The long awaited revamp of Budapest’s largest public park might finally be here
Budapestians have been anticipating the redevelopment of Népliget, the city's largest public park, for years under Viktor Orbán’s government. Now, with a new administration in office, change is in the air.
It is a sunny summer’s day in Népliget. Known as the People’s Park, it’s Budapest’s biggest public green space, covering some 100 hectares to the southeast of the centre. But rather than being an urban refuge for the city’s residents, it has been at the forefront of the country’s culture wars for years. Under former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán’s government, redevelopment plans worth HUF50bn (€141.3m) were thwarted. This was because the push to remove concrete paving, bring in new amenities and add more greenery had been proposed by the city’s left-leaning mayor Gergely Karácsony. For many, the lack of investment was symbolic of the way the capital’s urbanism revamp had been caught in the political crosshairs of a divided country.
Now, however, change is in the air. With the election of a new government that is amenable to Karácsony’s proposals, newly unlocked EU funding of €16.4bn could finally provide the necessary capital for urbanism projects such as this to be realised, along with tramline upgrades in the suburbs and accessible Danube swimming zones. For ordinary Budapestians, it feels as though this could finally be the summer that their city escapes political deadlock and delivers on the quality of life that they have been craving.
Comment
Updating green spaces in our cities should not be underestimated as a smart urbanism strategy. As places in which to cultivate, come together and cool off, well-maintained urban parks should be a municipal priority, especially as we experience a warming planet. It’s not just your city’s residents who will thank you – biodiversity will bloom too.
Further reading:
Neighbourhood enclave: Budapest’s Napraforgo Street
