347
– landscape and nature protection (including Natura 2000 areas)
– generation and management of local traffi c
– development of public utilities
– rain water management.
These studies should be part of the non-binding Structure Plan, thus enhancing
the complexity, specifi cally the environmental foundations of local planning.
However, the 27 State agencies fi nd it rather problematic to formulate clear-cut and
legally sound regulations in these fi elds in Regulatory plans and in local building
codes. It is also noteworthy that no social or housing studies are prescribed by law
as “supporting studies”. Social planning has never been strong in Hungary while
environmentalists are gaining ground here as everywhere in the world.
13.2 The UHI Project and the Planning of the Pilot Area
Climate-conscious urban planning, especially that of public spaces, has little history
in Hungary. Although Hungary’s Environmental Law requires that each settlement
prepare a program for the protection of the environment, these documents tend to be
either overly theoretical studies or summaries of the initiatives of local nongovernmental organisations. In urban planning documents, climate consciousness
manifests itself mostly in the parroting of well-known slogans, without any concrete
practical suggestions.
This situation – found not only in Hungary – is what the UHI Project wished to
remedy: Relying on several years’ worth of research identifying and evaluating
factors that infl uence climate, and inviting the contribution of external partners, we
tested the effects that climate-related factors of urban development had on a pilot
area. Background support for the experiment was provided by a computer program
called ENVI-MET, which, based on knowledge of the existing situation, is able to
use several dozen climatic variables to calculate changes that would occur if the
plans were realised.
13.3 Description of the Pilot Area
The Budapest pilot area lies on the Buda side of the city: an area of approximately
50 ha, bordered by Margit körút – Retek utca – Fillér utca – Garas utca – Alvinci
út – Kapor utca – Felvinci út – Ribáry utca – Bimbó út – Keleti Károly utca. The
pilot area fi ts the nature of the experiment rather well, from several points of view,
since it is a rather multifaceted area. In terms of neighbourhood character, it is
located at the meeting point of traditional high-density urban cores characteristic of
the end of the nineteenth century; rather dense, quasi-urban areas along Margit
körút, built in the 1930s and 1940s, with larger, green yards; and a high-prestige
13 Pilot Action in Budapest
– landscape and nature protection (including Natura 2000 areas)
– generation and management of local traffi c
– development of public utilities
– rain water management.
These studies should be part of the non-binding Structure Plan, thus enhancing
the complexity, specifi cally the environmental foundations of local planning.
However, the 27 State agencies fi nd it rather problematic to formulate clear-cut and
legally sound regulations in these fi elds in Regulatory plans and in local building
codes. It is also noteworthy that no social or housing studies are prescribed by law
as “supporting studies”. Social planning has never been strong in Hungary while
environmentalists are gaining ground here as everywhere in the world.
13.2 The UHI Project and the Planning of the Pilot Area
Climate-conscious urban planning, especially that of public spaces, has little history
in Hungary. Although Hungary’s Environmental Law requires that each settlement
prepare a program for the protection of the environment, these documents tend to be
either overly theoretical studies or summaries of the initiatives of local nongovernmental organisations. In urban planning documents, climate consciousness
manifests itself mostly in the parroting of well-known slogans, without any concrete
practical suggestions.
This situation – found not only in Hungary – is what the UHI Project wished to
remedy: Relying on several years’ worth of research identifying and evaluating
factors that infl uence climate, and inviting the contribution of external partners, we
tested the effects that climate-related factors of urban development had on a pilot
area. Background support for the experiment was provided by a computer program
called ENVI-MET, which, based on knowledge of the existing situation, is able to
use several dozen climatic variables to calculate changes that would occur if the
plans were realised.
13.3 Description of the Pilot Area
The Budapest pilot area lies on the Buda side of the city: an area of approximately
50 ha, bordered by Margit körút – Retek utca – Fillér utca – Garas utca – Alvinci
út – Kapor utca – Felvinci út – Ribáry utca – Bimbó út – Keleti Károly utca. The
pilot area fi ts the nature of the experiment rather well, from several points of view,
since it is a rather multifaceted area. In terms of neighbourhood character, it is
located at the meeting point of traditional high-density urban cores characteristic of
the end of the nineteenth century; rather dense, quasi-urban areas along Margit
körút, built in the 1930s and 1940s, with larger, green yards; and a high-prestige
13 Pilot Action in Budapest