Large-scale restructuring processes in the urban space of Budapest

Only in few cases this expectation of the law-makers of the City was fulfilled by the districts. Being ina competitive situation against each other most districts introduced the enabled highest density figuresinto their plans and regulations in order to attract private development onto their areas. After the late1990s, when private development gathered momentum in Budapest this permissive behaviour of localplanners started to be manifested in developments of awfully high densities both in the central city andin the outskirts. In some cases densities of the new developments outnumbered existing figures in theneighbourhood by one and a half or two. (For instance 5,5 sq metre/sq metre floor-space ratio in thecentral city or 1,5 ratio in the single family house districts.) People in the peripheral single familyhouse neighbourhoods are becoming more and more hostile to multi-family condominium and“residential park” constructions, in the inner parts of Budapest some civil organisations (see Veto!later, chapter 7) started to intervene against high density commercial and residential developments.Although local officials becoming increasingly aware of the intolerable situation, reduction of thepermitted density figures is rather problematic as the owners (developers) of building sites are entitledto compensation if “an urban planning decision changes the permitted use of a building site in a waythat it reduces the value of the property”.Regarding revisions of official urban plans the new Hungarian planning system is rather permissivetoo (Figure 3). Although private entities are not authorised to apply for the revision of a plan and itsregulations it became a usual practice that the developers pay the costs of the working out, orrevisions, of plans, in their own interest. In the process of negotiations with the entitled officials andbodies of the cities (mayor, chief architect, committees etc.) they might offer some “planning gains” tothe local government mainly in the form of undertaking some public infrastructural developments thatare needed for the realisation of the project. In many cases the negotiations end up in increasedpermitted building densities as a compensation for the “planning gains” dedicated to the localgovernments. As these negotiations are again and again open to the suspicion of bribery a 2006revision of the Hungarian planning law introduced a new legal institution called “urban planningcontract” included also in the German planning law (Baugesetzbuch) This legally verified system canalso be considered as a basic model of public-private partnership operating within the official urbanplanning system. (See Figure 3)3. The Urban Renewal Program of the Municipality of BudapestIn 1997 the Municipal Government of Budapest adopted its Urban Renewal Programme thatintroduced a system of subsidies in co-operation between the Municipality of Budapest and itsdistricts. In order to concentrate resources, the Programme identified those large areas of the citywhere negative features have most seriously been accumulated, where a need for public intervention ismost justified and urgent. The Program delineated the so called target areas of renewal as follows:• the South-East industrial sector of the so-called transitional zone,• the densely built inner city,• clusters along the main radial roads,• centres of the outer districts, those of the former “border cities”.(Later the last two areas were deleted from the priority list.)Target areas and action areas according to the 1997 Urban Rehabilitation Program15