Communist-built Industrial Towns, the History of Newly Built Towns and Cities. Distinctive Historical Development Paths of Hungarian ‘Socialist’ and Western European Industrial Towns in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

In my study, I intend to give a brief overview of the development of Hungarian communist built and Western-European industrial towns. What makes this topic worthwhile for exploration is that towns currently experience a number of core changes in their fabric. Naturally, these stem from their history, which in turn aff ects the current urban development schemes, the landscape of towns, and modifications in spatial arrangements. Another important aspect is that substantial variations are observable between the Western European and the Hungarian urban development models. On the one hand, past development policies refl ected the economic and political realities of each country, which was further coupled with the east-west divide, thus impacting development priorities. As a consequence, there are still clear divergences among the countries surveyed despite the current trend toward more uniformity in urban development goals. The article provides a detailed analysis of the various models, emphasizing peculiarities and specific features. It aims to establish viable forms for spontaneous and micro-managed paths of urban development.

Keywords

• urban development
• industrial towns
• Eastern and Western urban development models
• spatial and urban development
• communist industrial development