Ságvári Ágnes (szerk.): Budapest. The History of a Capital (Budapest, 1975)
Budapest in the First Twenty Years of the Council System (1950-1970)
and assistance have been made available to the young out of the state budget; private individuals have been drawn into the process through the possibility of mortgages, and they are today responsible for approximately 40 per cent of the buildings under construction. Budapest Today In the past quarter of a century the picture of Budapest has radically changed and this change is still continuing. If we fitted the drawings of the road-builders, the town-planners, the designers and the building industry into a pattern beside one another, we should find ourselves looking at the face of Budapest, the socialist metropolis. The public buildings and institutions of Pest run along the Danube for approximately two and a half kilometers, 500 metres deep. The densely inhabited northern part of the area is mainly the centre for Ministries, public offices and economic institutions. The middle of this line along the river-bank in Pest is the centre of trade and tourism, and the southern end along the river-bank is the centre of higher education and intellectual life. The area can be developed further through modernization of the present centre and also by extending it in easterly direction (through the reconstruction of the old and outdated district which is at present there). In many respects, Budapest has “grown out” of its old centre. The establishment of the system of district centres will therefore satisfy a demand already in the making. Three city centres are planned on the right and left banks respectively, each with 200 to 300 thousand inhabitants, once the outlying districts have been rebuilt. The construction of public utilities and communal facilities is now under way, and transport connections with the centre of Budapest will be assured by express trains. A particular Budapest style of architecture grew up in the great building period at the turn of the century, which blended progressive Hungarian ideas and European influence. The town-planning of the sixties is a modern continuation of the Budapest style. Care for the protection of ancient buildings and monuments allows the historical nucleus of the capital to be fitted into the picture. Since 1958 the medieval parts of the Castle, destroyed in the Second World War, have been unearthed as restoration goes on, and the final reconstruction follows traditional lines. Most of the national collections—the Budapest Historical Museum, libraries and art-galleries—will eventually be housed there. Budapest is now a harmonious blend of historical monuments and modern architecture, as evidenced by the promenades and squares of the Buda Castle District, the Pest end of the Elizabeth Bridge, the modern row of buildings of the Technical University at the foot of Mount Gellért, or the block of the Hotel Duna Inter-Continental built on the bank of the Danube opposite the Castle. The progress of public transport in Budapest compares well with other European capitals; in 1960 1.7 million people travelled daily on trams and buses as well as the trolley-buses which came into service in 1952. In the summer months aluminium water-buses on the Danube add colour to the scene and help to relieve traffic congestion in the rush hours. On 22nd December 1972, the centenary of the law unifying Buda and Pest, the east-west line of the Budapest Metro, the second underground railway system was completed; the northsouth line will be ready in 1980. 72
