the eve of the First World War, smaller
or larger industrial plants were found almost in every settlement of the suburban
zone surrounding the capital city. The manufacturing industry (which was
considerably restructured) of Újpest is still the largest. Next to the previously
existing plants, the different units of the electronics industry (Egyesült Izzó,
Phoebus), the textile industry (Magyar Pamutipar – Hungarian Cotton Mills) were
created in this period, and Chinoin Pharmaceutical Factory was settled in Újpest in
1912. The suburban towns located South of Budapest became the number-one sites
of textile industry developing in these years. While earlier, the textile plants of the
metropolitan city (and its environment) were predominantly concentrated in the
Northern sector (Óbuda, Újpest) the new plants built in the early 20th century were
located in Kispest, Pestszentlırinc and Erzsébetfalva. Of the factors attracting the
settlement of these plants we should, in the first place, mention the cheap
workforce and the relatively low real-estate prices. The large-scale industry of
Kispest takes the lead among the Southern suburbs, where – in addition to the
textile factories – two large plants of manufacturing industry were also built (the
Hoffherr and the Lipták) taking advantage of the vicinity of the newly opened Bu-
dapest–Lajosmizse railway line.
The development of the industry of Csepel is absolutely unique. Csepel lived
through the years of the unification of the city as a medium-size agricultural village
in the middle of one of the islands of the Danube and was hardly connected to the
suburbanisation process either. The number of citizens was just a little bit over 2
thousand in 1890. The plant of Weiss Manfréd was relocated from the other side of
the Danube, from Ferencváros, in 1892. The Weiss brothers founded their canning
factory in 1882, but after a couple of years, the company started to manufacture
cartridge-cases and cartridges as well. The company owners were forced to relocate
the factory due to an explosion. The initial military plant was gradually trans-
formed into a heavy-industrial complex (metallurgy, rolling mill, tube-works, etc.).
At the turn of the century, close to 1 thousand people, while on the eve of the First
World War 5 thousand people worked in Csepel. The spectacular development was
further accelerated during the First World War. The heavy-industrial plant already
employed 10 thousand people in 1915, while at the end of the war 28 thousand
people. In the meantime, the territory of the plant also expanded occupying 250
hectares in 1918 (of it, 37 hectares were built in with more than 200 buildings and
industrial halls). (Figure 1).
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Figure 1
Contiguous industrial-transportation areas of Budapest at the time
of the Millennium
Source: Beluszky–Gyıri, 2004a.
1.3 The industrial zones of Budapest in the mid-war period
Hungary, being part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was one of the losers in
the First World War. In the so-called Versailles peace treaties putting an end to the
war, the Hungarian Kingdom was forced to accept surprisingly strict conditions:
six countries were given a part from the territory of the Hungarian Kingdom, re-
sulting in the annexation of 71.5 percent of its territory and 63.6 percent of its
20
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population to other countries. The natural-geographical unity of the country was
terminated and the unity of the economy integrated during the previous decades
was broken. The economic losses were also very severe (for example: the country
lost 90 percent of its forests, 83 percent of its iron ore production, and close to half
of the manufacturing industry. The transportation network became confused, and
the developed geographical division of labour disappeared. The agricultural market
protected by the protective tariffs of the Monarchy ceased to exist. In stead of be-
ing the capital city of an empire with 21 million inhabitants, Budapest became the
capital of a country with less than 8 million inhabitants. The market losses of the
economy and the industry of the capital city were immense, rendering excessive
and unused a part of the industrial capacities (especially that of the food industry).
The production of the metropolitan industry reached the level of 1913 only in 1927.
As a consequence of the stagnation, there were hardly any changes taking place in
the regional allocation of the industry in Budapest. The territory of the North-Pest
zone shrivelled, as a result of the closure of several food-industrial plants and the
expansion of the residential zone, including the construction of Újlipótváros. At the
same time, the South-Buda (Lágymányos-Kelenföld) industrial district was ex-
panding, and modern industrial sectors (production of mechanical instruments,
electronics industry, cable manufacturing, textile industry) were settled also near
the Fehérvári Street.
The industry of the suburban zone did not suffer this much from the conse-
quences of the lost war, thus the production value of the manufacturing industry
was doubled until the Second World War. Above all, the growth of the textile in-
dustry was impressive. The manufacturing industry appeared in the garden cities
and the settlements of the agglomeration, having primarily residential functions
earlier (Figure 2).
1.4 The industry of Budapest during and after the fall of state socialism
The industry of Budapest suffered great losses during the Second World War. Pro-
duction was terminated in about 200 industrial enterprises out of the existing 1700,
and the number of those companies that had not suffered any damages was hardly
more than one hundred. During the bombardment and the siege of the city, one-
third of the machinery and the buildings of the factories were destroyed, and the
machinery and equipment of more than 400 factories was taken to Germany. After
the war, production was re-established at a relatively rapid pace, but the industrial
production of Budapest reached the pre-war level only in 1948 due the shortage of
labour, raw-materials and energy.
The socialist regime exerted controversial effects on the industry of Budapest:
on the one hand, it was fundamentally changed, while on the other, it was
21
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
Figure 2
Contiguous industrial-transportation areas of Budapest during the 1940s
Source: Beluszky–Gyıri, 2004a.
„hibernated”. The ownership relations and the corporate structures were changed,
the small and medium size companies disappeared, and the sectoral structure of the
industry in Budapest was also altered to some extent. However, several big compa-
nies founded at the end of the 19th and in the beginning of the 20th centuries sur-
vived the forty years of the Communist regime, and the allocation of the industry
did not really change inside the capital city. The administrative changes of the
1950s, the formation of the so-called „Greater-Budapest” – 23 cities and settle-
ments were attached to Budapest – converted the industry of the suburbs into a
metropolitan industry. The vast majority of the old industrial buildings remained in
22
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industrial use until the transformation into a new regime. Technological develop-
ment followed the international trends only very slowly and with a great delay.
Nationalisation started in 1946 and by December 1949, all the companies with
more than 10 employees and – in certain sectors (for example: printing industry, or
energy supply – companies with less than 10 employees were taken into state own-
ership. This way, not only the private companies disappeared from the scene, but
also the pyramid of the corporate structure was turned upside down: the category of
small companies had the smallest share in the structure (in 1986, the proportion
ratio of the companies with less than 20 employees was below 10 percent in Buda-
pest).
The priorities of the investment policy – the advantageous position of the indus-
try at the debit of the other sectors of the economy, the stressed development of the
heavy industry within the industry, giving priority to the state-owned companies
among the economic organisations – were favourable for the industry of Budapest
from many different aspects. In the first half of the 1950s, heavy industry was
given the greatest resources in the industry of Budapest, receiving 85-90 percent of
all the industrial investments.
Beginning with the 1960s, though the share of the capital city in the total in-
vestments of the country started to decrease to a certain extent (to 26–30 percent) it
still exceeded the total share of the citizens of Budapest in the country’s popula-
tion. The share of industrial investments also decreased within the economy of the
capital city. Within this change, the investment ratios were changed, though to a
minimum extent, for the benefit of light industry, preserving the primacy of the
heavy industry in the meantime.
The aspects of regional development appeared in the Hungarian policy in the
early 1960s, immediately emphasising the need to reduce regional differences and
thus the moderation of the overweight of the economy of Budapest. The fulfilment
of this objective and the mitigation of the increasingly pressing lack of labour-force
would have been served by the re-location of industry from Budapest, and the pro-
hibition of the allocation of industrial enterprises in the agglomeration zone in the
1960s. However, these programmes failed to have considerable and visible
achievements.
During the Communist era, no significant changes took place in the sectoral
structure of the industry in Budapest, only the weights of the decisive industrial
sectors (manufacturing industry, chemical industry, and textile and food industries)
changed. There were hardly any examples for the construction of new factories as
green-field investments, in stead, the existing factories were rebuilt or extended.
Technological development and innovation were missing from the mechanism
of the communist system; at some occasions, economic-policy motivations gave an
impetus to technical development. However, this external driving force seldom
became manifest due to the closed nature of the socialist system. As the majority of
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the export was directed towards the COMECON countries or the developing coun-
tries, technological competition prevailed – to some extent – only in these regions.
Unlimited internal demand did not promote either the renewal of the production
processes and of the products. Technological development taking place in the be-
ginning of state socialism, and also in the 1960s kept the industry of the Central
and Eastern European countries in competition with the developed world, but this
region proved to be unable to adapt the Western post-industrial changes of the
1970s.
Between 1949 and 1960, the number of industrial workplaces increased from
300 thousand to 600 thousand in Budapest. Close to half of the new industrial jobs
created in the country in the above period were located in the capital city. Until the
mid–1960s, the number of people employed continued to increase, then, for the
first time in the country, their number started to decrease in Budapest (to 547 thou-
sand in 1973, to 347 thousand in 1983 and, finally, to 276 thousand by 1990). After
the Second World War, increasing the number of people employed could initially
be solved from the excess labour of the capital city and from those who moved to
Budapest. Between 1949 and 1960, the number of citizens increased by 309 thou-
sand in Budapest. However, the flow of migration was hindered by the lack of
housing and the capacity-deficiencies of the infrastructure. This is why the number
of commuters coming from the agglomeration zone taking shape outside of the
administrative borders of Greater Budapest increased and reached, beginning with
the 1960s, 200 thousand people. Close to 20 percent of the jobs in Budapest were
taken by commuters.
The fight for resources, the prestige-battle for company growth and for the po-
sition of “large-scale company” and the fact that the number of company-founders
was very small in the communist era clearly explain why the big companies had a
dominant and permanently increasing weight in the corporate organisational struc-
ture. Until as late as the 1980s, the waves of re-organisation of the economy re-
sulted in continuous centralisation and the big companies had special power posi-
tion.
The companies and especially the large-scale ones continuously increased in
size, as the number-one source for production growth was the increase of the num-
ber of the labour-force. When sources of local labour were exhausted, the compa-
nies started to recruit the labour supply in the countryside, transported the daily
commuters with their own buses from the villages nearby, and built workers’ hos-
tels for those who lived farther away from Budapest. When even these reserves
were exhausted, the companies of the capital city set up their premises in the coun-
tryside. The headquarters of the big companies, together with the strategic work-
places and the dynamic parts of production producing greater added value were left
in Budapest, while routine mass production was re-located to the countryside. In
1982, the companies with Budapest headquarters had their units in 536 different
24
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settlements, and more than 40 percent of those who were employed by a company
with its headquarters in Budapest worked in these units and premises in the coun-
tryside.
At the same time, the spread of multi-premise corporate form also meant that an
increasing part of the country’s industry (approximately 40 percent) was controlled
from the large cities, and especially from Budapest.
During the so-called „socialist era”, the spatial allocation of the industry did not
really change. The fundamental feature of the socialist production system, the lack
of profit-sensitivity had a major role in it. The companies were not forced to save
on their production costs, including the cost of land use or transportation costs.
Thus it is not surprising that the industry maintained, moreover constantly in-
creased its premises inside the capital city, occasionally even on the most valuable
plots of the inner city.
Politics and economic policy overruled urban development policy. Partly due to
this phenomenon, the industrial area remained at its original location. Spatial plan-
ners were more sensitive to the polluting and contaminating effects of the industry,
but failed to enforce their principles in the urban development programmes. The
industrial re-location programmes of the economic policy also failed. In the 1960s,
the large-scale companies became increasingly strong, and were successfully lob-
bying for their interests. In summary, neither the economic policy, nor the urban
and spatial planning policies had a considerable influence on the allocation of the
industry inside the capital city. This explains why at the end of the Communist era
the size and the extension of the industrial areas was practically the same as before
the Second World War.
1.5 Deindustrialization after 1989
The number of industrial employees started to decrease from the middle of the
sixties (the peak employment of that period offered 650 thousand working places).
Until the change of the political system, the reason behind this phenomenon was
rather the lack of the workforce than the effective changes of the economy. In this
period we can not speak about deindustrialization yet, as the industry in Budapest
succeeded to preserve its significance in manufacturing industry, in the export and
in the investments as well. During the decades of state socialism, the industrial
enterprises did not move from their earlier premises. Moreover, the area occupied
by the industry increased significantly.
After 1989 however – similarly to the national tendencies – both the production
of the manufacturing industry and the investments declined significantly in Buda-
pest. Major companies collapsed, one third of all the bankrupt companies were
based in Budapest; the role of Budapest the leader of industrial activities weak-
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ened. A strong desindustrialisation process started in Budapest with all its charac-
teristics: the proportion share of the industry within the economy decreased and its
place was gradually taken over by the service sector.
Nevertheless the industry in the capital cannot be written off. The concentration
of the industry in Budapest, offering 100 thousand workplaces, is still the highest
nation wide. After 1994 the industry in Budapest started to develop again. This
industrial development was mostly due to foreign investments dominating mainly
at the start of the period, but still playing an important (however decreasing) role.
Large-scale industry did not disappear from Budapest, nevertheless it is a fact that
nearly half of the 30 greatest companies have ceased to exist for good, the com-
pany sites have been abandoned or temporarily have been let to several dozens of
smaller ventures, warehouses, or trading activities. There is little sign for long-term
renewal at the sites of the industry in Budapest that used to play an important role,
as most of the time the buildings are not renovated and used on temporary basis
only. After 1989 huge rust zones appeared in the industrial areas of Budapest.
1.6 Rust zones of Budapest
The contiguous industrial areas of Budapest form strong-featured districts. This ex-
industrial zone forms part of the intermediate, transitional zone, which evolves, in
the large cities, between the densely populated residential area of the inner city and
the suburbs and outer districts with (basically) garden-city character. Our primary
task was to delineate this intermediate zone, and then we pinpointed the exact
places of areas with industrial/transport utilization. Only after the determination of
the borders of the brownfields and on the basis of further investigations can we
define where the rust zones are located. Those areas in extensive use that can be
investigated together with the rust zones and can be included into the action-zone
when it comes to urban development and spatial planning can also be defined. The
following zone categories have been formed:
1) Disregard to their actual status, industrial, transport, storage, or special func-
tion areas of originally (in 1990) larger pieces, at least one block in size. Only a
part of these areas can be categorized as rust zone.
Already after the first inspection necessary for the delineation different sub-
types can be defined within this area on the basis of their current status (taken
into account the process of renewal and deterioration):
− Areas with orderly conditions overcoming full-scale and completed func-
tional changes (i.e. MOM Park built on the premises the Hungarian Optical
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Works, conversion of the workshops of Ganz Electric Co. in district 2 into a
cultural center, functional changes in certain sections of Váci Street, etc.)
− Areas of temporary utilization with the original activities abandoned (i.e.
workshops of Csepel Works, industrial sites of Ganz Co. in district 8, etc.).
− Areas of stabile functions where the original activities are continued (i.e. site
of Tungsram, certain sites of the National Railways in intensive use also to-
day (MÁV) intensively utilized, etc.).
− Decrease in the intensity of earlier utilization (“under-utilized” industrial and
transport areas).
− Abandoned industrial, storage, etc. areas (i.e. Merkur car storage facilities at
the tip of Csepel Island).
Out of the above sub-categories the areas of temporary utilization, the aban-
doned areas and the industrial-transport areas with low intensity of utilization can
be regarded as rust zones. As our aim was to identify larger, contiguous areas the
sites investigated include – from time to time – residential buildings, public build-
ings and areas of other functions.
2) Some deteriorated residential areas of low population density were also handled
together with the brownfields.
3) Within the administrative border of Budapest, there are large, unutilized, or
extensively utilized areas as well as areas under agricultural cultivation. Their
use represents an unsettled problem from several aspects – i.e. their ownership
status, problems with their classification as inner city, landscaping problems,
nature conservation problems, the special problems of protecting agricultural
areas, etc. The long-term utilization of these areas would require careful inves-
tigation and the development of long-term concept.
4) The situation and the future of the large green areas connected to the industrial-
transport areas are mostly independent from the future of the brownfields, but in
some cases there is strong correlation between the two, therefore their positions
are indicated on the map (for example: the Hajógyári-sziget is partly a green
area, while it is partly occupied by the site of the ex-shipbuilding company,
which is currently utilized only on temporary basis). The situation of some in-
stitutions occupying huge areas (i.e. Ferihegy Airport) is the same.
In view of the above facts the investigated sites are shown in Figure 3 below.
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Figure 3
The Brownfield and other extensively utilized areas in Budapest
Source: Beluszky-Gyıri, 2004b.
Conclusions:
The size and extension of the industrial-transport areas – based on their origi-
nal function – of Budapest is large (approx. 68 sq.km), represents about 13 percent
of the total administrative territory. However, if we disregard of the agricultural
and green areas within the administrative borders of the capital (for example forests
of the Buda hills), the proportion ratio of the industrial-transport area increases up
to nearly 30 percent of the total built-in area.
The Brownfield area shows a well-defined zonal structure, the majority of the
overall area forms large, contiguous territories. The industrial-transport zone was
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formed between the closed, intensive residential area of Pest developed by the end
of the 19th century (the so-called Városárok (City trench) at Haller Street – Orczy
Road – Fiume Road – Thököly Road – Dózsa Görgy Road – Dráva Street) and the
administrative border of Smaller Budapest. Only two tips of this crescent-shape
area extends to the Buda side; to the Hajógyári sziget and to Outer Old Buda
(Külsı Óbuda) on the North and to the Danube-bank sites of Kelenföld district in
the South. The industrial-transport area advances from this zone inside along the
railway lines, while it extends outside in the direction of some of the industrial
suburbs (Budafok, Csepel, Újpest), which were originally outside of the adminis-
trative borders of Smaller Budapest. Institutions with huge space requirement, that
are not of industrial or transport nature, are also inserted into this area (City Pak,
People’s Park, cemeteries, sport fields, etc.).
The brownfield forms an important and manifest element of the city structure. It
clearly separates the inner residential zone from the peripheral residential districts,
which are utilized mostly in extensive way. The brownfields and the institutions
occupying huge territories – the Kerepes cemetery, the People’s Park, the City Park
and the various railway stations – form massive “barrier-zones” between the inner
and outer districts and at many places only narrow corridors provide connection
between the two macro-structural elements. If we intend to join the peripheral dis-
tricts to the inner part, the above barriers shall have to be removed assuring this
way the penetrability of the brown zone rendering this area attractive for the popu-
lation.
The ring system of the inner residential district, the Brownfield, and the zone of
the institutions with huge territories on the one hand and of the peripheral residen-
tial districts on the other has developed clearly only on the Pest side. On the Buda
side – partly due to terrain conditions – the Brownfield appears only in some spots.
Basically due to its topographical location, the Brownfield of Budapest is di-
vided into three large sectors:
− The Northern Sector includes the brownfields of district 3, 4, 13, 15 and 16.
The waterway of the River Danube and the Pest-Vác railway line opened in
1846 gave birth to one of the first industrial areas of the capital city and
contributed to the birth of Újpest, the first industrial suburb of Budapest. The
Óbuda Shipyard, the textile manufacturing companies located here and the
manufacturing plants were developed thanks to the industrial revolution of
the reform period. The industrial areas are located along the transport axles
leading out of the capital towards the present administrative borders of the
city. As the traffic conditions are good the modernization of the area have
been started, functions have been changed (first of all the commercial func-
tions have developed). The Buda part of that section includes the traditional
industrial districts of Óbuda (Old Buda).
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− The heart of the Eastern Sector was developed along the main railway lines
flanking Kıbánya – the Cegléd-Szolnok and the Újszász-Szolnok railways –
forming two contiguous industrial areas (sectors), including the brownfields
of district 10, 16, 18. The industrial sections have advanced inwards until the
closed residential area – i.e. the workshops of Ganz Co in district 8 – while
at other sites institutions with huge territories are inserted between the inner
residential areas and the industrial areas (Kerepes Cemetery, People’s Park,
and railway stations). Going outwards along the railway lines several smaller
industrial sites have emerged. Large agricultural and unutilized areas are
connected to these industrial sites and forests structure the landscape. Its
traffic connections with the inner city and the southern or northern industrial
zones are bad. Residential areas divide the brownfields and the utilization of
certain individual residential blocks is quite often of multi-purpose nature.
− The Southern Sector consists of the industrial-transport zones (brownfields)
of district 9, 18, 20 and 21 on the Pest Side and district 11 and 22 on the
Buda side. The Southern Sector includes three very large industrial areas:
Outer-Ferencváros on the Pest side, the ex Csepel Works, the area of the
Free Ports (Szabadkikötı) and the Baize Factory (Posztógyár) on the Csepel
Island and finally the Kelenföld industrial zone on the Buda side. Smaller
industrial sites in Budafok, Nagytétény and Kispest–Pestszentlırinc com-
plement the Southern Sector. Large agricultural and unutilized areas on the
tip of Csepel Island are connected to the industrial zones. The river Danube
and the Ráckeve Branch of the river clearly separate the three main units of
the sector: they could have been “handled” jointly only if the new Danube
Bridge was constructed.
2. Brownfield heritage in Budapest
Looking at the transformation of the brownfield, we primarily focus on environ-
mental problems, changes in the ownership structure and space utilisation in in-
dustrial and transport areas, as well as issues of residential zones in the brownfield
between them.
2.1 Typical features of the environment in the brownfield of Budapest
The general environmental problems occurring in the territory of Budapest are also
present in the brownfield (high noise pollution and air pollution), but these are not
primarily generated on the site itself, they come much more from the traffic of the
surrounding roads. As industrial output declined, the air pollution of the plants
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once operating in the territory of the brownfield has stopped, or decreased signifi-
cantly, and the same conclusion can be drawn for their noise emission. The surface
dust pollution from railway areas is an exception. Hazardous waste is also gener-
ated in significantly lower volumes, yet considerably more different types of haz-
ardous wastes are created. The main reason for this is that there is fragmentation in
part of the related large industrial areas of the brownfield both in terms of owner-
ship and functionality. The buildings and building sections of former large indus-
trial plants have been taken over by enterprises and small companies pursuing dif-
ferent activities, therefore, producing different types of wastes, too. The main envi-
ronmental problem is not the burden imposed with the new activities and functions
appearing on the area. The inherited environmental damages represent a much
more severe problem, including primarily the soil and geological contamination on
the sites and the surrounding areas.
Soil contamination and its suspicion represent the gravest problem in these ar-
eas today. However, apparently the disorder and obsolete buildings on a consider-
able part of these areas form a much more striking phenomenon. The abandoned
rubble, equipment pieces and machine parts represent visual environmental pollu-
tion on the abandoned areas. Disorder attracts illegal waste dumping in the envi-
ronment of the abandoned areas on the basis of the 'rubbish attracts more rubbish'
principle.
The high proportion of inactive surfaces is a problem in most connected indus-
trial sites for environmental considerations. The built-in and covered surfaces con-
nect with each other without any conditioning green surfaces, or at least areas free
of any built elements. Heat reflection from large biologically inactive surfaces is
extremely high, rain water cannot be absorbed by the soil, therefore the ecological
value of these sites is very low even compared to other areas in the town, and they
function as heat islands and city deserts.
The gravest problem on the territory of the brownfield in Budapest is soil con-
tamination both in terms of environmental protection and city development. Al-
though we do not have any exact surveys about the accurate size of the area or the
extent of pollution, some conclusions may be drawn from contamination disclosed
and detected in several areas indicating that other areas may also be affected in this
context. Soil contamination seems to be a problem that can be treated locally, but
the contaminated areas function as ‘timed bombs’, i.e. it can spread both horizon-
tally and vertically as time goes on. Contamination also gets into surface waters
and other water collection pipes together with the rain water drained from such
surfaces. It is extremely dangerous in the case of contaminated areas that are di-
rectly situated on the Danube bank.
Comparing areas whose soil is definitely or potentially contaminated (Figure 4),
we can conclude that contamination can be assumed on almost all areas. This as-
sumption applies to such a large area that the problem can under no circumstances
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be considered a local one. Below, we shall describe a few sites – without aiming at
completeness – in order to illustrate the complexity of the problems of contamina-
tion.
Figure 4
Areas with contaminated soil
Source: Nagy, 2004.
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Metallochemia site in Nagytétény
In terms of soil contamination the gravest and best-known problem in Budapest is
the extensive soil contamination on Metallochemia site in Nagytétény and its 1.5
km surrounding area. Lead and other poisonous heavy metal contamination was
caused by the emission into the air of pollutants from the dismantling of batteries
and metallurgy. The plant processing lead and other coloured metals has been en-
gaged in metallurgy, foundry, waste processing and treatment since the beginning
of the 20th century. In the 70s, lead contamination could be felt physically, too
(death of animals, ill residents in the area). In 1977, lead metallurgy stopped as a
consequence of contamination.
At the moment, pursuant to the remediation plan, part of the area will be cov-
ered with a sarcophagus in relation to the construction of M6 motorway, while the
replacement of soil seems to be the best solution on other areas. The National Envi-
ronmental Protection Programme II contains the tasks in the period from 2003 to
2008. As a result of shared financing, the state has also committed itself to the im-
plementation of remediation.
Óbuda Gas Plant site
The site of the former gas plant is currently in the heart of the city, on a valuable
site on the Danube bank. The rehabilitation development launched on the less
problematic areas of the site proves that there is significant town development po-
tential on this area. The sludge mass, tar, etc. originating from the technology con-
taminated this area on the territory on the Óbuda Gas Plant, as it regularly got into
contact with the soil in large concentration. Functional change and transformation
are clearly held back by the soil contamination of the huge area of the plant. Óbuda
Gas Plan began its operation in 1913. The main profile of the gas plant was gen-
eration of town gas from coal. As a side product, it produced coke, processed am-
monia, prepared various oils and oily materials with tar distillation, as well as pro-
duced and processed benzol. Coal processing stopped in the plant in 1984. Demo-
lition of the plants and equipment began in 1986. Gas production was completely
stopped in 1987.
Remediation can be envisaged in two phases. The first phase would be the
elimination of contamination floating on the surface of the ground water, including
primarily hydrocarbon contamination. Then, based on a further status report, a new
monitoring system will have to be operated for at least one year, to define the exact
flow and speed of ground water. All this clearly shows that no quick solution can
be expected in the case of Óbuda Gas Plant. However, the Graphisoft investment
implemented on a less contaminated area taken out of the site of the former gas
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plant is a very good example. Part of the contaminated soil was removed, and an-
other part was deposited locally as landscape plastics.
Potentially contaminated areas
On the basis of the experiences outlined above, in addition to the known contami-
nated areas, all the following areas listed below should be considered areas with
potentially contaminated soil:
− abandoned, not re-cultivated communal waste and rubble deposit sites,
− railway and railway plant sites,
− military barracks, shooting ranges and practice fields,
− former plants generating large volumes of hazardous waste,
− central bus garages and heavy machine storage sites,
− areas covered with extensive, illegal waste,
− and their direct environment.
Taking these into account, too, it can be concluded that soil contamination im-
poses a serious threat on the brownfield areas of Budapest, as well as other parts of
the town, because it may even exceed the estimated size of contamination, raising
urban ecological problems, too.
Relations between renewal and remediation
Soil contamination in brownfields is a significant barrier in the renewal and func-
tional change of these areas. It especially applies to large volume and extensive
surface contaminations, as well as on areas situated on the Danube bank. Rehabili-
tation and functional change of the area imposes a huge financial burden on the
owner and investor in addition to the rate of return of the investment. However,
investors are not only deterred by the financial implication of remediation, but also
by the very time consuming licensing and remediation process, which takes place
before the actual functional change. The preliminary identification of pollution is
only the first stage, further detailed investigations may even last for one or several
years (see, e.g., in the case of Óbuda Gas Plant). Consequently, a considerable por-
tion of investors turn towards green field investments. There are some areas where
the original contamination can no longer be detected, therefore, remediation may
either take place from the central budget, or the new owner assumes the remedia-
tion expenses and procedures. The remediation plan of Nagytétény Metallochemia
could be a very good example for shared financing, in which case the problem can
be eliminated and a remedy can be found for the site in relation to a road construc-
tion project (M6).
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In terms of the environment, the transition status, which still prevails on a part
of the brownfield sites, is not favourable either. The area is invaded by a lot of
lessees, using it for various functions. The actual users of the site are not interested
in the elimination of environmental damages, or finding a remedy for the site, thus
the site increasingly creates the impression of a “masterless” site in environmental
aspects, too.
Another problem is that these days, there is no legislation yet that would define
indices (limit values) for functions and use of sites, representing the basis for posi-
tioning certain future functions. The new functions appearing on contaminated sites
cannot be ignored either. The mode and range of remediation may vary on a wide
scale, but we need to know directions of the future utilisation of the site for that as
well.
2.2 Transition economy in the brownfield
The brownfield in Budapest is not an empty area in ruins, as spontaneous transfor-
mation and functional changes have started in part of it. Each of the old large com-
panies has been transformed, fallen to pieces, they have changed profiles and own-
ers but they did not disappear without any traces. This area, which has always been
an extremely important part of the economy of Budapest, still contains extensive
business activities and many smaller and larger companies. The share of the
brownfield in the economy of Budapest can be described with the following data:
area 13%, employees 24%, share of companies 5%. The strong fluctuation of com-
panies, the nature of economic structural changes and the external conditions of the
buildings indicate that the current economy and companies of the brownfield are
still in the transition phase.
There are typical differences in the settlement of companies in this area by sec-
tor. Taking into account an average year of occupation, transport and cargo, as well
as industrial companies were established first, and they were followed by trading
companies and other service institutions. There is intensive fluctuation of compa-
nies even now. Movements are extremely intensive in external Ferencváros, inner
Váci út, Csepel and Kıbánya within the analysed region.
Current corporate structure of the brownfield
Corporate sizes. The average size of companies in the brownfield and companies
in Budapest is different. The companies settling down in the brownfield are larger
than average, while the proportion of small companies, primarily micro-enterprises,
is significantly below the Budapest average. 52% of the companies contained in
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our survey are small enterprises (with fewer than 50 employees), 41% are medium-
sized enterprises (between 50 and 300 employees) and 7% are large companies
(over 300 employees). There is also strong concentration of employees: more than
50% of the employees of the brownfield are employed by large companies, which
represent only 6.5% of the total companies. Only 13% of the employees work in
companies with a headcount figure of 1–50, representing two-thirds of the total
number of companies.
Sectoral structure. The present brownfield was the primary area taken by in-
dustrial companies of Budapest. It is not surprising therefore, that industry is still
significant in this area despite the process of the withdrawal of the industry. Of the
companies contained in our survey, industry relates to 14% of the companies in the
brownfield, and 18% of the area. Approximately 40% of the employees the brown-
field make their living in industry. The majority of the companies can also be de-
scribed with mixed activities (e.g., industrial-service office buildings). This mixed
use applies to nearly 60% of the companies. Among the services, trade stands out
(with 19% of companies, and 10% of employees), followed by transportation,
warehousing and transport (10% of companies and 23% of employees).
Land use of companies, land ownership
The average land size of industrial companies is much higher than the average.
Warehousing, logistics and transport companies demand large areas for operation.
The average land used is the largest among companies engaged in industrial and
agricultural services, because this category contains areas for agricultural use and
large companies that are engaged in trade, as well as industrial activities; in addi-
tion, industrial parks also operate on a large area with various companies next to
each other.
Two-thirds of the companies own the land on which they operate. In total, more
than 80% of the land used by companies is owned by them. There are several rea-
sons for this high proportion:
− The ownership relations of corporate land have not been stabilised yet;
− Management and business operation of the land owned by them represents
a(n important) share within the revenues at companies. It is confirmed by the
fact that the proportion of land not used for their activities is on average
31%, more than 90% of which is leased to third parties.
− Many land owners are waiting, speculating for the renewal of the area, and
appreciation of the price of land and properties;
− It is highly probable that at present, rental costs represent a huge burden on
operation, which is one of the reasons why companies try to acquire the
ownership title to the land they are using.
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Further analyses will be required to prove these assumptions, because a key is-
sue of the rehabilitation of the brownfield is whether the land owned or leased by
the companies. (An overall spatial renewal or capital investment project may in-
volve the purchase of mosaic land properties.)
Companies are fully aware of the situational advantage arising from the fact that
they operate in Budapest. It was also proved by another survey, according to which
the majority of companies considered that the geographical location of their sites
and operation in Budapest were satisfactory, and the majority also indicated that
they did not intend to move from Budapest. However, the majority of companies
also found that the site on which they operated was too small (which may indicate
a shortage of space, an increase of land prices, as well as the fact that growth of
companies may lead to relocation). However, there is no doubt that the reasons of
company closures and relocation include disadvantages arising from the choice of a
Budapest site (e.g., higher production costs, limited opportunities for physical
growth, more intensive competition).
‘Under-utilised’ nature of the brownfield, and conditions of buildings
The utilisation rate is relative and the statement according to which the brownfield
is an ‘under-utilised’ zone is justified primarily in comparison with inner city and
suburban areas (with concentrated housing estates). Among European large cities,
Budapest is one of the most loosely built towns (Bertaud, 1999). There is a sudden
fall between the level of density in the transition zone (applicable to the brown-
field, too) and the inner city.
What does the low space utilisation of companies mean within the brownfield?
− The average built-in ratio of land used by companies is below 37% and 75%
of the analysed areas is built in on less than 50%.
− The average proportion of green areas is 30%, and the green area ratio is
higher than 40% on almost one-third of the total area.
− Of the total buildings in the brownfield, 23% are single-floor buildings (in
office parks single-floor buildings represent 6%, in industrial company
buildings 19%, in commercial buildings 40%, in buildings offering mixed
services 40–55%, and among residential buildings 37%).
These data prove that more intensive space utilisation will not necessarily be
achieved through the move of an increasing number of industrial companies out
from urban areas, but only through the renewal of buildings left behind by indus-
trial companies and currently used for other purposes (demolition or building on
unused areas), as well as through the rehabilitation of residential areas. In fact, the
real problem is not that there are many vacant buildings, but rather the low inten-
sity of their use.
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Features of the spatial and geographical position of the economy
and the companies in the brownfield
The brownfield can be divided into three large sectors, the northern, the eastern and
the southern ones. When analysing the features of the individual sectors one cannot
fail to notice the difference between the northern sector on the one hand, and the
eastern and southern one, on the other hand. The most striking change in functions,
and modernisation took place in the northern sector. That is proven primarily by a
very small share of the industrial sector and the larger share of the trade-service
operations there. The major portion of the companies operating there started oper-
ating after 1989 on their present location (the fluctuation and change of functions
of the firms were rather fast). The structural size of the companies is comparatively
balanced; the number of the employees of the companies is the lowest in this sec-
tor. The two determining areas of the northern sector – the area along Váci Road
and its vicinity and Szentendrei Road and its vicinity- are dynamically changing
areas mostly due to their favourable traffic position. Especially the areas close to
the city centre obtained almost similar “downtown” functions and are engaged
mainly in the supply of retail services. Nevertheless these axels end at the adminis-
trative borders of Budapest, in the areas resembling “city gates”.
The eastern sector is an industrial- transportation- warehousing area. Transfor-
mation there has taken place at a lower speed: the companies established prior to
1989 possess the majority of the industrial plots (pharmaceutical companies,
printing offices, breweries, etc.). The slower rate of functional changes is mainly
due to the transportation and urban structural situation (and so retail trade and other
retail services have also been gaining ground at a lower speed). There are, how-
ever, already new or renewed traffic centres, locations: for instance at around the
terminal of metro line M2. In the eastern sector it is an urgent task to regulate the
railway areas which are underutilised or inadequately utilised.
Transformation is slowest in the southern sector (composed of three major in-
dustrial zones: those of Ferencváros, Csepel and Kelenföld): there industrial opera-
tion continues to dominate (almost half of the corporate plots is used for a manu-
facturing operations), but the share of companies engaged in transportation and
warehousing is also significant both from the aspects of the size of the areas and
from that of the number of employees. Its transport situation is more favourable
than that of the eastern sector and economic transformation has been going on at a
faster speed along the newly established roads or roads the value of which has in-
creased. Traffic within the industrial zones (for instance in Csepel) is made more
difficult by the absence of roads, streets inside the former “large industrial em-
pires” Transient area utilisation is more extensive in the southern sector. The area
faces the big problem of the elimination of environmental pollution and contami-
nation. Thus the renewal of this sector could not take place without some kind of
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governmental-local governmental actions of large volume (e.g. new bridge over the
River Danube, the construction of main roads, the elimination of environmental
pollution, more efficient utilisation of the railway areas).
All the three sectors share the basic feature of transience and mosaic character.
Most of the companies reflect the transient situation; they already have some ele-
ments of renewal, yet they fights against a number of problems. The mosaic char-
acter is manifested by the fact that companies of different character and dynamics
are situated one next to the other or geographically close to one another. It means
that a primary development of zones – which had started before World War II al-
ready – had fallen to pieces as industry was withdrawn from the area. The estab-
lishment and development of network character will take a long time. The mosaic
character in space means that micro regions are developing typically of miscella-
neous use. This trend is supported by the fact that in every part of the brownfield
and also in its micro regions one can register sings of renewal but we have as yet
no example for a comprehensive rehabilitation of any larger area in the brownfield.
2.3 Poorly utilised railway areas
Historically speaking, the establishment of Budapest as the capital city and the
development of the railway system coincided in time. During the 19th century, the
“heroic age” of the Hungarian railway network (in just a few decades) it became
the biggest “prestige institution“ of the country with the greatest effect, and its
Budapest-centred structure played a decisive role in the development of the capital
city. That effect has been evident from the very beginning not only with the open-
ing of communication and mobility possibilities, but also from the unparalleled
industrial, economic performances, and, consequently, it has resulted in the fast
growth of the population. As a result, of all that the urban area has been continu-
ously growing – and what is important for us – the structure has been affected by
the railway-effect combination.
The railway has been influencing the environment as a major force in structur-
ing the urban environment. As a consequence of the to-and-fro effects during over
the past one-and-half century, the configuration of Budapest has become inter-
woven by the infrastructural effects of the railway system. With the continuous
development of the railways and the town these systems held changing positions in
the various periods within the –still growing – body of the settlement and that
situation occasionally had positive, progressive effects on the structure of Buda-
pest, and occasionally it hindered the configuration from developing the way it
should have been developing. The railway facilities which had been established in
free areas (where they disturbed nobody, moreover at times they even attracted
settlers) actually helped the growth of the town with their effects, then they became
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
barriers of growth –as always happens with a healthy system – and so they with-
draw or were transformed (Figure 5). The good examples of dynamic transforma-
tion can serve as lessons to show that our contemporary urban designers, decision
makers can take major, brave, progressive decisions – based on surveys of ade-
quate depth – in urban regulations (whether on the introduction or even termina-
tion of some system) as life can later prove they were right. Delayed restructuring
on the other hand leads to losses, making Budapest fall behind competing devel-
oping large cities and their agglomeration.
Figure 5
Brownfields – railway zones
Source: Fábry, 2004.
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
MÁV Rt. is one of the companies in Hungary that owns the biggest volume of
properties and manages tremendous properties. Up to the mid–1980-es these prop-
erties had been rather well utilised as at that time the volume of cargo transport was
three times the present volume and passenger transport was twice the current vol-
ume and the railways employed over twice as many people as they do today. As a
consequence of the economic changes which have been taking place transport by
rail has drastically dropped resulting in the release of tremendous surplus capacities
and also exerting an influence on the properties: a significant portion of these prop-
erties has become unnecessary, idle while as a consequence of the loss making
performance of MÁV its state has started to gradually deteriorate.
The current restructuring processes have three effects on the railway system of
Budapest:
− The process that “heavy” (not urban, not environmentally friendly) plants are
moved to external zones – or rather to the countryside – has been continuing.
That is naturally followed by the railway network servicing them, often as an
element prepared on the side of supply, attracting investments and supporting
the settlement of people.
− As a consequence of the economic restructuring the share of certain indus-
trial or agricultural operations is falling (certain operations of the heavy in-
dustry close down for good), leading to a drop in demand for rail transport
too. This affects not only the direct local railway service area but can also
have its effect on the “back-up” of the railway operation (the traffic, space
requirement of marshalling yards, plant sites).
− The railway operations themselves are also changing: new tasks, new trans-
port technologies, new operation systems emerge, with some of them re-
ducing, some others increasing the requirements in relation to the functional
areas.
Postponement of decision making may slow down the global urban develop-
ment process:
− Investments are not made at places which would be best for the structure of
the city,
− In the absence of realistic functions no money is allocated for the mainte-
nance of the area, and so its state deteriorates,
− Neighbouring areas are not developed and are not developing because of the
“poor neighbourhood” and what in the worst case may lead to the formation
of slums.
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
The urban aspects of the process of land utilisation
It is in the eminent interest of those who wish to improve the structure of the set-
tlement to involve as big a portion as possible of the potentially valuable areas
(because of their location, system of links, etc.) into the range of areas which are
under a uniform planning-control system, thus increasing the reality and effective-
ness of urban development – rehabilitation actions. This is especially true for the
rehabilitation of valuable brownfields – located comparatively close to the down-
town area –: but for real break-though (change in functions, increasing the socially
recognised prestige of the area) we usually need major urban regulation actions,
spectacular steps. A recent example: area of the former Budapest-Dunapart (Bank
of River Danube) freight depot obtained the new function it really deserved by a
major project without which the immediately neighbouring region would hardly
have had any chance for the transformation (which has been going on gradually, at
a lower speed). Naturally it could not be claimed that smaller areas have no reason
to change functions, but the targeted integration of the urban structure would be
hard to achieve without specific actions inside the brownfield, especially a railway
area. From among the areas directly connected to the retained, viable railway infra-
structure the released ones should be preserved along the tracks and those around
the stations at the complex transport sector areas should be rehabilitated (also to
increase the efficiency of the railway system). These solutions should be given
priority in the course of subsequent utilisation.
From among the many underutilised railway areas of Budapest this study analy-
ses primarily the two large units situated in the brownfield, and we do here not deal
with other units, which are otherwise undoubtedly important and represent prob-
lems to be solved (Figure 5).
Integration options of “Rákosrendezı”(Rákos Shunting Yard)
Up to the 1980-s Rákosrendezı (the second most significant marshalling yard from
among the three large marshalling yards of Budapest) had always been overbur-
dened, it used to be one of the infamous bottlenecks of the Hungarian railway net-
work. Because of the most intensive use and neglected modernisation its infra-
structure became obsolete and with the drop in freightage transport on the national
level the marshalling yard function there was terminated. As its network connec-
tions are excellent, the railways have been continuously looking for the optimum
possibility for its utilisation. The current concepts calculate with hardly more than
one third of its track network and the rest could be utilised as properties.
In principle a favourable passenger interchange junction could be established on
the southern part of the former station with means of urban public transport. The
utilisation of the former boiler station (hauling site) could offer a good example: in
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
case the Railway History Park opened in the course of the national millennium
celebrations obtained sufficient support it could become an internationally impor-
tant site displaying industrial history and could even develop into a place of tourist
attraction. The original function of the Istvántelki Fımőhely (Main Workshop at
Istvántelek) occupying some 40 ha of land has no longer its original function, while
some railway functions still operate on the site. The released some one third of the
area at the edge of the original site has been subdivided into eight new plots and the
companies which settled there have become well integrated into the industrial-lo-
gistic wave of the area. The traffic connections of the area are rather limited from
the aspects of traffic by road or public transport so there is not much chance for
large retail units or office developments to be established there.
Integration options of “Ferencváros” Shunting Yard
Despite of the significant drop in the demand for railway transport the marshalling
yard of Budapest Ferencváros – the busiest railway junction of Budapest and of
Hungary – continues to operate, and it will retain its function in the future also. The
reduction of demand however has lead to closing down half of the original system
in 1996. As long-term forecasts do not foresee significant increase in traffic one
has good reason to believe that the currently unused plant area will later also not be
needed. An immense hindrance of direct utilisation however is the fact that the
released zone is hermetically closed as it is situated in the middle of the network of
tracks. The owner, MÁV has performed preliminary studies on its „release” and on
the possibilities of connecting it to the structure of the city and, as a result they
obtained a draft of several options. By transforming the operation technology in
different ways the railway action area could be more or less concentrated and so
the released parts of the area could be “shifted to the side”.
In the meanwhile the urban-structural studies have led to several development
concepts for the region. The region is the biggest brownfield unit of Budapest, and
it is in the interest of both the capital city and of the railway company to see the
position of the region improved and to start its genuine revitalisation. The integra-
tion of the interwoven urban structural unit of some 60 ha, the improvement of its
mosaic type structure, renewal could not take place simply by using the method of
the sale of properties; there is a need for the Budapest Metropolitan Government,
moreover for the Hungarian Government to play an active role and take concen-
trated measures in relation to major structural changes. As a consequence of trans-
port and urban regulation actions the result of almost ten years of efforts is emerg-
ing on the other side of the railway line which forms the border of the area to the
north.
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2.4 The position and development possibilities of the residential
function of the brownfield in Budapest
We need to analyse the current position and potential, future utilisation possibilities
of the brownfield of Budapest also from the aspect of residential functions. After a
brief summary of the history of the emergence of the zone including a survey of the
emergence of residential units we analyse the data collected in the course of em-
pirical survey to submit for the urban developers’ information and recommenda-
tions.
The historic background of the emergence of the residential function
in the brownfield
The establishment of the now obsolete industrial and traffic zone known today as
“brownfield” and of its first permanent residences started at the end of the 1880-es.
The first residential projects worth mentioning started during the last decade of the
18th century. The builders included the owners of large factories as well as the
Hungarian state (the railway company) and Budapest, its public utility companies.
Nevertheless the establishment of the residential function was rather sporadic,
mostly low cost – low standard workers’ flats had been erected typically as tene-
ment buildings and workers’ barracks. In the period between the two world wars
the spread of the industrial area and the increase of the residential function received
big impetus by the fact that migration from the countryside targeted not so much
Budapest, but primarily the zone of suburbs. Thus most of the low-standard flats
built in Budapest were situated along the edge of the town, in the industrial – traffic
zone, further increasing the residential stock of today’s brownfield.
The socialist era made several significant changes in the development of the in-
dustrial zone. The zone which had earlier developed – although functionally in
close symbiosis with Budapest – geographically and especially from the aspect of
administration separately became uniform also from the aspect of planning and
administration. Moreover as from the early 1950s the new regime started the reali-
sation of its own housing policy the key element of which was composed of the
housing estates. Most of the new housing estates were built in the industrial zones
in the 1950s, and even in the 1960s. The housing estates built then – because of
their small sizes and moderate space requirement – could be easily fitted in the
remaining areas of the industrial zone moreover they also served – to a certain ex-
tent – as tools of rehabilitation of the zone. As from the 1970s when industrial
technology became generally used and the size of housing estates increased the
construction of housing estates in Budapest shifted to the free areas along the bor-
ders of the city. As a consequence the industrial zones could less profit from such
housing projects. During that era they could not start with a comprehensive reha-
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Pécs : Centre for Regional Studies, 2006. 71. p. Discussion Papers, No. 51.
bilitation of the residential function of that area as the social urban development
policy concentrated its relevant moderate efforts to the downtown residential quar-
ters. On the basis of the housing statistical data of the census performed in 1990
one gets a good picture on the position of the brownfields on the map of Budapest.
The flats there are below the average of the flats of Budapest both from the aspect
of size and comfort. After a long history of one hundred years thus the brownfields
of Budapest started the 1990s with an obsolete stock of residential properties little
suited for rehabilitation because of its age and technical status.
Quantity and quality features of the residential function in the brownfields
The residential properties in the brownfield represent only 1.8% of the some 800
thousand residences in Budapest. At first sight that is not a high percentage but one
must not forget that the housing stock of the brownfields deserves attention pri-
marily not because of its size but because of the state of the flats there and the so-
cial features of the population living there. On the basis of its architectural features
the almost 15 thousand flats can be subdivided into four very different categories.
Almost half of the flats in the brownfields are situated in detached tenement build-
ings with several flats each (condominia) Another some one third of those flats had
been built as housing estates. 1634 families live in single family cottages, and that
number represents 11% of the residential stock. 5% of the flats could not fit into
any of the previous three categories as they are mostly single storey buildings, ter-
raced houses”.
Analysing the age composition of the flats we can conclude that compared to
the housing stock of Budapest the housing stock of the brownfields is very old.
Almost every second flat there had been built before 1945. Most of those had been
built in the period between the two world wars, contributing some one third of the
entire housing stock. 40% of the flats in the industrial area had been built during
the socialist era – most of those in the 1950s and 1960s. 10% of the total housing
stock of the brownfields can be regarded as recently built, and that includes part of
the buildings which had since been fully rehabilitated and residential properties
now under construction. Based on external observations, according to our survey
13% of the residential properties in the brownfields would require prompt reha-
bilitation.
Despite of its significant geographical dispersion, the housing stock is rather
concentrated in space. It is easy to identify on the map of brownfields the housing
estates with over one thousand flat each; there are three centres with high density.
The zone with the biggest number of flats is in the southern part of Kıbánya, and
two others which need to be mentioned are situated in Angyalföld and in
Ferencváros.
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Scattered condominia
This is the most residential type of the brownfields. Scattered tenement houses
(condominia) contribute 50% to the housing properties in the zone. The emergence
of the scattered condominia is closely linked to the history of the industrial zone
and they fit well the mosaic type utilisation of the zone. The smaller plots left free
among the large industrial sites had been favoured by contemporary factory owners
for building low standard flats with low rent for their workers. It was not by acci-
dent that most of those scattered condominia had been built before the First World
War, with their majority erected in the 1920s and 1830s. As for their quality, the
ratio of rehabilitated or newly erected flats there is the lowest, which means that in
the future these are the types of flats which must be primarily targeted for rehabili-
tation.
Estates
One third of the flats in the brownfield were built as part of estates and this is the
second most frequent category, The age, state and architecture of the estates is
most heterogeneous as they include workers’ residences honestly built before the
First World War just as temporary lodgings built in the period between the two
world wars, early socialist housing estates of the 1950s and residential parks
erected in the 1990s. The builders of most of the estates include the state (central
government and local government), state owned enterprises (railway company). On
the other hand the builders of the latest estates – those erected after 1990 (in fact
residential parks) are mostly property development companies. As a consequence
of the continuous construction the age composition of the flats in the estates is
rather balanced. 14% of the flats in the estates need rehabilitation as they are in
very poor state, a high percentage, just as in the case of the condominia. It is a fa-
vourable fact that the ratio of rehabilitated and newly built flats is comparatively
high (20%) suggesting certain renewal process – as against the state of condominia.
The geographical position of the estates is very pronounced. Most of them are situ-
ated on the south-eastern part of the brownfields.
Family cottages
The spread of family cottages in the brownfield was typical of the socialist era; this
is suggested by the fact that 2/3rd of the flats in family cottages had been built be-
tween 1945 and 1990, and a comparatively big number of family cottages were
built since the change of the economic and political system, and that may give an
idea for the potential new utilisation of the brownfields. Because of the age of such
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housing stock the state of the family cottages is comparatively favourable. The
total of the rehabilitated and new flats as well as flats in good condition is by far
the highest from among the four analysed types of housing properties.
Terraced houses
The terraced houses represent the smallest housing segment of the brownfield.
Among them the highest percentage is the percentage of the flats built after 1990
suggesting that that type of housing construction has become popular after the
change of the economic and political system. Another big group in this category is
composed of units built before World War II. The architecture and the social status
of the old and newly built terraced houses greatly differ. The architecture, quality
and price level of the newly built terraced houses compare to those of smaller resi-
dential parks. The terraced houses built before the First World War are single sto-
ried, with one room and a kitchen each and resemble contemporary estates, work-
ers’ colonies. Most of their builders were either the industrial companies or the
state.
3 Spontaneous changes in the functions: Examples
and plans
Considerable changes in function take place in the brownfields of the cities. New
activities appear on the premises of former industrial plants and on the areas previ-
ously occupied by military barracks and railway lines. This spontaneous change
took place within a shorter period of time in the post-socialist countries than in
Western Europe. Rehabilitation of the „rusty zones” became manifest primarily
with the ownership changes following the termination of industrial activities and
the rearrangement of the real-estate market after 1990. Urban position of the
brownfields has also changed quite often. Functional changes were characteristic of
the industrial areas located close to the city centre and having other advantageous
features, which meant the replacement of industry with the tertiary functions. Si-
multaneous with the expansion of the increasingly crowded inner city functions
producing higher added value (financial services, business consulting, IT, trade and
commerce, administrative jobs) gained ground on the former industrial areas, but
leisure-time and cultural functions and even housing development (e.g.: lofts) may
also be present.
During the privatisation, the majority of these areas were subject to speculation
as after termirary use, the new owners were interested in selling the properties. The
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better the final user of these properties was provided with capital, the more apt
were these areas to demolition and reconstruction and the least was important the
conservation of the architectural monuments preserving the original characters of
the premises. In the industrial zones with good location it was easier and cheaper to
reconstruct or completely demolish the buildings than in the business zone of the
inner city. Nonetheless, the vast majority of the original buildings were demolished
in the latter areas as well and new office buildings or shopping centres were con-
structed in stead. The scientific and technological parks were also typically built on
these „razed” areas. Changes in function was also typical of the brownfields with
less favourable location, but the typical phenomenon was the continued use of the
previous buildings while simply replacing the earlier functions with commercial,
warehousing and logistic activities.
Conservation and use of industrial monuments became an important issue,
while cultural use of former industrial buildings became increasingly important.
Office and residential functions have also become important while reconstructing
the industrial premises.
3.1 The appearance of shopping centres
In Budapest, the transformation of brown zones with good location near the traffic
junctions was the fastest. Near the metro- and tramlines and at the cross-sections
with high transit traffic the earlier activities were considerably forced back and new
functions appeared.
During the communist era there were only very few shopping centres in Buda-
pest. The changed economic environment and the changed consumer habits had a
great share in the fundamental transformation of retail activities. The construction
of the third generation of shopping centres started in the mid–1990s in Hungary.
New commercial centres were built with ten thousands square metres of floor-
space and with extensive parking facilities. The invertors were looking for space at
low price suitable for the construction of these large commercial objects with good
access. The level of development of public transport and the size of the car park
also had a lion’s share in selecting the locations.
The premises of the commercial centres were often created in the brownfield ar-
eas with good access contributing this way to the functional changes of these areas.
The shopping centres typically had a positive influence on the real-estate prices as
well, as through their extensive radiation they increased the prestige of their envi-
ronment contributing this way to the development of the neighbourhood and to
changing the structure of commerce, the consumer habits and requirements.
These first commercial centres with regional role were opened in 1996 in Buda-
pest in brownfield areas. The Duna Plaza was constructed on a former industrial
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zone, while the Pólus Center was built on the area of a former military barrack. The
access of Duna Plaza is favourable being located near the North-South metro line
and the avenue leaving Budapest in the northern direction. Thanks to its success,
the brownfields by the avenue were upgraded and went through functional changes.
As opposed Duna Plaza, the Pólus Center was built on the edge of the city, in a
district where the commercial area per thousand inhabitants was the lowest, thus
the shopping centre had a significant role also in servicing the local population.
The area also has a good transport contact with the settlements of the agglomera-
tion. Sometimes later, however, Pólus Center lost a lot of its competitive advan-
tages in comparison with the shopping centres constructed later, primarily due to
its poor access by public transport from the city center.
In 1999, there were already 33 shopping centres in Budapest (Figure 6). It was
the year when West End City Center was opened in one of the busiest traffic junc-
tions of Budapest (the daily transit traffic reaches 400 thousand persons), on the
verge of the central business centre, right by the Western Railway Station, in the
former railway zone, on close to 100 thousand square metres. Up till now, this is
the largest investment in Central-Eastern Europe (200 million USD). The multi-
functional centre (commerce, office, hotel) contributed to the renewal of this dete-
riorated part of city. According to the plans, additional, extensive entertainment
and shopping centres will be created by the existing one with the involvement of
additional territories currently under-utilised by the railways and by using green
filed areas as well. Thanks to its favourable location, the West End is one of the
most successful shopping centres, contributing to a great extent to the upgrading
and renewal of its neighbourhood.
The Árkád shopping centres was built in 2002, also in a brownfield area. In one
of the most important traffic nodes of Budapest, a shopping centre called Sugár
was built already in the early 1980s, and a furniture store and a do-it-yourself store
was later added to the complex. The zone of attraction of the two, neighbouring
shopping centres is the same, but instead of weakening they strengthen each other
by benefiting from the advantages of the process of agglomeration and by targeting
different customer groups.
The shopping centres on the Buda side, located close to the city centre were also
constructed on former industrial areas. The Mamut shopping and entertainment
centre was built by the most congested traffic node of North-Buda, in the area with
the highest purchase potential in Hungary. In this case, the commercial and service
functions are completed with facilities provided by the Millenáris Park located
nearby and also constructed on brownfield, and by MOM Park, built on the former
premises of the Hungarian Optical Works (Magyar Optikai Mővek – MOM). The
latter complex is multi-functional, but the commercial functions in this case are
rather completed with residential and office functions.
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However, not all the shopping centres built in brownfields have been successful.
The Lurdy-ház in South-Pest was constructed in a zone with low purchase power
and has poor access. Its business utilisation index is very low and it is increasingly
the office function that is gaining ground there (for example: the Hungarian Air-
lines moved its headquarters to Lurdy-ház).
Figure 6
Location of shopping centre sin the brownfield
Source: Sikos T., 2004.
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3.2 Development of scientific and technological parks
In several countries, the development of scientific parks plays a great role in the
functional changes of the brownfields. In these parks that were created on the for-
mer industrial and military areas, typically close to the university and research
bases technology-oriented enterprises settled down. It was typical also of Budapest,
that scientific or technological parks were created in the brownfields (Infopark,
Graphisoft Park).
On the South-Buda Danube-band, on a 7-hectare brownfield, the first scientific
and technological park of Central-Eastern Europe, the co-called Informatikai és
Technológiai Innovációs Park (Infopark – Information and Technological Innova-
tion Park) was developed. The area was designated for the purposes of the World
Exhibition to be held in Budapest in 1996, but after the EXPO was cancelled, a
new function of use had to be found. The concept of the Infopark was laid down in
a government decree, and was founded on entrepreneurial bases as a state-owned
share company with the co-operation of the two neighbouring higher-educational
institutions, namely the largest technical and scientific universities of the country
(Budapesti Mőszaki Egyetem [Budapest Technical University] and Eötvös Loránd
Tudományegyetem [Eötvös Lóránd University of Sciences]). The Infopark was re-
alised in PPP-construction, on a land that will always remain in state ownership,
but as a private investment, thus the investor obtained only the right for land use
and construction.
The first flagship of Infopark, the American IBM appeared in 1996. The devel-
opment activities on the remaining part of Infopark and the operation of the Park
are conducted by a German real-estate development agency through a joint venture
established with Infopark Rt. The previous company builds the office buildings and
the laboratories that are then „filled with content” by the state-owned, primarily
non-profit company. The Infopark promotes the process of innovation, research
and development, supports the start-up companies and gives hep in organising in-
cubational services and the setting-up of the incubation house. Besides the large
multi-national companies, a number of spin-off enterprises were also established.
There are more and more examples on co-operation between and among compa-
nies. The phenomenon of „co-opetition” is in progress, meaning that the smaller
companies compete with each other, but in certain cases they also work together on
joint projects. We can witness certain signs of clustering as well, which means the
grouping of businesses in partnership, or as sub-contractors or suppliers around the
larger companies.
At present, there are four operating buildings in Infopark. Thanks to the vicinity
of the universities, the tenants are mostly IT, software-development, telecommuni-
cation and Internet-service provider companies (IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Magyar
Telekom, Panasonic, Maxell, etc.). After the completion of the Park, approximately
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4500 people will be employed. In the long run, the Infopark might become a re-
gional high-tech centre.
Graphisoft was built, similar to the Infopark, and also as a brownfield develop-
ment, on seven hectares in Northern Buda. However, it was a fully private invest-
ment and lacks the vicinity of universities. The development of the software-tech-
nological park started in 1997, and there are 15 buildings in it now. The number of
leaseholders is close to twenty, including several multi-national companies (the
Hungarian affiliated companies of Canon and Microsoft).
3.3 Preservation of industrial heritage
Protection of historic buildings and monuments is a conscious intervention of more
than one hundred years of history into a process characterised by the constant dis-
appearance, transformation and replacement of built heritage.
The presence of industrial culture played a very important role in the history of
Europe, as it has been the driving force of economy since the industrial revolution.
As a consequence of global restructuring in world economy, considerable produc-
tion capacities ceased to exist. This process culminated during the years following
the political and economic transformation (during the 1990s) in Hungary. An ever-
increasing emphasis is put on the rearrangement of the physical environment due to
closure of the factories, the termination of premises and the recultivation pro-
grammes.
The buildings represent the majority of industrial heritage, but the role of ma-
chinery, equipment, and technological appliances may also be important in certain
cases. Industrial architectural monuments were started to be reconstructed during
the 1960s, which was followed by focusing on engineering objects, the steel and
iron structures and the railway constructions. An extensive research and conserva-
tion methodology was elaborated in Western Europe for the exploration, registra-
tion and presentation of industrial heritage. One of the major problems in this area
is, that – often enough – the industrial buildings had not been built with the purpose
of long-term maintenance and that the structures of these buildings were consid-
erably deteriorated during their use.
Industrial heritage can be protected in several different ways: with the creation
of museums and open-air museums of the industry, with the legal protection of
technologically important monuments, and by putting the industrial buildings and
complexes under protection. Presentation of industrial monuments in operation has
an increasing role in the process of development of a new approach to industrial
monuments. When preserving these monuments as museums, the original tech-
nologies might be presented, connecting this way the protection of industrial heri-
tage to cultural tourism. Scientific and technological culture has a strong position
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in interpreting culture. The increasing number of technical and scientific museums
indicates this. Several military, transportation and industrial museums were estab-
lished also in Hungary. The Közlekedési Múzeum (Museum of Transport) dating
back to 1896, for example, is one of the most prestigious museums of the kin din
Europe. In addition to this, there is also a foundry museum, an electro-technical
collection, an elevator museum, a mill museum, a fire-police museum, a public
road collection, just to mention a few, in Budapest. In spite of this, however, Buda-
pest is far from being an exemplary city when it comes to presenting industrial
heritage, especially if we take into consideration her industrial traditions and the
ever-decreasing opportunities in this area.
In the Hungarian list of monuments, there are about 180 properties registered as
industrial or agricultural monuments, but the industrial enterprises of the past 100
years are not represented among the protected buildings. These buildings are char-
acterised by their large size, high-standard architecture and great quality, as – in the
majority of the cases – there had been sufficient financing for the industrial in-
vestments. Preservation is hindered exactly by the large size and the complexity of
these buildings, as there is no chance to maintain the whole system. Continuous
maintenance of the original functions is the least feasible way, though there are
some examples for this as well (breweries, infrastructure systems).
Preservation of these monuments can probably be done in the most efficient
way by finding new functions for these monuments, but these are very difficult to
find. Among the successful examples we should mention the Millenáris Park built
on the premises of Ganz Villamossági Mővek (Ganz Electric works) on the Buda
side as a comprehensive industrial rehabilitation project. There are similar projects
to create cultural centres in the former industrial buildings.
3.4 Cultural use
A large number of old buildings have lost its original function as a consequence of
industrial transformation and the appearance of new technologies in urban public
utilities. Significant buildings can be found on the respective properties, facilitating
for the stabile, specifically shaped and, often, hall-like buildings for have new
functions. Often enough, these form part of the national heritage, which – with
their aesthetic value and individual appearance – are suitable for cultural purposes
as well. It is almost fashionable to convert these buildings for cultural use, partly
due to architectural-technological rationality and party due to the creation of sym-
bolic value. Often enough, the costs of reconstruction are very high, especially
when it comes to monuments, while these costs are difficult to cover due to the low
profitability and non-profit nature of the cultural institutions.
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It is typical of the cultural economy as a whole, that the value-added, the spe-
cific features and the individual nature of its products are represented by its sym-
bolic nature. Cultural use of industrial buildings started at the turn of the 1960s and
‘70s, as a consequence of social and economic transformation. The first art labora-
tories were created as a counter-trend against the traditional, “elitist” attitude of
culture where several branches of art were concentrated in one place (for example:
the Factory of Warhol). The factory buildings were located in the outer districts of
the cities, separate from the traditional cultural centres of the city, giving the new
location a symbolic character as well. Supporting urban policy became manifest in
urban policy since the 1970s, simultaneous with the appearance of large-scale,
state-funded architectural and cultural prestige investments (Pompidou-centre,
Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Tate Modern, Millennium Dome in London). Quality of
cultural life strengthened the individual character of the cities in the intense com-
petition among the cities. The role of cultural urban policy was increasing. In the
establishment of cultural institutions, the role of PPP-constructions gained ground,
and the vast majority of these projects were related to the reconstruction of former
industrial buildings, creating a lot of symbolic values this way (protection of his-
toric buildings, protection of the environment). The establishment of cultural pro-
jects gave a value added to the economic and tourist attractions of the cities and
increased the value of urban land as well.
In Budapest, cultural use of industrial buildings started to become typical be-
ginning with the second half of the 1990s. The first institution of this kind was built
as early as 1985, on the premises of an industrial hall previously used for exposi-
tions and warehousing. It is called Petıfi Csarnok (Petıfi Hall), which is actually a
youth entertainment centre with 930 sq. m floor space. This is the only entertain-
ment and cultural centre of this size in Budapest even today. During the 1990s,
cultural use (for concerts, parties and sometimes as studios) of former industrial
buildings and warehouses appeared in sporadic form. In the first place, the ports by
the river Danube and the halls of the shipyards were converted for the purpose.
The first cultural centre converted from an industrial building and operating in
institutional framework was opened in 1995. It is called Fonó Budai Zeneház
(Spinnery Buda Music House) and is devoted to organise folk, ethno and world
music concerts. Moving this institution into an ex-industrial building located far
from the city centre was not part of a conscious strategy. The first conscious at-
tempt to create a cultural centre housing several branches of art and based on con-
temporary art was made in 1998 with the conversion of a former transformer sta-
tion. These days, the Trafó is one of the most well known alternative cultural cen-
tres of Budapest. The Metropolitan Municipality financed the reconstruction ac-
tivities and gives financial support for the operation. Due to the lack of funding in
the cultural sector and the lack of sponsors or patrons civil, non-profit community
initiatives were not really successful in Budapest.
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Private investors capable and willing to invest into the conversion of industrial
buildings into cultural centres appeared on the scene after the millennium. The first
private museum called MEO opened in 2001 on the premises of a former leather
factory in one of the fastest revitalising brown zones of Budapest. The art works of
contemporary Hungarian artists are collected in the museum and are exhibited in
two ex-industrial halls. A.P.A.! (Ateliers pro Arts), a workshop gallery for young
artists was also the result of a private initiative realised in the deteriorated district
VIII of Budapest. Maintenance of the non-profit institution is financed from the
revenue of the restaurant and cafeteria and the extra cultural programmes.
In the West-European countries, cultural investments with government initiative
and – occasionally – with the involvement of private capital have become common
solutions for large cultural investments beginning with the 1980s (Tate Modern, La
Villette). In addition to their political and prestige nature, these investments also
have an economic, tourist and urban development and rehabilitation character.
There were two such government-funded cultural investments in Budapest. The
cultural block of the Millenniumi Városközpont [Millenium City Centre] in south
Pest (including the new Nemzeti Színház [National Theatre] and the Mővészetek
Palotája [Palace of Arts]) was developed on a land previously cleaned. In North
Buda, the Millenáris Park (Millenium Park) was created in a converted factory
building. Initially, the basis of the thematic, entertainment and cultural park was
the millennium exposition presenting the history of Hungarian inventors, discov-
eries and inventions, but the choice has, since then, been extended and the Park has
been integrated into the international cultural life of the capital city through the
cultural events organised there.
There are other plans and projects to utilise the former factory buildings. Of
them, the two most important are the projected utilisation of the Duna-parti Köz-
raktárak (Warehouses on the banks of the river Danube) and the gas-works build-
ings in Óbuda. A cultural and youth district is planned to be created from the
Warehouses located on the left banks of the river Danube in the vicinity of the city
centre, and it is intended to be connected to the Millenium city Centre. In buildings
with specific architecture remaining on the premises of the Gas-works plans are
ready to build a museum district (the ruins of the Roman city, called Aquincum are
also located nearby).
3.5 Use for residential and office purposes
The former industrial buildings and warehouses with large floor-space providing
for housing and workplace functions are called lofts. In the beginning, these were
primarily used for office purposes in Europe, but nowadays when we are talking
about lofts, we usually mean use for housing. Brownfield real estate development
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has extra costs and high risks. Renewal of brownfield areas is feasible only through
large-scale, concentrated actions requiring the participation of professional devel-
opers.
Utilisation of industrial buildings was more profitable in the rented office-
building sector than on the housing market. The construction of Dorottya udvar
[Dorottya Courtyard] was the first large-scale venture of this kind. A large number
of office buildings offering high-quality telecommunication services were built in
Budapest with the conversion of industrial buildings.
In the case of office buildings the demand for large, open surfaces is limited,
while in the case of residential buildings the realistic sales price of the apartments
set the limits for the large surfaces that can be created in an ideal manner with op-
timum engineering division in the converted industrial buildings.
The institutional frameworks for residential use have not been developed in
Hungary yet. At the same time, however, there is an increasing demand for the
housing projects with good infrastructure and to be realised near the city centre. In
the majority of the cases, this utilisation is typical of the industrial areas enclosed
by existing residential areas or located in the direct vicinity of residential areas.
Such partially preserved and partially converted zones are typical, in the first place,
of the districts located by the banks of the river Danube. The appearance of lofts
can be expected especially in those parts of the residential areas that will be freed
from transportation infrastructure. In Budapest, the first lofts were developed dur-
ing 2004 and 2005 in the buildings of the former gas-works and textile factory.
4 Comprehensive projects for the rehabilitation of the
brownfields
4.1 Spatial changes of the brownfields
The industry was concentrated on the Northern, Eastern and Southern parts of
Budapest, and its spatial allocation had hardly changed until the transformation of
the economic and political regime. During the Communist era, the real-estate mar-
ket was non-existent, thus the industry maintained and continuously increased its
territory within the capital city and, sometimes, also on the most valuable part of
the inner city. Urban development policy had no influence in merit on the alloca-
tion of the industry inside the capital city. Initially, during the post-Second World
War period, it was the functioning of the industry that had to be re-established the
quickest, and the cheapest and fastest way to do so was to use the existing prem-
ises. Later on, the considerable spatial extension of the industry was connected to
the former industrial areas, thus the involvement of land outside of the city was far
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from being significant. The Communist regime was not sensitive either to the
problems of environmental pollution caused by the industry, prohibiting urban
developers from the enforcement of principles serving the purpose of environ-
mental protection. Urban developers did not pay attention either to the multi-
premises structure of the industry (it was typical also of the inner-city areas) re-
sulting in high requirements for transportation. The industrial reallocation pro-
gramme (moving industry outside of the city) of the economic policy also failed
(during the 1960s and 70s, the powerful large industrial companies successfully
lobbied in favour of their interests, including the prevention of industrial disloca-
tion).
After 1989, industrial activities have changed fundamentally, resulting in pro-
found changes in the spatial allocation of the industry inside the capital city. Dur-
ing the transition period from state socialism to market economy, the ownership
relations have changed radically, and the process of privatisation started. The large
state-owned companies fell apart; some of them ceased to exist, was closed down,
others were transformed, changed their profile, simultaneous with the appearance
of new entrepreneurs – all in all, the number of economic actors was multiplied.
Industrial activities in Budapest dramatically declined, and failed to regain its for-
mer glory even after the stabilisation of the economy, thus the progress of de-
industrialisation was unstoppable in the economy of Budapest. At the same time,
the investors of the new sectors also appeared on the scene, primarily in the tertiary
and quartiary sectors. The revitalised real-estate market also fundamentally af-
fected the spatial structure of the economy and of the industry.
The increasingly tangible effects of the new ownership conditions, the trans-
formation of the economic structure and the real-estate market have fundamentally
transformed the spatial structure of the economy and of the industry.
− The new ownership conditions – primarily due to privatisation – resulted in
the spatial segmentation of the real estates and of the building sites. The op-
erating industrial areas started to shrink as a consequence of declining and
decreasing industrial activities. In the areas with favourable position in the
urban structure, especially on the Northern parts of Budapest (first along
Váci street and in the Lágymányos zone), where the real-estate prices were
relatively higher, economic restructuring started immediately, resulting in
the replacement of industrial functions with services and residential func-
tions. However, in the Southern, southeastern parts of the city, degradation,
slow restructuring and partial survival of the industry was typical. Large
properties were left vacant, large areas have become under temporary use,
and the brown zones have appeared in Budapest. In these zones with deterio-
rating position the use of land is hindered by the problems resulting from un-
clear ownership relations, contaminated environment and housing estates in
poor condition stuck in between the emptied industrial sites. In the course of
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privatisation, speculation capital also appeared on the scene. A part of the
new proprietors have either assumed an expectant attitude until the renewal
of the zone resulting in the upgrading of their own property, or started to live
up their assets. Mosaic-type parcelling up (from ownership, economic-
structural and territorial perspectives alike) of the previously coherent in-
dustrial areas has started to take place (Koszorú, 2004).
− With the occupation of space by the new economy, with the multiplication of
the economic actors and the merger of enterprises in agglomerations and
their networking and clustering, and especially due to increased demand for
transportation, the need for land is also increasing to an incredible extent.
The other, significant spatial change, which is called economic suburbanisa-
tion, is related to the previous phenomenon. Resulting from changes in the
real-estate market, green-field investments have become more profitable
than brown-filed rehabilitation in the outskirts of the city and around the
city. As to the restructuring effects of the Budapest agglomeration we can
say that in the majority of the cases these trends take place without any co-
ordination in regional development (it is more than enough to think about the
real-estate policy of the settlements in the agglomeration zone or to refer to
the endless discussions on the development of transport), thus their detailed
consequences are unforeseeable. The acceleration in the offer of the incoher-
ent and unstructured offer of the green field economic areas located around
Budapest clearly indicates the scale-change – partly related to the trend of
globalisation – in urban areas and the regional-size, but currently uncon-
trolled processes.
The fact that the economy of Budapest is the engine of Hungary’s economy
cannot be questioned. However, the political leadership of the millennium years –
for different reasons – was not supportive of the economic policy putting into the
forefront the developments in the capital city. As a consequence, uncoordinated,
irrational and unconsidered development activities took place in Budapest during
the past 15 years resulting in considerable losses and missed opportunities. How-
ever, the real, central role of Budapest and the Budapest agglomeration cannot be
questioned, as this region is increasingly valued also in political terms. This value-
change will have a positive effect on the renewal of the brownfield zones as well.
− In the future we can expect the continuation of “fragmented purchases” in
terms of the changes in the regional structure of the brownfield areas, and it
will be especially typical of those regions where these trends have already
started.
− We can also count on large-scale real-estate developments (the Bosnyák
square, the MOM [Hungarian Optical Works], the Ganz Works on the Buda
side, and the Sportkórház [Sports Hospital] are already good examples of the
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above trend). This opportunity will hopefully be created by the co-operation
between the public and the private spheres and the joint actions of the differ-
ent actors in metropolitan state administration.
− The previous economic trends, especially the terciarisation, might later be
also completed with certain industrial activities (this process is strengthened
by the presence of viable industries capable to produce large value added –
for example: pharmaceutical industry, electronics, functioning of special and
large-scale labour market, the advantages of clusterisation and networking,
the interest-representation capability of transnational–global economic or-
ganisations, and the additional positive external effects). The brownfields lo-
cated inside the city and the settlements in the agglomeration zone might
equally be the scenes of those trends that promote the development of Buda-
pest into a metropolis.
− In all likelihood, there will be groups of premises in the brown zone that will
be more difficult to handle and will require more time to be dealt with prop-
erly. In these cases, the confused ownership relations will have to be clari-
fied in the first place (for example: the Csepel Mővek [Csepel Works], the
area of Ganz-MÁVAG, etc.) and comprehensive environmental decontami-
nation shall have to be executed. A part of the former industrial areas and of
the current brownfields is waiting for new utilisation. These areas will be the
ideal venues of long-desired green field expansion and of other, currently
undecided functions of which we should specifically mention the signifi-
cance of transport development, because it is the most fundamental and deci-
sive means for the development of an integrated spatial structure.
4.2 Urban planning in the brown zone
After the transformation into a new political and economic system, fundamental
changes have started and urban planning still faces great difficulties to handle
them. The privatisation process worsened the situation of the brownfields the most.
The ownership structure of the real estates was often fragmented, the situation of
the plots is still unsettled. For this, roads should be constructed from private fund-
ing and the public utility planning shall be, but this requires massive financial re-
sources. As changes and transformation can only be done with the permission of all
the owners, the poor and disadvantageous status of these areas does not seem to
change. The spatial planning could not keep pace with the trends, the economic and
the political interests emphasises the significance of privatisation often expressing
the opinion that the industrial areas in transition can become cheap incubation areas
in the developing market economy (Locsmándi, 2004).
If we follow a chronological order in presenting the relationship between the
brown zones and urban planning, we have to emphasise the so-called “city-gate”
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concept which, initially, seemed to offer a break-through point from the problem of
brownfield areas. The urban planning concept of 1994, which at the end was not
discussed, presented the need to develop urban gates. These areas located close to
the main roads would have offered suitable land for the investments that require
land space and good access (in other words: for investments giving preference to
green field investments on the verge of the cities). The brown zones were not suit-
able for the purpose of city-gates due to their poor transportation contacts, their
unclear ownership relations and their contaminated soil, and they could not attract
additional transportation-related activities into the inner parts of the city either.
The increased weight of private ownership and private development activities
would have necessitated a more comprehensive regulation covering the whole set-
tlement planning. One of the acts of 1997 ordained the application of the National
Settlement Planning and Construction Requirements [Országos Településrendezési
és Építési Követelmények – OTÉK] in all the settlements. This regulation replacing
the National Construction Code [Országos Építési Szabálykönyv – OÉSZ] is used
as a local construction regulation by the settlements, thus regulation plans (the
former detailed spatial plans) are prepared only in certain, legally defined cases. As
a result of dual administration, specific regulations were needed in Budapest. The
metropolitan city elaborated a regulatory framework plan, and framework regula-
tions defining limit values for the different zones, while the districts apply district
regulatory plans and urban spatial planning regulations adopting the above limit
values. The majority of the contradictions between the metropolitan city and the
districts derive from the concept of categorisation into zones. The right to change
the zones is in the hands of the metropolitan city, and the city management was on
the opinion that the triple category shall have to continue to exist (industry causing
considerable problems, industry causing minor problems and predominantly ware-
housing areas). In practice it meant that those areas were designated which the city
continues to preserve for industrial premises. Evidently, this created resistance in
the districts, as none of them welcomed industry on its area (the so-called “not in
my backyard” policy). As a consequence, though the framework regulations of the
city contain limit values applicable for industrial zones, the industrial zones are
designated effectively.
The framework regulations of Budapest categorise the economic areas into
three construction zones. The first of them is the industrial zone, which is needed,
though there are no designated industrial areas, partly because of the allocation of
energy-production institutions, and partly because of the probably designation of
new industrial areas. Strict regulations are applicable for the industrial zone that
practically keeps the industry away from the capital city. The second is called the
zone of workplaces. The districts have a relatively free hand in regulating this
zone, but the upper limits are defined by the OTÉK. The workplace zones with
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considerable green surfaces that do not really affect the brownfields represent the
third type of economic areas.
The existing metropolitan regulations offer different possibilities for the dis-
tricts to decide upon the future of the industrial areas. In accordance with one of the
policies, the different construction regulations are defined, in a normative manner,
within the framework of urban planning regulations elaborated for the whole dis-
trict. In case of individual needs, the other option is to prepare a regulation plan for
a specific area (in practise, it is equivalent with the former detailed spatial plan). In
those districts of Budapest where workplace areas are large, this latter solution was
usually chosen as it offers greater flexibility. However, a specific legal and moral
reservation can be worded as opposed to the application of this policy in the capital
city: in the majority of the cases, the districts make those owners pay for the costs
of the regulation plans (or, earlier, for the detailed spatial plans) who initiated the
elaboration of these plans in their interest. This way it is inevitable that the leader-
ship of the district includes, to a different extent, those ideas of the financing party
that might be contradictory to those of the district into the plan, and in certain cases
it may result in incorrect spatila planning.
Specific legal institutions assuring the implementation of the settlement spatial
planning tasks and introduced into the act of 1997 based on German example offer
additional scope of activity for the districts. In the industrial areas in transition, the
right to shape the plot, while of the prohibitions the prohibition to change, the right
of pre-emption, the expropriation, the registration for the purpose of service routes
and residential routes, the consent for road construction and for the construction of
public utilities and the compensation might be used in wider circles. For the time
being, the application of legal institutions supporting the development activities of
the public sector is quite rare. The most frequently applied method is the prohibi-
tion of change. The application of the tools presuming an active policy (for exam-
ple: expropriation) could not become commonly used because pursuant to these
legal regulations these should be included in the basically passive settlement spatial
planning tools (plans, regulations). Connecting the specific legal instruments to the
district-level regulation plans could offer a solution to the problem, but – due to the
above reasons – it is also quite unlikely: the external, or third parties financing the
preparation of the regulation plans would be limited by these specific legal institu-
tions, thus – in the majority of the cases – the compromise solution is reached in
which the private investors, who are, at the same time, the owners undertake the
realisation of municipal developments.
Summarising the relationship between urban planning and the brownfields we
can conclude the following:
− In the areas with high status, industrial functions are replaced by new func-
tions without municipal interventions, exclusively due to market tendencies.
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− In the remaining cases, the passive urban spatial planning practise applied
instead of regulations with vision preserves the present unfavourable condi-
tions. Application of more active policies is hindered partly by the developed
system, partly by the lack of resources and initiatives by the metropolitan
and district municipalities.
4
4.3 Development of transport and road networks in the brown zones
In Budapest, the changes in spatial structure and spatial use caused by the radically
rapid urbanisation trends of the 21st century have not as yet been synchronised with
the development of transportation technology and, above all, with the development
in motorisation. Deficiencies in the network (the under-development of the hori-
zontal elements of the centric, ring-type network system) and the resulting crowd-
edness and congestion characterise the access to and the traffic inside the capital
city (the roads leading to the different parts of the city usually go across the inner
city; while the missing external transport among the outer parts of the city just add
to the devaluation of the respective areas; not to speak about the lack of horizontal
contacts and the difficulties in the penetrability of the railway network slow down
and hinder the renewal of the present brown zones).
From the perspective of urban transport, the brown zones have an advantageous
location. According to the plans, the complex, inter-regional traffic intersection,
where 5 European transportation channels (Helsinki channels Nos. IV ,V, V/C, VII
– the M1, M5, M7, M3, M6 and the river Danube, plus the North-South axle of
Gdansk-Ploce crossing Budapest) cross each other, will be developed in this spa-
tial-structural bend, located between the inner city and the garden city. There are
very few strategic points with such a great significance in Central Europe! In Bu-
dapest, the complex system of water-air-road-rail connections and their intermodal
connections are, in the majority, located in the transitional or brown areas. The
traffic junction is attractive for future development of the economy (processing
industry, commerce, catering, financial, logistics, etc.).
Challenges of fix-track transport development:
− In this area, the number-one problem is to terminate the space-dividing ef-
fects and the crossing-difficulties of the railway network.
− Suburbanisation requires co-operation between the city and its environment
and the development of zones where the means of transport can be ex-
changed, not to speak about the intermodal nods. For this purpose, high-
quality fix-track connections reaching the agglomeration ring as well have to
be built, in addition to connection by fast trains in the direction of the city
4 Molnár, 2004.
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centre and horizontal electric-railway connection leading to other parts of the
city that shall be completed with bus connections interweaving the region in
all directions. The dense railway network has to be integrated into the trans-
portation system of the city and of its environment. (The planned projects:
connecting the North-south regional fast train, construction of metro line No.
4 and the rapid commuter train in Rákoskeresztúr, elongation of metro line
No. 2, etc.). (Figure 7).
Figure 7
Development of significant transportation lines in the brown zone
Source: Koszorú, 2004.
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The public road network of the brown zone is characterised by crowded radial
and missing and split horizontal structure. The development of this network is de-
cisive not only for the region but also for the whole capital city.
− Of the radial development plans, the new road to be built between M0 and
Hungária körút [boulevard] as the metropolitan introductory section of the
future M4 motorway, the extension of the Danube embankment until the line
of the Duna-bridge in Aquincum, the construction of the roads by the river
Danube exempting Váci street from the traffic in several sections, the joint
construction of the joint sections with 2x3 lanes of the rapid road to Ferihegy
Airport and Gyömrıi street; the construction of the backbone road to Csepel,
etc. shall be specifically mentioned.
− Of the horizontal developments we should mention the construction of sev-
eral roads between Hungária Boulevard and the limits of the city, that of the
rings connecting the sub-centres, the boulevard for the housing blocks, the
Outer-Eastern Boulevard, and that of the Körvasúti Boulevard which is con-
sidered to be a strategic development (FIG. No. 6. ÁBRA – page 299). This
latter one will hopefully assure proportionate development of the spatial
structure, the connection among the outer parts of the city and the economic
renewal of the brown zone. The Eastern section of the Körvasúti Boulevard
is a specific target area for regional development.
4.4 The Budapest Urban Development Concept
The heart of the Budapest Urban Development Concept (BUDC) lies in the strate-
gic objectives elaborated for a 15 year period. The Metropolitan Local Government
gave the assignment for the preparation of the BUDC in 1997. Between 1998 and
2003 several versions were prepared, which, on the one hand, resulting in shifting
of stress and, on the other, clearly indicate the different phases of how a compro-
mise solution was attempted to be reached between the group of professionals
making an effort to follow a complex way of thinking and the management of the
city being under the double pressure of politics and financial constraints (Tosics,
2004).
The first version of the BUDC dates back to 1998. It defined the problem of
brown zones to be solved after the rehabilitation of the inner city but before the
reconstruction of the housing estates. The interpretation of the transitional zone is
fairly limited in this concept (the Southern and the South-Eastern part of Buda-
pest). Óbuda and Újpest North and the boulevards located by the Körvasút are
discussed separate from the transitional zone. According to the analyses connected
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to the Concept, the long-term future of the zone depends on the functional change,
thus the proposed vision lies on three programme elements:
− Functional changes, accommodating the missing inner-zone and sub-urban
functions,
− Re-structuring and structuring through the designation and development
regulation of regional and zonal priorities,
− networking, exposure of the area, releasing the burden on the inner parts of
the city.
The BUDC also makes proposals on the institutional and asset requirements of
the reconstruction. Accordingly, the regulatory power of the Metropolitan Local
Government shall be multiplied, regionally differentiated local tax shall be intro-
duced, business tax, the local government shall apply an active real-estate policy in
accordance with the Concept, and non-profit development companies shall be es-
tablished to co-ordinate the development activities (BUDC, 1998). According to
the opinion of the majority of analysts, the first version of the BUDC would have
been suitable to be the basis of a political decision resulting in a faster and more
feasible implementation. However, politics failed to realise the advantages of a
quick decision-making, while the experts thought that a deeper analysis of certain
problems was necessary, which resulted in a reconciliation process lasting as long
as the Spring of 2003.
The additional versions of the development concept were all based on the first
version, though additional elements were also included as a result of the discus-
sions. As to the problem of the brown zone, some of the focal points have changed,
and the respective plans became increasingly feasible.
The second version of the Concept, which was prepared in 1999 (BUDC, 1999)
designated the transformation and the differentiated development of the brown
zone to be the centre of the long-term strategy, while the remaining urban devel-
opment objectives were refused. This concept survived until the fifth version was
elaborated in 2002, because in this version there was a comeback to the approach
which aimed at realising several objectives and which was thus the closest to the
initial Concept. The second version of the Concept considered an integrated devel-
opment realised around the notion of Körvasút Boulevard necessary, that would
have resulted in garden-city route embedded in green. The third version of 2000
(BUDC, 2000) continued this idea, as it intended to develop the transitional zone
into a park-city rich in functions, and considered the creation of intermodal nods
along the Körvasút feasible. The park-city concept is one of the possible alterna-
tives for the renewal of the brown-zone areas, and would, in addition, complete the
incomplete green areas of Budapest (Szabó, 2004). Instead of the comprehensive
park-city concept, the version of 2001 represents a more limited idea focusing on
the exposure of spatial reserves, while the Concept of 2002, which is of much lar-
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ger scale, considered the creation of high-prestige garden city on the areas opened
up by the Körvasút necessary.
The idea of preparing concrete exemplary projects focusing on smaller areas
was presented for the first time in the 1999-version of the Concept (for example:
the development programme for Ferencváros–North-Csepel). In the fourth and fifth
versions (BUDC, 2001, 2002) three such projects were elaborated: North-Buda,
Csepel and South-Budapest. According to the Concept prepared in 2002, these
exemplary projects that shall be fitted into the seven-year mid-term development
plans as well, shall be of re-urbanisation nature, meaning that the former industrial
and service type land use would be replaced by new, urban functions (BUDC,
2002).
Between 1999 and 2002, simultaneous with the elaboration of urban develop-
ment concepts, a wide circle of the beneficiaries was interviewed. The above series
of consultations started in 1999, with the presentation of the districts’ proposals,
which was followed by reconciliation with the Mayor’s Office in 2000. The recon-
ciliation process had a clear influence on the Concept due to the contradictions
between the professional circles and the city management, which considered feasi-
bility the number-one objective. The capital city refused the idea of brown-zone
rehabilitation being the only leading project, did not consider active real-estate
policy feasible with the argumentation that there was not enough money for pur-
chasing land, and the same judgement was made about the establishment of non-
profit development companies and active economic policy. Based on the above
arguments, an extended version of the BUDC was elaborated by 2002, in which the
rehabilitation of the transitional zone was only one of the several strategic objec-
tives. In addition to this, this version of the Concept also worded the basic di-
lemma: Though the exploitation of spatial reserves would definitely be advanta-
geous for Budapest, the requirements for its realisation would go far beyond the
scope of influence and financial capabilities of the capital city.
The greater public was involved into the consultation in 2001. The most impor-
tant issue of the time was the definition of the number of development priorities
and the hierarchical order, resulting in the increase of strategic objectives in 2002.
The need to eliminate environmental hazards and to carry out active environmental
policy was also expressed at these forums, which resulted in the separation of the
protection of natural environment into a separate development project in the 2002-
version of the concept.
The Urban Development concept of Budapest was finally approved in March
2003 after extensive political and professional debate and consensus.
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5
4.5 The Podmaniczky Programme – The mid-Term Development
Programme of Budapest
The mid-term action programme is based on the values and strategic objectives of
the BUDC. This programme is the Programme of the Metropolitan Local govern-
ment until 2013, consisting of 130 development projects to be realised and imple-
mented in 9 years by the joint investments of the Metropolitan Local government
and the private sphere. The European Union increases the efficiency of the devel-
opments through the Structural funds granting financing to programmes strength-
ening economic competition and through the cohesion funds promoting transport
development in the first place. This way, there is an opportunity to for Budapest
and the Budapest region to occupy a better place in the European network of cities.
The Podmaniczky Programme designated 7 specific development zones and
horizontal, thematic programmes were worded based on the urban values of
liveability, efficiency and solidarity. The so-called Budapest Core Programme
contains the limited version of the Podmaniczky Programme, and it shall be
implemented within the framework of existing, realistic financial resources with
high priority. This programme focuses on strengthening community transport and
knowledge-city functions, environmental-friendly thinking and sustainable urban
development. Rehabilitation of the brown zone is related to several projects in the
Podmaniczky Programme.
− One of the seven specific zones is the inner-transitional zone (Eastern gate),
comprising of the deteriorated residential areas of Inner-Józsefváros, the
brown areas in the inner part of Kıbányai Street and the built, but qualita-
tively poor green areas (the Népligetet and the Orczy-garden). In the com-
plex development of the programme areas, the residential, the cultural-rec-
reational and the commercial-industrial objectives are all represented.
− Acceleration of residential and public-area rehabilitation in the brown zone
shall be mentioned of the thematic programmes. In this case, mitigation of
social segregation and launching social urban rehabilitation with the districts
ready for co-operation are the objectives.
− One of the specific areas of green-surface development is the brown zone.
Creation of large parks is part of urban rehabilitation (for example: on the tip
of Csepel-island), which shall be completed with the high-level building up
of the river bends of the region.
5 Podmaniczky, Frigyes (1824–1907) was the head of Fıvárosi Közmunkák Tanácsa [Metropolitan
Public works Council], playing an important role in converting Budapest into a metropolitan city
(the first underground, the Opera house, three bridges over the river Danube, etc. were all built in
that period).
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− The problem and, at the same time, the greatest opportunity of the transi-
tional zone is the use of ex-industrial and emptied railway premises (MÁV –
Hungarian Railways) and ex-military camps for different purposes. Commu-
nication among the beneficiaries and stakeholders of brown-filed rehabilita-
tion shall be started with the co-ordination of the Metropolitan Local Gov-
ernment.
The projects of brown-zone rehabilitation also appear in the Budapest Core
Programme. The first task is the exemption of brown areas from damages
especially in those parts that are the most attractive for the investors: on the
premises of the Óbuda Gas Works, and in the areas of the Rákosrendezı, Ganz,
Józsefvárosi and Ferencvárosi railways. In certain cases, the preparatory works for
the utilisation and function-extension of the respective areas also has to be done
and the revitalisation projects have to be prepared. In the areas with limited
metropolitan ownership, PPP constructions shall be realised. In addition to the
elaboration of the development concepts and the regulatory framework, the
Metropolitan Local Government will have an active co-ordination role in these
areas.
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Discussion Papers 2006. No. 51.
Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest
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Editor
Zoltán GÁL
galz@.rkk.hu
Discussion Papers 2006. No. 51.
Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest
Papers published in the Discussion Papers series
Discussion Papers /Specials
BENKİNÉ LODNER, Dorottya (ed.) (1988): Environmental Control and Policy: Pro-
ceedings of the Hungarian–Polish Seminar in the Theoretical Problems of Envi-
ronmental Control and Policy
OROSZ, Éva (ed.) (1988): Spatial Organisation and Regional Development Papers of the
6th Polish–Hungarian geographical Seminar
DURÓ, Annamária (ed.) (1993): Spatial Research and the Social–Political Changes: Papers
of the 7th Polish–Hungarian Seminar
DURÓ, Annamária (ed.) (1999): Spatial Research in Support of the European Integration.
Proceedings of the 11th Polish–Hungarian Geographical Seminar (Mátraháza,
Hungary 17–22 September, 1998)
GÁL, Zoltán (ed.) (2001): Role of the Regions in the Enlarging European Union
HORVÁTH, Gyula (ed.) (2002): Regional Challenges of the Transition in Bulgaria and
Hungary
KOVÁCS, András Donát (ed.) (2004): New Aspects of Regional Transformation and the
Urban-Rural Relationship
BARANYI, Béla (ed.) (2005): Hungarian–Romanian and Hungarian–Ukrainian border
regions as areas of co-operation along the external borders of Europe
Discussion Papers
No. 1
OROSZ, Éva (1986): Critical Issues in the Development of Hungarian Public
Health with Special Regard to Spatial Differences
No. 2
ENYEDI, György – ZENTAI, Viola (1986): Environmental Policy in Hungary
No. 3
HAJDÚ, Zoltán (1987): Administrative Division and Administrative Geography
in Hungary
No. 4
SIKOS T., Tamás (1987): Investigations of Social Infrastructure in Rural Settle-
ments of Borsod County
No. 5
HORVÁTH, Gyula (1987): Development of the Regional Management of the
Economy in East-Central Europe
No. 6
PÁLNÉ KOVÁCS, Ilona (1988): Chance of Local Independence in Hungary
No. 7
FARAGÓ, László – HRUBI, László (1988): Development Possibilities of Back-
ward Areas in Hungary
No. 8
SZÖRÉNYINÉ KUKORELLI, Irén (1990): Role of the Accessibility in De-
velopment and Functioning of Settlements
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Discussion Papers 2006. No. 51.
Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest
No. 9
ENYEDI, György (1990): New Basis for Regional and Urban Policies in East-
Central Europe
No. 10
RECHNITZER, János (1990): Regional Spread of Computer Technology in
Hungary
No. 11
SIKOS T., Tamás (1992): Types of Social Infrastructure in Hungary (to be not
published)
No. 12
HORVÁTH, Gyula – HRUBI, László (1992): Restructuring and Regional Policy
in Hungary
No. 13
ERDİSI, Ferenc (1992): Transportation Effects on Spatial Structure of Hungary
No. 14
PÁLNÉ KOVÁCS, 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 Re-
gional Centre
No. 16
HORVÁTH, Gyula (1992): Culture and Urban Development (The Case of Pécs)
No. 17
HAJDÚ, Zoltán (1993): Settlement Network Development Policy in Hungary in
the Period of State Socialism (1949–1985)
No. 18
KOVÁCS, Teréz (1993): Borderland Situation as It Is Seen by a Sociologist
No. 19
HRUBI, L. – KRAFTNÉ SOMOGYI, Gabriella (eds.) (1994): Small and me-
dium-sized firms and the role of private industry in Hungary
No. 20
BENKİNÉ Lodner, Dorottya (1995): The Legal-Administrative Questions of
Environmental Protection in the Republic of Hungary
No. 21
ENYEDI, György (1998): Transformation in Central European Postsocialist Cit-
ies
No. 22
HAJDÚ, Zoltán (1998): Changes in the Politico-Geographical Position of Hun-
gary in the 20th Century
No. 23
HORVÁTH, Gyula (1998): Regional and Cohesion Policy in Hungary
No. 24
BUDAY-SÁNTHA, Attila (1998): Sustainable Agricultural Development in the
Region of the Lake Balaton
No. 25
LADOS, Mihály (1998): Future Perspective for Local Government Finance in
Hungary
No. 26
NAGY, Erika (1999): Fall and Revival of City Centre Retailing: Planning an
Urban Function in Leicester, Britain
No. 27
BELUSZKY, Pál (1999): The Hungarian Urban Network at the End of the Sec-
ond Millennium
No. 28
RÁCZ, Lajos (1999): Climate History of Hungary Since the 16th Century: Past,
Present and Future
No. 29
RAVE, Simone (1999): Regional Development in Hungary and Its Preparation
for the Structural Funds
No. 30
BARTA, Györgyi (1999): Industrial Restructuring in the Budapest Agglomera-
tion
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Discussion Papers 2006. No. 51.
Rehabilitating the Brownfield Zones of Budapest
No. 31
BARANYI, Béla–BALCSÓK, István–DANCS, László–MEZİ, Barna (1999):
Borderland Situation and Peripherality in the North-Eastern Part of the Great
Hungarian Plain
No. 32
RECHNITZER, János (2000): The Features of the Transition of Hungary’s Re-
gional System
No. 33
MURÁNYI, István–PÉTER, Judit–SZARVÁK, Tibor–SZOBOSZLAI, Zsolt
(2000): Civil Organisations and Regional Identity in the South Hungarian Great
Plain
No. 34
KOVÁCS, Teréz (2001): Rural Development in Hungary
No. 35
PÁLNÉ, Kovács Ilona (2001): Regional Development and Governance in Hun-
gary
No. 36
NAGY, Imre (2001): Cross-Border Co-operation in the Border Region of the
Southern Great Plain of Hungary
No. 37
BELUSZKY, Pál (2002): The Spatial Differences of Modernisation in Hungary
at the Beginning of the 20th Century
No. 38
BARANYI, Béla (2002): Before Schengen – Ready for Schengen. Euroregional
Organisations and New Interregional Formations at the Eastern Borders of Hun-
gary
No. 39
KERESZTÉLY, Krisztina (2002): The Role of the State in the Urban Develop-
ment of Budapest
No. 40
HORVÁTH, Gyula (2002): Report on the Research Results of the Centre for
Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
No. 41
SZIRMAI, Viktoria – A. GERGELY, András – BARÁTH, Gabriella–
MOLNÁR, Balázs – SZÉPVÖLGYI, Ákos (2003): The City and its Environ-
ment: Competition and/or Co-operation? (A Hungarian Case Study)
No. 42
CSATÁRI, Bálint–KANALAS, Imre–NAGY, Gábor –SZARVÁK, Tibor
(2004): Regions in Information Society – a Hungarian Case-Study
No. 43
FARAGÓ, László (2004): The General Theory of Public (Spatial) Planning (The
Social Technique for Creating the Future)
No. 44
HAJDÚ, Zoltán (2004): Carpathian Basin and the Development of the Hungarian
Landscape Theory Until 1948
No. 45
GÁL, Zoltán (2004): Spatial Development and the Expanding European Integra-
tion of the Hungarian Banking System
No. 46
BELUSZKY, Pál – GYİRI, Róbert (2005): The Hungarian Urban Network in
the Beginning of the 20th Century
No. 47
G. FEKETE, Éva (2005): Long-term Unemployment and Its Alleviation in Rural
Areas
No. 48
SOMLYÓDYNÉ PFEIL, Edit (2006): Changes in The Organisational
Framework of Cooperation Within Urban Areas in Hungary
No. 49
MEZEI, István (2006): Chances of Hungarian–Slovak Cross-Border Relations
No. 50
RECHNITZER, János – SMAHÓ, Melinda (2006): Regional Characteristics of
Human Resources in Hungary During the Transition
75