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

Mechwart liget

■ Neighbourhood residents enjoy a walk through Mechwart liget, back when the park itill had a itronger Cngliih tandicape ityle character, 1941

nomer as Városliget or Népliget — in somewhat the same way it's ridiculous that a Yorkshire terrier is technically the same category of animal as a Rottweiler - but then again it is a sort of park in miniature. Mechwart liget is also remarkable — somehow, more than other squares of its size and proportions - for its ability to maintain diversity without conflict.

The long row of benches along the annual planting bed, on any given day, hosts a number of homeless, several neighbourhood elderly, young parents, skateboarders and employees from the nearby District II Municipality building that sits imposingly (though not elegantly) at the top of the stairs. There is quite a different demographic from one bench to the next, and yet everyone gets along. Two fenced-in, well-equipped playgrounds on either side of the planting bed neatly divide children's age groups. The annual planting bed receives the most intense maintenance, with frequent and varied changes throughout the spring months. The fountain takes up a disproportionate amount of space in the park, especially given that its maintenance and operation leave much to be desired, but the park users put it to creative use as seating, skateboard turf, toddler walking track, and so on.

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