Discussion Papers

CENTRE FOR REGIONAL STUDIES OF HUNGARIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES DISCUSSION PAPERS No. 61 Development Issues of the Balaton Region by Attila Buday-Sántha Series editor Zoltán GÁL Pécs 2007 Supported by the OTKA (Hungarian Scientific Research Fund) Grant No. T 046964 KGJ. Read by Gyula Bora, Miklós Oláh. Translated by Zoltán Raffay. ISSN 0238–2008 ISBN 978 963 9052 92 5 2007 by Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Technical editor: Ilona Csapó. Printed in Hungary by Sümegi Nyomdaipari, Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Ltd., Pécs. 2 Contents 1 Preface ...................................................................................................................... 8 2 Characteristics and history of the Balaton region ................................................... 11 2.1 The physical geography of the Lake Balaton ................................................. 11 2.2 The administrative conditions of the Balaton region ...................................... 17 2.3 History of the Lake Balaton............................................................................ 18 3 Population, employment and incomes in the Balaton region ................................. 41 3.1 Demographic situation of the Balaton Region ................................................ 41 3.2 Training and education ................................................................................... 45 3.3 Employment of the labour force ..................................................................... 46 3.4 Incomes .......................................................................................................... 47 4 Economy of the region ........................................................................................... 48 4.1 The economic development level of the Region ............................................ 48 4.2 Directions of economic development ............................................................. 52 4.3 Economic organisations .................................................................................. 54 4.4 Tourism .......................................................................................................... 57 4.5 Agriculture...................................................................................................... 73 4.5.1 Significance of agriculture in the Balaton Region............................... 73 4.6 Viticulture and wine production ..................................................................... 76 4.7 Forestry ........................................................................................................... 84 4.8 Erosion ........................................................................................................... 89 4.9 Purchase of real estates by foreign citizens .................................................... 92 5 Development of the Balaton region ........................................................................ 95 5.1 Is the Lake Balaton a natural or a regulated lake? .......................................... 95 5.2 Selected aspects of the development plans ..................................................... 97 5.3 Objectives and experiences of the micro-regional programmes ................... 102 5.4 Infrastructure developments in the Balaton Region ..................................... 103 5.4.1 Transport ........................................................................................... 103 5.4.2 Communal infrastructure................................................................... 106 6 Summary and recommendations .......................................................................... 122 References .................................................................................................................. 134 3 List of figures Figure 1 The Lake Balaton and its selected holiday region ...................................... 8 Figure 2 Sub-areas within the Selected Holiday Region of the Lake Balaton ......... 9 Figure 3 Water catchment area of the Lake Balaton ............................................... 12 Figure 4 Balaton Uplands National Park ................................................................. 17 Figure 5 Changes in the permanent water level of the Lake Balaton ...................... 20 Figure 6 The size of Lake Balaton since 1000 B. C. to date ................................... 21 Figure 7 Lake Balaton and its selected holiday region ............................................ 26 Figure 8 Map of the protective system of the Little Balaton ................................... 33 Figure 9 Chlorophyll A – Annual averages ............................................................. 36 Figure 10 Changes of the water quality of the Lake Balaton .................................... 37 Figure 11 Change of the total stock of water in the Lake Balaton, 1921–2004 ........ 39 Figure 12 Water levels at the beginning of the months and the intervention zone .......................................................................................................... 40 Figure 13 Change of population per one thousand inhabitants ..................................... 43 Figure 14 GDP per capita in the Hungarian regions (national average = 100%), 2000 .......................................................................................................... 50 Figure 15 GDP per capita in the Hungarian counties and the Balaton Region (national average = 100%), 2000 .............................................................. 51 Figure 16 Number of operating businesses per 1,000 inhabitants in the Balaton Holiday Region, 31 December 2002 ......................................................... 55 Figure 17 Number of guest nights by type of hotel ................................................... 63 Figure 18 Number of guest nights in the Balaton shore commercial accommodations and hotels, 1990–2004 .................................................. 67 Figure 19 Number of guest nights in the commercial accommodations, by type of accommodation, 2000, 2005 ................................................................. 68 Figure 20 Total number of guest nights spent in the holiday region, 2005 ............... 70 Figure 21 Number of guests at the commercial accommodations of the Balaton Region, 1996–2006 ................................................................................... 71 Figure 22 Number of guest nights at the commercial accommodations of the Balaton Region, 1996–2006...................................................................... 72 Figure 23 Wine growing areas in the Balaton Region, 2003 ..................................... 78 Figure 24 Erosion in the water catchment area of the Lake Balaton ......................... 91 Figure 25 Number of permissions for foreigners to buy property in the Selected Holiday Region of the Lake Balaton ........................................................ 93 Figure 26 Road development plan of the Balaton Region (2007–2013) ................. 104 Figure 27 Railways and developments in the territory of the Balaton Region ........ 105 Figure 28 Airports in the Balaton Region ............................................................... 106 Figure 29 Canalisation in the Balaton Region, 2005 ............................................... 109 Figure 30 Development resources allocated to the Balaton Development Council .................................................................................................... 122 Figure 31 Amount of state expenditure spent on the development of tourism ........ 128 4 List of tables Table 1 Total of pollutions reaching the Lake Balaton ............................................... 38 Table 2 Daily water levels of the Lake Balaton from 1 January 2000 to 1 July 2005 ................................................................................................................. 40 Table 3 Permanent population in the settlements of the Selected Holiday Region of the Lake Balaton (2005) ................................................................ 43 Table 4 Number of population in the Selected Holiday Region of the Lake Balaton ............................................................................................................ 44 Table 5 Average number of children per family in the Balaton region ...................... 44 Table 6 Incomes in the Balaton Region and the counties around the Lake Balaton ............................................................................................................ 48 Table 7 Estimated volume of the economic capacity of the settlements in the Balaton Region (GDP, in million HUF) ........................................................ 49 Table 8 Number of foreign tourists using commercial accommodations (in thousand) ................................................................................................... 60 Table 9 Turnover of commercial accommodations in the Balaton Region (in thousand) .................................................................................................. 60 Table 10 Number of German guests at the commercial accommodations of the Balaton (1989, 2004) ...................................................................................... 60 Table 11 Tourism of the Lake Balaton in 1986............................................................. 61 Table 12 Change in the number of accommodations in the Balaton Region, 1998–2004 (beds) .........................................................................................

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