Budapest: industrieller Wandel und seine Auswirkungen auf die Stadtstruktur

Abstract

The industrialisation of Budapest started in the second half of the 19th and the start of the 20th centuries. Budapest became a modern metropolis with important industries. Nowadays, the old, traditional industrial areas are settings for the transformation. The property structures have changed fundamentally, companies with limited liability and companies limited by shares are predominant. At the same time, the size structures of the companies has been modified and a spectacular change in favour of small to medium-sized firms has taken place. In 1985, 81% of the Budapest industrial firms employed less than 20 persons. The transformation was generally linked to an increase in the numbers of industrial firms and a dramatic drop in the industrial workforce. As a result of the privatisation, the number of companies with direct foreign capital investments has increased, especially in the traditional industrial areas. Due to the continual growth in investments, a far-reaching process of renewal h as taken place within the industrial sector with only insignificant effects on the location distribution of the Budapest industry. However, the continual disindustrialisation processes does have considerable effects: in the old industrial regions to the North of Budapest, the transformation has progressed furthest, with the industrial function being replaced by tertiary functions. In the South, the main tendency is towards preserving the industrial areas. In the long term, the traditional industry will remain after modernisation and renewal. New locations for high-tech industries are in planning for the city suburbs - these will be the new industrial areas of the 21th century.