The experience of previous years shows that wherever Budapest's mayor and his circle prevented a government development project, no further move was taken later on. One such example was the boycott of the construction of the prestigious Fudan University.
The internationally renowned Chinese university would have given Hungarian students the opportunity to study locally at a world-class university, but the most important benefit of the project would have been the construction of dormitories to accommodate several thousand students.
After blocking the project, Gergely Karacsony promised to build a student town on the site, but to date nothing has been erected on the properties concerned. The government has revisited the issue of the student town, which would provide at least 12 thousand new dormitory places available to all the universities in Budapest, a significant step towards alleviating the housing problems in the capital. As for the location, the rust belt area at the foot of the Lagymanyosi bridge in the 9th district, next to the athletics stadium, has been under consideration since the beginning. The exact site is under negotiation, but four plots are owned by the Fudan Foundation and its board is committed to making the student town a reality.
Mayor Karacsony repeatedly tried to block the World Athletics Championships in Budapest and the construction of a stadium for the event.
What is more, he used the popular sporting event to blackmail the government. It is worth recalling that the capital asked for 50 billion forints from the government's Healthy Budapest program in exchange for holding the event in Budapest. But Karacsony pulled out of this deal: he submitted a motion stating that Budapest did not wish to host the sporting event. However, he later withdrew it, clearly showing that he used the government investment that was beneficial to the capital's residents for political games.
The attempt to thwart the Liget Budapest Project was Karacsony's biggest blunder.
When the plans for the project in the City Park were completed, Gergely Karacsony also joined the protest, alongside pseudo civil society protesters, he chained himself to a tree and fought with the police. After the so-called circle of Ligetvedok (grove defenders) was formed, activists set up a camp in the park, and for months
tried to protect with their bodies, for example, a former drug-plagued area where the House of Hungarian Music was to be built.
Nevertheless, the Liget Budapest Project went ahead, and since then the project has received worldwide recognition, with the new buildings winning international architectural awards.
Budapest's so-called Rado Dezso program includes plans for the refurbishment of Budapest's other major park called Nepliget. The capital already had a call for bids for architectural firms to come up with project concepts. Last year, a consortium of the winning entries designed a spatial vision for the park. The plans were paid for, but since then nothing has happened with the park.
