Faurest, Kristin: Ten spaces - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)
Hunyadi tér
■ Hunyadi tér market, early igooó. Whatever happened to all thoie great big umbrellas? repeatedly clashed with the municipal government on plans for the square. At one point the plans called for selling the market to an investor, which would ostensibly entail moving the vendors to the cellar, and opening tourism-related offices in the market hall itself. The local neighbourhood activists - who spontaneously formed a group called The Market Is Our Treasure: Hunyadi tér - have also demonstrated against plans for an underground parking garage on the square, a plan that would entail removing several trees from the square. That something must be done about all the cars is a certainty — the anarchic parking style is a complete eyesore, ruining the square’s cloistered atmosphere, and in some cases makes access to the square itself a little difficult. The story has not played itself out completely as of this writing, but regardless of the ultimate outcome, it had one certain positive effect: it galvanized a diverse group of neighbours and businesses to fight — hard, and for years, if necessary — for a critical cause. And it is this — the outrage of ordinary citizens at the loss of something of common value — that is at the root of most historic preservation movements. Terézváros, where Hunyadi tér is located, is one of the smaller, denser inner Pest districts, rich with gorgeous historic architecture in its modest 26
