“Artificial Towns”

The central question of this book
is that whether the development of
new towns was the possibility of a
new urban development model or an
unfulfilled promise. Moreover, whether
aspecial town type, different from any
other town types, was created in the
case of new towns in East-Central
Europe, including Hungary. We want
to answer this central question not by
the method based on going back to
historical traditions. The original town
plans and urban planning doctrines
have never been realised, they were
always compromised partly due to
momentary political interests, and
partly to short-term economic, mainly
cost-saving aspects.
This book describes the current trends,
today’s new town types and other
urban models with their differences
and similarities. Our aim is to find
the still existing relevancies of the new
towns’ character, to reveal what the
new towns of East-Central Europe
are like today, whether they offer
something else, something unique
compared to other spatial formations,
something that may explain why many
people like, can and want to live in
them and this could serve as a basis
for building the future.