Urbs - Magyar várostörténeti évkönyv 2. (Budapest, 2007)
Abstracts
the reconstruction and revitalization activities planned and carried out in these areas between 1956 and 1990. Inner Józsefváros and inner Ferencváros share many features both in terms of their built environment (19 Ul-century buildings of flatlets with side-wings, artisans' workshops, and relative to other areas, scarcer urban fabrics and lower population densities) and their social profiles. Their destinies, however, turned out to be different. In inner Józsefváros, system building became the dominant model of urban reconstruction; in the first phase of the area's reconstruction, three high rises were erected in Tömő street by 1965, while in the second, the first inner city superblock, comprising nearly 2800 units, was completed in Szigony street by 1975. On the contrary, the area of Ferencváros which was designated for reconstruction for decades eventually escaped the superblock model initiated in the 8 1,1 district. Thanks to a change of mentality and the continuous modification of plans, the revitalization launched in the 1980s set the objective of "mild" reconstruction, that is, revitalization in harmony with the surrounding urban fabric. Examining the forty-year-long history of the two neighbouring areas of inner Józsefváros and inner Ferencváros - the 8 th and 9 l 1 districts, situated outside of the Nagykörút -, allows for presenting reconstruction and revitalization as distinct models of city development, and shows how changing attitudes towards the city's central districts gradually favoured revitalization. Thus, in the first part of my paper, I focus on the factors underlying the transformation of plans, concepts and attitudes with regards to the reconstruction and renovation of the inner districts of Pest, while in the second, I present the specific events of the two selected areas within the above framework. Finally, I summarize the differences in the "destinies" of these areas, and account for the turning points in their histories of revitalization. CSABA KATONA "Oh, you should have stayed longer in Pest!" Memories of Pest in the Reform Era in the Diaries of Etelka Slachta In the autumn of 1838, chamber official Ferenc Slachta's daughter, Etelka, born in 1821, moved to Sopron from Pest with her widowed mother. The young woman, having received an excellent education, soon became the most popular member of local society. Yet this brought only superficial pleasure to her, as quotidian life in Sopron seemed monotonous and boring compared to her lifestyle in Pest. As revealed by her diary, kept for many years, Etelka, an enthusiastic and active supporter of the social and cultural ideals of the Reform era, felt a special bias towards Pest, the epicentre of
