Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony shared the simulated images of Budapest’s planned Student City, located in the same area as the construction site of Fudan University’s Budapest campus. The Orbán government has allegedly decided to, with a large loan from China, build a campus for the internationally prestigious private university on the site which was supposed to be the residence of thousands of Hungarian students, according to the IX District’s urban development program.
Karácsony posted the images which show what the area should look like if it follows the original development plan. He stated in his Facebook post that “today we would like these plans to be made into reality on a site where the government wants to build an elite Chinese university campus, with Chinese loans, to the detriment of Hungarian taxpayers and the benefit of Chinese corporations.”
The Budapest mayor said that his administration wants more than ten thousand Hungarian students to have affordable and available housing instead of financing “the spread of China’s political and economic influence, as well as its secret service,” with taxpayer money.
Karácsony accused the government of going against its statement that whatever the Municipal Council does not agree to will not be present in Budapest. To this statement the mayor responded with his clear opposition to the construction of the Fudan Budapest campus.
Karácsony announced that his administration will do everything in its power to obstruct the government’s investment. He even shared a petition by Ferencváros representative candidate András Jámbor which calls for the government to follow the original Student City plan instead of the Construction of the Fudan campus.
The images of the planned student city were provided by the Norwegian architecture office Snøhetta. They depict a vibrant, modern, and green location in Budapest’s IX District of Ferencváros.
Featured photo via Gergely Karácsony’s Facebook page.
