Park Development in Budapest: Városmajor Is Renewed – Photos!

The Városmajor (“City Major”), the huge park in Budapest on the Buda side, which has not been renovated for a long time, is being completely reborn. For the first time in 240 years, the green space is being expanded and the Major is being rehabilitated as a true family-friendly amusement park, with varied playgrounds, plenty of sports facilities, and green spaces. And there will even be a beautiful lake! Join us. Let’s take a tour of the park together, using the visual plans. And when the park is finished, be sure to check it out! We think it’s worth the trip to Budapest (too).

This article was originally published on our sister-site, Ungarn Heute.

The results of the landscape architecture competition announced by the Budapest State Development Center (BFK) for the comprehensive development of Városmajor were recently announced. The OpenSpace landscape architecture firm and the Deichler Jakab architecture firm have been awarded the contract for the renewal of Budapest’s oldest park. The park will be developed with a variety of playgrounds, numerous sports facilities, large green areas, sunbathing lawns, dog walking areas, and a large pond in the center. More municipal sports fields will be built and the running track will be extended to one and a half kilometers.

The winning design respects both the historical heritage of the park and new ideas, implementing a contemporary approach to landscape architecture. It divides the city park very well into a quieter area for relaxation and a more active area for sports. Dog lovers will also get their money’s worth: small and large dogs will have separate exercise areas of much better quality, said State Secretary Balázs Fürjes.

The new Városmajor will be both a natural recreational garden with green open spaces, sunbathing lawns, a large pond in the middle, and a family-friendly recreational park with playgrounds and community sports fields. And thanks to the new park entrances, there won’t be much of a detour anymore: the park will be easier to reach for those with strollers, bikes, and on foot, Fürjes writes on Facebook.

There will also be changing rooms, several restrooms with baby changing facilities, drinking fountains, and quality street furniture, benches, and tables for the comfort of park users.

Buda citizens will also be involved in the development planning process. Collaborative planning will be initiated with several forums and professional workshops at each stage of the process, the state secretary said in his contribution.

Other major developments are also underway in Budapest: planning has begun for the Csepel public park, new linear public parks are planned next to the Nyugati train station, and next to the southern traffic circle in Hamzsabégi út, and plans for a new Danube promenade at the future Galvani Bridge will also begin soon.

The government established BFK in 2020 and set three main priorities: improving transport, redeveloping brownfield sites and expanding green spaces, and developing parks, noted Dávid Vitézy, CEO of BFK.

According to the BFK CEO, the development of Városmajor was important because “it is a public park jointly owned by the state, the capital, and the district, and is in a very dilapidated state. It is located in a densely populated area, but in the last 240 years its area has shrunk due to constant construction activity,” he pointed out.

Featured image: visual design of Városmajor. Photo via Balázs Fürjes’s Facebook site