REGIONAL STATUS REPORT OF HUNGARY MEDIUM-TERM REGIONAL OBJECTIVES whole of this region is included in Central Hungary. Its total area is 2 538 km2. In 2007, its population was IN THE NATIONAL SPATIAL 2 million 476 thousand people; and 21.7 thousand DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT more people migrated into the region than out of it during the same year. A TERRITORIAL DESCRIPTION OF THE Budapest has still an outstanding role within the spa- REGIONAL TYPES IN THE NatIONAL SPatIAL tial structure of economic performance since its HUF DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT 5.5 million GDP per capita exceeded the national aver- The Budapest Metropolitan Region age more than twofold, and it was 4-5 times higher than the GDP per capita of the worst performing coun- The capital city and its agglomeration is the most de- ties. The share of the capital city remained high also veloped and competitive group of settlements in the in R&D expenditure; it was more than 60% in 2007. country, also from an international perspective. This 28% of the enterprises in the financial intermediation metropolitan region is considerable not only as an eco- services in 2007 operated in the Budapest Metropoli- nomic, service and innovation centre, but also as an tan Region. A fifth of all enterprises with a similar pro- “international gateway”, significant tourism destination file were concentrated in Budapest itself. According to and transportation hub. Beyond these, it is also very the guest nights spent by foreign visitors, Budapest important to ensure a liveable environment for its out- and its agglomeration is the most significant tourism re- standing concentration of population. gion in Hungary. The share of this region from all guest The Budapest Metropolitan Region is composed nights spent by foreign tourists was 48% in 2007. of Budapest and 80 surrounding municipalities. The Rather intensive suburbanisation is indicated by the proportion of newly built homes, which was 1.1% Budapest Metropolitan area of the entire housing stock in Budapest, and double of this in the agglomeration in 2007. Personal car ownership is also outstanding here; the number of personal automobiles per 1000 inhabitants was 350 in the capital, and 375 in its agglomeration, both sig- nificantly higher than the national average (300). No major new road construction was carried out; there were no new sections of the M0 ring completed in 2007. The most important development in railway transport was the construction of the railway station at Ferihegy Airport. The proportion of homes connected to the sew- age network was 97.8% in Budapest in 2007, and the same was 72.3% in the municipalities of the 36 REGIONAL STATUS REPORT OF HUNGARY agglomeration (the national average was 69.8%). centres (near HUF 1.5 million) exceeded the na- 40.5% of the collected sewage went through biologi- tional average by approx. 15%; Győr (HUF 3.7 mil- cal or phase III treatment in the region. According lion/inh.) and Székesfehérvár (HUF 2.3 million/inh.) to the air-pollution index calculated from data col- were outstanding in this regard. In the economy of lected at automatic monitoring stations, the quality the major cities, foreign capital played considerably of the air at most of the monitoring sites in Buda- smaller role (32%) than nationally (57%). Its share pest belonged to the “polluted” category in 2007. was higher than the national average only in Székes- The main air pollutants were obviously the nitrogen fehérvár (67%). oxides (NO2 and NOx) released from public road traf- Within the wider category of advanced business fic, as well as airborne dust (PM10). In 2007, the services, real estate businesses and economic share of green areas as compared to the total services emerged with the most substantial share of territory within municipal borders was 3.6% in the enterprises. As a consequence of their functions, in Metropolitan Region; the surface of green areas in every pole city, as well as regarding their average val- Budapest was 22.5 km2. ue (27), the number of these businesses per 1000 inhabitants was much higher than nationally (12 en- Development poles terprises). Veszprém and Győr had a dominant role within this region type with 33 such enterprises per The National Spatial Development Concept identifies 1000 people. The region type average was exceeded five regional development poles (Győr, Pécs, Sze- in Pécs and Székesfehérvár (29-30 enterprises), but ged, Debrecen, Miskolc), and two joint development the other pole cities had lower than average num- centres (Székesfehérvár, Veszprém). Their task is bers. The commercial sector is a significant area of to be the engines of development in their respective the advanced business services. The average number regions in the fields of economy and science, and to of commercial enterprises per 1000 inhabitants was retain the most highly qualified labour force within their 18 in this region type, which was only 3 enterprises regions by means of offering them high quality culture, more than nationally. The commercial business sec- services and workplaces, thus counter-balancing the tor of Győr, Székesfehérvár and Debrecen stood out socio-economic dominance of the capital. to some extent (with 19-20 enterprises per 1000 The combined area of the seven municipalities is inhabitants), while the other pole cities had 2-3 enter- 1 614 km2; Debrecen is the biggest among them with prises fewer from these. 461 km2. Their total population was 992.7 thousand In terms of higher education, the three most signifi- inhabitants in 2007. With the exception of Miskolc, cant countryside university towns stood out from among they were migration destinations, and they had a mi- the pole cities: Debrecen, Szeged and Pécs. In the gration surplus of a little more than 3000 people in counties containing these three cities, the total number total by 2007. of students participating in higher education was near In 2007, the average gross added value per cap- 88 thousand, which meant over one-third (34.2%) of ita of the development poles and joint development all students at universities outside Budapest in 2007. 37 REGIONAL STATUS REPORT OF HUNGARY As regards cultural life, 21% of all visits to thea- The circle of external and internal peripheries and tres and 10% of all visits to museums were made in backwards regions in Hungary was defined based on the pole cities. The theatres of Miskolc and Győr had the “Government Decree 311/2007 (XI. 17) about the highest numbers of visitors (189 thousand and the classification of beneficiary microregions”. 94 mi- 167 thousand, respectively), and concerning muse- croregions belong to this category, the total area of ums, Pécs had a traditionally dominant role with 339 which is 53 184 km2, 57.2% of the national territory. thousand visitors. Their combined population in 2007 was 3 million 114 Among the pole cities, only Pécs was without a thousand inhabitants, and the population increased in clearway connection in 2007. The system of high- only three microregions (of Hajdúhadháza, Móraha- rank roads connecting the pole cities was in many lom and Aba). The migration balance was negative in cases, still deficient and of a deteriorated quality. 88 microregions from the 94, and the combined mi- Previously started developments in railway and wa- gration deficit in these microregions was 24.4 thou- ter transport concerning the pole cities (e.g., Szeged, sand people in 2007. Győr) continued in 2007, too. In 2007, within the disadvantaged regions, the The pole cities are significant transport hubs, there- number of enterprises by 1000 inhabitants was high- fore most of the air pollution comes from pollutants est in the microregion of Kaposvár (69), and lowest released by transport (PM10, NOx). The greatest in the microregion of Bodrogköz (17). The region type problem was with PM10: in terms of PM10, air qual- average was 43 enterprises in 2007, much below the ity in Szeged was classified as polluted, the situation national average (68). The share of foreign capital in all was acceptable in Miskolc, and air quality in the rest of subscribed capital of enterprises in the region was only the cities were categorised as good in 2007. Regard- 28%, which meant half of the national value in 2007. ing nitrogen oxides, air quality was acceptable in Győr, Miskolc and Szeged, and it was good in Debrecen. Socially and economically backwards microregions External and internal peripheries, backward regions Permanently backward regions can be characterized by the interaction of several negative factors: unfa- vourable age, qualification and economic structure of the population, restricted availability of resources (shortage of capital, out-migration of the qualified la- bour force), which besides an especially poor accessi- bility, is further aggravated by the lack of real regional centres that could take care of the needs of their surroundings. 38 REGIONAL STATUS REPORT OF HUNGARY Economic performance in the disadvantaged areas population was 1 million 446.2 thousand in 2007, was a mere quarter of the national average in 2007. 14.4% of the total national population. Due to out- GAV per capita was higher than the national average migration, the population of this region decreased by only in the microregions of Tab and Kazincbarcika, 7300 people in 2007, and with the exception of the while it was extremely low in the disadvantaged mi- microregions of Szeged, Kecskemét and Csongrád, croregions situated along the Romanian and Serbian outwards migration is typical of the region, and is es- borers, in Ormánság, Őrség, and in North-eastern pecially significant in the Upper Tisza region. Hungary. The economic performance of this region type was In 2007, unemployment rate in this region type was behind the national average, gross added value per 12.43%, and it remained below the national average capita was less than HUF 500 thousand here, which (6.8%) only in five of the peripheral microregions.