From parking lot to community space: City Hall pop-up park opens its gates in Budapest – PHOTOS

On 17 May, the City Hall pop-up park opened up to the public in the space that formerly functioned as the car park of the City Hall. Gergely Karácsony, mayor of Budapest, spoke at the opening, highlighting the importance of green community spaces in the heart of Hungary’s capital.

The refurbishing of the City Hall Park has been in plans for a long time

As Telex.hu reports, Gergely Karácsony had already indicated in his mayoral campaign that the City Hall parking lot would be demolished, and the repurposed area would be opened to pedestrians.

Ultimately, the design of the park was put out to tender in November 2021, which received a total of 19 entries. The winning design was then selected by landscape architects and urban planners. The development project was launched by the municipality in April.

“We are giving back to the people of Budapest the fenced-off area in front of the City Hall, where we are creating a landscaped agora. We are bringing the daily operations of the City Hall closer to the people, and we are creating space for diverse events to make the City Hall Park a place of culture and encounters,” Telex.hu quoted the Mayor’s Office when first works began in spring.

According to plans, the former 4,000 square metres of open space will be increased to 7,000, and the new community space in the courtyard of the City Hall will “offer recreation in the centre of Budapest with an exciting design, unique street furniture, and plants.”

In his speech at the opening of the pop-up park at the City Hall, Mayor Gergely Karácsony emphasised that the project has a symbolic message, as it shows “that the city’s leadership wants to share its ideas, its problems, and its opportunities with the city’s residents. That it is more important for us to have another open space in the city where everyone can enjoy themselves than to keep it closed off to ourselves.”

He also highlighted that Budapest is in desperate need of green spaces and that the city government believes that “in the era of climate change, we should take every opportunity to free up land to green the city.”

Karácsony stressed the importance of creating community spaces, saying that Budapest is “a common home that we must make a home for all Budapest residents.”

The pop-up park is now open – but is not yet in its final form

The courtyard, which until recently was a car park, has now been completely revamped, but it has not yet gained its final, complete form. Sándor Bardóczi, Budapest’s chief architect, posted about the project on Facebook, writing:

“We’ve had a long journey and this is also just a halfway point.”

As he points out, the courtyard “is actually still a pit, and the ground floor of the façade is half a floor up.” The park is thus not yet complete – as the pop-up name also indicates -, for example, the ground level of the final public park will need to be made completely horizontal and fully accessible.

Nonetheless, the pop-up park is ready to welcome its visitors in its current form, offering a variety of events throughout the summer.

“In short, this is the year for the pop-up park,” Bardóczi writes, “and we hope next year can be the year of the final park construction. In the meantime, let’s explore what’s behind the screens, how the parking lot becomes a park.”

On 17 May, the opening ceremony featured a DJ and a stand-up show, while on 18 May, after a full day of activities, the capital organised a DJ Palotai memorial evening. The pop-up park houses a restaurant for hungry visitors, and will host temporary and thematic programmes until late autumn, as well as providing a location for workshops, concerts, and a public space for watching sports matches.

“Whether you’re with a child, a dog, friends, or on your own, the City Hall pop-up park is definitely worth a try!” – invites the Mayor’s Office.

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Source: Telex