Will decorative lighting disappear from Budapest?!

Photo: www.facebook.com/SpiceofEurope

In order to reduce the “energy demand of Budapest”, the mayor might introduce a drastic new change in the Hungarian capital. Accordingly, the decorative lighting in Budapest might be shortened during the night. As a result, the Hungarian capital will turn dark at 10 or 11 pm from this summer. Is this measure really worth it in financial terms? Besides, what kind of impression it will give to tourists visiting Budapest?

According to Mayor Gergely Karácsony, “green and sustainability investments” in Hungary have lagged behind in the past decade, making the climate crisis even harder to deal with. In his post, he pointed out that Budapest had seen the second-largest increase in average temperatures among European cities in the past 50 years. The average temperature in Budapest is now 4 degrees higher than it was half a century ago. At the Budapest Energy Summit, four proposals were made, one of which was the shortening of decorative lightning in Budapest. According to the announcement, this measure „can bring substantial savings to the capital – the equivalent of four days’ worth of street lighting” – reported by Telex. As a result, the Hungarian capital will turn dark at 11 pm in the summer, and at 10 pm in the winter period.

We could spare the costs of four days’ worth of street lighting, or in other words 1% of the annual street lighting, by making Budapest look like a dark, dreary city. But is it really worth it?! As the Hungarian news portal Turizmus.com reports, we should also consider the fact that, apart from its usefulness, the decorative lighting is part of the capital’s image; so to speak, it is one of its attractions. The older generations might remember those dark days when this feature was not yet part of the Budapest skyline. Although the city’s administration could have covered the costs, they wanted to set an example of energy saving for the citizens.

It is no secret that the capital’s leaders are now being guided by a desire for exemplary austerity. They also want to make people aware of the importance of energy conservation with this measure. However, it is uncertain how the newly introduced regulation will influence the residents of Budapest or the tourists visiting the Hungarian capital. Due to the lack of decorative lights, the city’s attractiveness will considerably diminish at night. In fact, it might even affect the touristic success of the Hungarian capital.

According to Gergely Karácsony, „The city won’t go dark, but the lighting will finally be modern!”. Budapest’s Mayor also added that „by upgrading street lighting, the Hungarian capital can save a significant amount of energy, the equivalent of 130 days a year. And city dwellers will not notice any of this” – reported by Klubrádió. In addition to energy modernisation, transport investment and vehicle replacement to reduce energy and fuel consumption will continue, along with the promotion of energy independence. According to Gergely Karácsony, “it may sound overly ambitious, but it is absolutely feasible”. The government wants to achieve that by 2030 Budapest’s utilities would run on the energy the city produces. The mayor said that the energy supply of the capital’s utilities would “not depend on Russia, the government or energy companies” – reported by Mandiner.