Development Cluster for the Growth of the Budapest Airport Region. Gábor Csaba Soóki-Tóth M.Sc. MRICS

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1 Development Cluster for the Growth of the Budapest Airport Region Gábor Csaba Soóki-Tóth M.Sc. MRICS

2 Today flying is a very common mode of transport. In our times even space travel seems to become something within reach for a wider audience. Despite all this flying remains a miracle, as it has been experienced by the first aviation pioneers.

3 By the time commercial aviation became a commodity for the wider public, during the 1950s and 1960s it remained a luxury and its miraculous nature was reflected by the majestic architecture of airport terminal buildings. There was another aspect: the security concern (this was the era of the cold war). Airports were considered as part of the critical infrastructure. Barbed wire literally blocked off airport infrastructure. Airports were large areas fenced off from the surroundings, kept at a distance from the life of the city.

4 By the 1970s and 1980s commercial development changed the experience within airport terminals. Instead of 'cathedrals of modernity' airports increasingly were seen as new commercial centres serving the needs of the growing population of travellers. Airport terminal design tried to recreate the city within the building: shops, services, entertainment, recreational facilities, even small museum outlets and spaces of prayer were included. SEE BUY Y L F

5 Looking at how innovation in transport has changed our cities, railroads offer an example. Wherever the railway reached the city in the 19th century the traditional core area the cathedral, the marketplace and the city hall or fortress extended towards the newly built railway station. A new main axis was created within the urban structure filled with commercial activity.

6 In Budapest this was very profound. Coinciding with the huge economic growth the country has experienced after the compromise treaty between Hungary and Austria of 1867 was signed and the administrative burdens that kept Hungary primarily as an agricultural country within the Habsburg Monarchy lifted. In the newly established Austria-Hungary the city regained its status as twin capital city rivalling Vienna. The private railway companies, as everywhere else in the world, built majestic stations at the edge of the city centre. In Budapest one station was designed by the office of Gustave Eiffel. The city centre extended towards the stations and boulevards were developed that give the essential character of the city today.

7 Airports being critical infrastructures were sealed off from the urban fabric for security reasons. Although railway stations have their lesser attractive railyards that create voids in the city, the unwanted effects of air travel (noise and pollution) created much wider barriers that isolated airports. If an airport is located close to the main city, the economic activities it stimulates tend to disperse within the existing urban fabric and not necessarily in the vicinity of the airport. In cases where there is a distance but quick modes of transport link the airport with the city, an airport corridor may emerge, where urban functions relating to air transportation have a higher concentration. And in the case where the airport is located further away a new regional activity node may be created. A new urban core: as the terminal replicated urban functions, the area around the terminal starts to develop as a city itself.

8 In Budapest the distance between the airport and the city centre is about 18 km. The suboptimal accessibility of the airport and its position within the built-in urban fabric emphasizes its peripheral location. The shift to the market economy after the fall of the iron curtain in 1989 fundamentally changed how the city developed. While the discipline of urban planning largely derives its principles of the traditional top-down approach of the planned economy, decisions made by elected politicians usually were more pragmatic, and the market had a strong influence on what was built and where developments took place. The western gateway to the city, where the main motorways towards Vienna and the famous recreational resort region, the Lake Balaton start, became the main suburban service and employment zone. Suburbanization during the 1990s meant that about 400 thousand people chose to move out of the city and retail and services have followed them. As the orbital motorway was built around Budapest new suburban centres emerged. On land formerly occupied by factories towards the north of the city centre a new office corridor has emerged and since Hungary joined the EU structural funds literally paved the way for an inner city revival. All these developments seem to have left the airport corridor intact.

9 A series of residential districts independent municipalities before WWII are located along the airport corridor. The section of the highs speed road connecting the city centre and the airport created by engineering standards of the 1960s had an even more devastating effect. Instead of welcoming development the barrier created left the areas along this road to decay. Just before the worldwide economic downturn of 2008 hit the Hungarian economy, the area around the airport received its first developments: warehouses, offices and a suburban strip mall was built that proved very successful. The airport itself started to develop. The current operator under concession agreement has built the first warehouse for a freight forwarder a few years ago, new halls for aircraft maintenance were built and a multi-modal terminal linking the railway line to the airport and improving road accessibility at the same time is under construction funded by the Connected Europe Facility (CEF). Major integrators have signed agreements to extend their operations on airport land and new BTS and speculative projects are starting in the region.

10 Four years ago the district municipality, District 18 of Budapest, where most of the airport land is located, initiated a program to facilitate coordinated urban development. Together with the neighbouring municipality Vecsés, where much of the 'organic' growth of commercial developments have happened, they applied for funds to start a strategic planning process. The transnational project funded by Interreg Central Europe not only yielded ideas and plans, but a new thinking about an airport city within and outside the fences of the airport emerged. As a follow-up to this project a regional economic development cluster was organized, founded by the aforementioned municipalities, the Metropolitan Government of Budapest and Pest County together with the airport operator, Budapest Airport and the national air traffic management organization, HungaroControl. Upon the invitation of these founders over 20 associated members joined and the cluster maintains active communication with about 200 companies and organisations from the wider region.

11 The cluster sees its activity as an urban living lab. By providing platform for communication, collecting and distributing information and catalysing the discussion on the future of the region we build the Budapest Airport Region brand. We introduce the area for investors, provide meeting point for the stakeholders already active in the region and set out an agenda for the government for key infrastructural improvements. Within the planning period until 2020 the airport shall be connected to the national railway network and there are plans underway to refurbish and modernize the main road between the airport and the city centre. The cluster as a catalyst mobilises resources for development. Our scope embraces the airport-ecosystem in a holistic way from the development of human capital, to the creation of the physical environment. For more information please visit