Idea competition for the Ráday kultucca - touristic and cultural future of Budapest downtown quarter

Abstract

The municipality of Budapest’s IXth District, so called Ferencváros, started an urban rehabilitation program about ten years ago. The core element of this program was the renewal of Ráday Street, similarly to many good examples in European countries, where urban open spaces have got their original, traditional public functions back instead of heavy urban traffic. Ráday Street is a direct link and the organic instalment of the historic centre of Pest, the Vth district. New open spaces for cultural and tourist programmes, vivid small-trade life, small shops and boutiques, together with open air restaurants, coffees and bars belong to the present life and character of Ráday Street. Parallel with the restriction of cross traffic the private enterprises came up and filed the Street with life and music and open space programmes. The municipality is going on with its urban renewal program and plans to make further decrease in urban traffic so as to spread out the pedestrian primacy in the whole area of Belső-Ferencváros.