Faurest, Kristin: Ten spaces - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)

Mátyás tér

students as well as professors led the effort for neighbourhood residents, particularly schoolchildren, to come to meetings and events where they could say or draw what they wanted to see in the square. The plans were first presented to the community in May 2006, and the park was implemented in spring and fall of the following year, with lots of volunteer help in the planting. The emotional and physical investment that community members made in the square shows: in a city where graffiti appears in the blink of an eye, the children’s handmade furniture remains unmolested, and the square is clean and orderly and inviting.

To look at Mátyás tér is to bear witness to the start of a neighbourhood renaissance. And in looking around, one wonders why it didn't happen a long time ago. It's true that the neighbourhood has a high level of poverty, a higher than average crime rate and a less than stellar reputation. But the

■ One-of-a-kind park ieating, courteiy of the neighbourhood kidi

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