From a Small Village to an Exclusive Gated Community: Unplanned Suburbanisation and Local Sovereignty in Post-Socialist Hungary

In Hungary, after the regime change in 1989, one of the most important institutional changes concerning suburbanisation was the high sovereignty of local authorities, albeit without appropriate funding for sovereign operation. This type of local sovereignty made mezzo-level planning and cooperation...

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Main Authors: Adrienne Csizmady, Márton Bagyura, Gergely Olt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cogitatio 2022-07-01
Series:Urban Planning
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/5275
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author Adrienne Csizmady
Márton Bagyura
Gergely Olt
author_facet Adrienne Csizmady
Márton Bagyura
Gergely Olt
author_sort Adrienne Csizmady
collection DOAJ
description In Hungary, after the regime change in 1989, one of the most important institutional changes concerning suburbanisation was the high sovereignty of local authorities, albeit without appropriate funding for sovereign operation. This type of local sovereignty made mezzo-level planning and cooperation of independent municipalities ineffective. The inherent systemic political corruption of the rapid post-socialist privatisation hindered spontaneous cooperation as well. As a result, suburban infrastructure, even in municipalities with high-status residents, remained underdeveloped (from traffic connections through waste management to water provision). Our research field, Telki, was successful in selling land because its scenic location and the absence of industrial and commercial activities made it attractive for high-status suburban settlers. These newcomers were not interested in the further functional development of the village, and, as they took local political power, they successfully restricted economic and functional development. Consequently, selling land and introducing property taxes remained the most important source of income. The colonisation of the village by newcomers also meant the displacement of lower status original villagers and, today, mostly high-status families with young children feel at home in Telki. Others feel excluded not only because of real estate prices but also by the lack of appropriate functions or simply by the narrow concept of an appropriate lifestyle in the village defined by local power. The consequence of a complete lack of cooperation and rational planning is not only social injustice, elite segregation, and environmental harm, but also the reduced economic and housing potential of the Budapest agglomeration.
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spelling doaj.art-b73b9a391f364f29bc8e149efa49883f2022-12-22T00:58:39ZengCogitatioUrban Planning2183-76352022-07-017310.17645/up.v7i3.52752562From a Small Village to an Exclusive Gated Community: Unplanned Suburbanisation and Local Sovereignty in Post-Socialist HungaryAdrienne Csizmady0Márton Bagyura1Gergely Olt2Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Sociology, Hungary / Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Szeged, HungaryCentre for Social Sciences, Institute for Sociology, HungaryCentre for Social Sciences, Institute for Sociology, HungaryIn Hungary, after the regime change in 1989, one of the most important institutional changes concerning suburbanisation was the high sovereignty of local authorities, albeit without appropriate funding for sovereign operation. This type of local sovereignty made mezzo-level planning and cooperation of independent municipalities ineffective. The inherent systemic political corruption of the rapid post-socialist privatisation hindered spontaneous cooperation as well. As a result, suburban infrastructure, even in municipalities with high-status residents, remained underdeveloped (from traffic connections through waste management to water provision). Our research field, Telki, was successful in selling land because its scenic location and the absence of industrial and commercial activities made it attractive for high-status suburban settlers. These newcomers were not interested in the further functional development of the village, and, as they took local political power, they successfully restricted economic and functional development. Consequently, selling land and introducing property taxes remained the most important source of income. The colonisation of the village by newcomers also meant the displacement of lower status original villagers and, today, mostly high-status families with young children feel at home in Telki. Others feel excluded not only because of real estate prices but also by the lack of appropriate functions or simply by the narrow concept of an appropriate lifestyle in the village defined by local power. The consequence of a complete lack of cooperation and rational planning is not only social injustice, elite segregation, and environmental harm, but also the reduced economic and housing potential of the Budapest agglomeration.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/5275budapestpost-socialist urban transformationresidential suburbanisationsettlement planningurbanisation
spellingShingle Adrienne Csizmady
Márton Bagyura
Gergely Olt
From a Small Village to an Exclusive Gated Community: Unplanned Suburbanisation and Local Sovereignty in Post-Socialist Hungary
Urban Planning
budapest
post-socialist urban transformation
residential suburbanisation
settlement planning
urbanisation
title From a Small Village to an Exclusive Gated Community: Unplanned Suburbanisation and Local Sovereignty in Post-Socialist Hungary
title_full From a Small Village to an Exclusive Gated Community: Unplanned Suburbanisation and Local Sovereignty in Post-Socialist Hungary
title_fullStr From a Small Village to an Exclusive Gated Community: Unplanned Suburbanisation and Local Sovereignty in Post-Socialist Hungary
title_full_unstemmed From a Small Village to an Exclusive Gated Community: Unplanned Suburbanisation and Local Sovereignty in Post-Socialist Hungary
title_short From a Small Village to an Exclusive Gated Community: Unplanned Suburbanisation and Local Sovereignty in Post-Socialist Hungary
title_sort from a small village to an exclusive gated community unplanned suburbanisation and local sovereignty in post socialist hungary
topic budapest
post-socialist urban transformation
residential suburbanisation
settlement planning
urbanisation
url https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/5275
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