PLANNING FOR A SUSTAINABLE EUROPE? - TU Berlin

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Figure 9.8
Budapest’s “Strategic Zones” according to its Urban Development Strategy
Sources: Pallai, Tosics et al. (1999), Pallai (2000)
Of course, it is always difficult to counteract individual household preferences for
low-density single family suburban homes over multi-family inner-city dwellings,
especially since these preferences were artificially constrained during communist times.
It is equally difficult to keep multinational investors from locating on new greenfield sites
where land is cheaper, accessibility guaranteed and no disputed ownership issues loom.
What additionally exacerbates the problem in the Budapest agglomeration, however, is
the great lack of regional cooperation between inner-city and suburban municipalities.
The city remains in a constant clinch with surrounding communities and competes with
them for foreign and national investment. In fact, the 23 Budapest districts even compete
fiercely amongst each other. Ideas for new administrative bodies in the agglomeration
have been proposed, but no actual decision-making powers have been transferred to the
regional level so far (also see Ongjerth 1999). Too many stakeholders seem to