Budapest groups and individuals take greening initiatives into their own hands
By Justin Hyatt
What opportunities are there for greening the urban landscape in Central and Eastern Europe? Taking a glance at one of the region's foremost capitals, Budapest, Hungary, offers a few clues as to which direction the wind of change is blowing.
To begin with, Budapest is considered to be one of the most polluted in the EU. The EU stipulates an annual maximum of 35 days above the PM10 threshold, a line which Budapest crosses with regularity by February or March, and on 100 to 180 days per year. Should the situation fail to improve in 2011, the EU is threatening with some serious penalties. Air quality in Budapest is an enormous problem, but the city is also notoriously bereft of green spaces.
At the same time, this is ample evidence that Budapest might be making some shifts toward becoming a greener, more sustainable and more beautiful city.
Community gardening takes root
Although organic food has been on the Hungarian market for some years already, the idea of locally produced food is slowly gaining ground. A number of community garden initiatives have sprung up of late, including the exciting prospects of Budapest's first downtown community garden (in District VII, near Klauzal Square).
Rosta is also one of the principle forces behind the District VII community garden, which now awaits only final agreement from some tenants of the property involved. The holdouts have expressed some reservations that a possible influx of gardeners in their courtyard would disturb the peace and quiet.
Another garden is in full swing elsewhere. The group "Foldkelte" ("Earthrise") is a local offshoot of the international "Reclaim the Fields" movement. As a young and inspired group, they have reaped success in the form of a community garden in Budapest's District IV.
A food cooperative known as "Szatyor" ("Bag") is also in operation, and its members are able to order organic vegetables on a weekly basis.
Trees, flowers & courtyards
Perhaps one of the most imaginative and tangible ways in which Budapest has experienced urban greening is through "Gang" group's work in beautifying courtyards. The Gang has embellished several courtyards with plants, small gardens and other creative arrangements. Although, at present, only three courtyards have undergone such a transformation, these are pioneering efforts, and many are hailing the initiative as a positive, replicable format.
Similarly, a group calling itself "Let's Plant Flowers in Lovohaz utca" has been taking notable steps toward beautifying their paved District II environment. The group's efforts centre on a carefully developed design for adding flowers to various parts of the street, such as tree beds, and putting out colourful, potted plants.
A less formally organised group has been gathering momentum for planting trees in Karacsony Sandor street, at the outskirts of Distric VIII. While its efforts have yet to bear fruit, those supporting the group believe that it's just a matter of time and organisation. Legal requirements have to be met first, and constant pressure needs to be applied as well.
Striving for a sustainable urban environment
As with other greening and environmental efforts requiring any variety and degree of changes to be made, street layouts and other urban elements present any number of hurdles that have to be cleared. Sandor Bardoczi, a landscape architect, claims that the current urban structure is outdated and difficult to work with. He advocates for streamlining local bureaucracy in order to step up the pace of urban-space revitalisation.
Fewer legal impediments would undoubtedly bring about speedier implementation of bike-rack installation in Budapest - something for which District VIII decision makers have already given general support, but is bogged down nonetheless at the municipal level. When renovating a public space, if any particular changes are sought (such as the removal of one lane of traffic) there's a far greater amount of red tape to fight through than if the general area layout were to stay the same. Thus the status quo often prevails.
Parks & green spaces
While Budapest is highly unlikely to be regarded as a 'green city' - as Berlin might be known - it does offer a fair number of large parks and numerous smaller ones. Most visitors to the city have discovered Margaret Island and/or Varosliget (City Park), both of which are quite large. On the other hand, many Sziget Festival goers might not realise that the location of the festival, Hajogyari sziget (Shipyard Island) functions as a park throughout the year. There are countless small and medium-size parks as well, such as downtowns tiny Karoly Park or the recreational area of Lagymanyos Bay, south of Lagymanyos Bridge. On the Buda side, urban confines generally recede into leafy, hilly neighbourhoods, and finally into thick forested areas, including popular hiking and recreational destinations such as Normafa, Svab hill and Harmashatar Peak.
At present there are numerous agencies and outsourced companies who all have a stake in the greening process, but this doesn't necessarily translate into effectiveness. One component of LMP's 'Green Budapest Programme' comprises large-scale tree planting projects, especially along major transit roads.
There is a model greening project on the Pest side worthy of mention: Wekerle Housing Estate was a designed neighbourhood, and Budapest's best example of the 'garden city movement' emerging at end of the 19th century. Its star architect, Karoly Kos, designed a central spacious square surrounded by Art Nouveau buildings, resulting in a medieval, 'commons' feel and giving it a pedestrian vibrancy. The whole area was granted special protected status, and each street has its own typical species of tree. Residents of this neighbourhood were polled and found to have a high satisfaction rate with their environment and a lower-than-usual determination to relocate to another part of town. Greater proportions of green and lower noise levels were cited as keys to resident satisfaction.
Agents of change
There are, in fact, many organisations and groups working on greening issues. While organisations connected to composting, for instance, might ply their trade throughout the city, there are several smaller associations connected to specific themes: "Kincsunk a Piac - Hunyadi tér" (Hunyadi Square Market, Our Treasure) is concerned with supporting the District VII square's farmer's market and preventing the construction of a parking garage and the felling of trees.
There are several groups tackling traffic and urban revitalisation issues, from the Clean Air Action group, one of the oldest organisations targeting pollution, traffic and urban problems, to the newer "Budipest" group, which playfully integrates the Hungarian word for 'stinky' (budos) into the name of the city, and has begun a series of attention-grabbing events.
The Independent Ecological Centre has recently unveiled a major, interactive and informative website dedicated to increasing general awareness and understanding of environment-friendly uses of public space.
While it's safe to say that there is wide-spread interest in converting Budapest into a greener city habitat, as well as an increasingly sophisticated group of environmental and civic practitioners, it remains to be seen how various plans and tactics for revitalisation will be able to manoeuvre through a daunting political landscape, all too often littered with a business-as-usual approach.
