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

Abstract

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.

The Resilient Metropolis: Planning in an Era of Decentralization

“…Turning to the case Tokyo, Japan, Ohashi et al (2022) extend the analysis of population shrinkage in the suburbs to explain the role of inter-municipal cooperation across jurisdictions in coordinating resilient planning approaches. Csizmady et al (2022) demonstrate how unplanned suburbanization in Hungary results in class segregation, social injustice, and environmental degradation. Rodrigues (2022) compares the role of housing and the built environment in Lisbon, Portugal and Luanda, Angola to assess neighborhood resiliency and explain adaption to current conditions.…”

Captured by Political Power: More-Than-Neoliberal Urban Development and Planning in Post-Socialist Hungary

“…Altogether, we collected 55 expert interviews and 95 interviews from local stakeholders and residents from six areas of the country. This included two dynamically changing districts of Budapest with different histories and social composition; two cities from the poorer regions of Eastern Hungary with different development dynamics; two cities from the more industrialised Western Hungary, one close to the border and a more central one; and a more in-depth interview-based research of a rich agglomeration village of Budapest (Csizmady et al, 2022). This was supplemented with 15 interviews with mayors in other agglomeration towns.…”

Assessing the Negative Effects of Suburbanization: The Urban Sprawl Restrictiveness Index in Romania’s Metropolitan Areas

“…The main driver has been property restitution after the fall of communism [69,70] and the subsequent conversion of agricultural land into built land [71][72][73]. This has also been supported by a decentralization of responsibilities regarding land use planning to local public authorities and a lack of spatial planning instruments, land use policies and institutional arrangements needed to coordinate suburban development [74]. Along with the impacts determined by land use changes, one of the most pressing issues with sprawling developments in Romania is the lack of basic public infrastructure and services [75,76].…”