Ságvári Ágnes (szerk.): Budapest. The History of a Capital (Budapest, 1975)
Documents
Within the environs of Budapest, in the villages and suburbs suitable for this purpose, residential building of an urban character will be introduced, but the construction of individual houses will also be on the agenda. A modern central system for the Budapest conurbation will be created by dissolving the existing one-centre urban structure, by modernizing the existing city centre and extending its area, and by constructing six local centres. Suitable district centres will in addition be further developed. ... The establishment of factories and plants in suitable locations in the environs of Budapest whose proximity to Budapest justifies such action, will be encouraged. A factor in this decision will be the possibilities of employment for women workers. To meet the demands of increased leisure and for protection against atmospheric pollution, the gradual development of green spaces and recreational areas in the city will be required. Special attention will be given to the protection, maintenance and development of parks and open spaces in the city. We also attach importance to the development of open spaces around the Danube islands and the Budapest medicinal baths, the development of reaches of the Danube suitable for sporting activities, the organization of the Buda forests as park-forests, and of sports parks as more modern sites for sportsgrounds. ... Increases in the speed and capacity of city transport are designed to reduce the time spent in travelling, as well as to produce greater comfort. The transport services will be co-ordinated in terms of areas and timing with the other factors of town development, and the mass provision of housing first of all. ... A piped water supply will be assured to all inhabitants of Budapest and all the villages and suburbs in the environs. For this purpose it will be necessary to extend the areas of water abstraction along the Danube, to build storage basins, and to expand the network of delivery and distribution pipes. The sewerage system will be further developed, with the result that 95 per cent of the total population of Budapest will be living in areas with a proper system of sewerage. Considerable importance in the development plan will be given to the treatment and purification of sewage and the construction of the triple collecting main system in Buda. The rate of the construction of the sewerage system in the environs of Budapest will be expedited. The amount of non-purified sewage released into the Danube cannot be increased, and the treatment and purification of sewage is consequently a problem that must be speedily solved. ... Efforts will be made to switch over to natural gas in the general supply of gas. This will allow for the extensive use of gas heating on an individual and district scale, and a modern supply of thermal energy for industrial requirements, and will at the same time make a contribution to cleaner air in the city. ... 4. The development of the capital will in the first place be concentrated by increasing the number of areas constructed along urban lines. New areas for building,—moreover— to the north of the city first of all—must be demarcated in a manner that will allow new area demands in the future, beyond the present scope of the long-term plans to be met. In the course of these developments districts of cultural, architectural and historical value, and important natural amenities will be preserved, and the proper presentation of valuable landscape and city features guaranteed. 5. The government instructs the Executive Committee of the Municipal Council of Budapest to revise the general development plan for Budapest and the environs—in co-opera133
