A long-awaited transformation in the heart of Budapest is set to move forward after the capital received the final permit needed to build the new City Hall Park (Városháza Park). The project will replace a former government parking lot with a large public green space, which Mayor Gergely Karácsony says will become Budapest’s “new main square.”
The mayor announced on Tuesday that the Budapest Government Office had issued the heritage protection permit, marking the end of a lengthy approval process and allowing work to progress to the detailed construction planning phase.
Seven years in the making
Karácsony recalled that creating the park was among his earliest campaign promises when he first ran for mayor around seven years ago. At the time, the fenced-off site could only be viewed by climbing a ladder, as the area had long served as a restricted office parking lot with almost no vegetation.
According to the mayor, the project was delayed by years of planning, public consultations, procurement procedures and administrative approvals. He also cited state bureaucracy and the capital’s financial disputes with the previous government as factors that slowed progress.
Before work on the park could begin, the city also had to renovate the deteriorating façade of Budapest City Hall and restore the long-closed Merlin cultural venue, which forms part of the wider redevelopment.
Designed for a changing climate
City Hall Park has been designed with sustainability at its core. The project incorporates a “sponge city” concept aimed at improving rainwater management and helping the space withstand the impacts of climate change.
Plans include approximately 7,730 square metres of green space, 6,966 square metres of rainwater-collecting pavement, and 850 square metres of permeable surfaces. The park will also feature 80 trees planted using the Stockholm planting method, a technique that provides healthier underground conditions for urban trees, allowing them to grow larger and live longer while providing more shade.
The landscaping will also include extensive perennial planting to increase biodiversity and improve the comfort of visitors during increasingly hot summers.
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More than just a park
The development forms part of the broader Open City Hall concept, which aims to make the historic City Hall complex more accessible to residents and visitors.
Plans include opening up the building’s ground floor, renovating the vast Ratskeller space beneath the ceremonial hall, and creating cafés, terraces and hospitality venues that connect directly to the new public square.
Karácsony said the project is intended to create much more than another urban park. Instead, he described City Hall Park as a new civic meeting place that will serve as Budapest’s central public square for decades to come.
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They say they’ll plant a bazillion trees using some Greta method, but the design sketch shows more than half the park bare and exposed to the sun. That tree canopy envisioned won’t provide succor to more than a dozen or so people.
Being that that’s one of the busiest (touristy) parts of Budapest, it is grossly insufficient. The whole thing should be covered “en-treed”!
Looks great.