Olt Gergely | Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Social Sciences, (original) (raw)
Papers by Olt Gergely
Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 2019
The processes of gentrification and tourism are often inextricably linked, but their relationship... more The processes of gentrification and tourism are often inextricably linked, but their relationship is not unequivocal: tourists can be explorers of stigmatised areas before gentrification or touristification can expel middle-class gentrifiers. In the post-socialist context, tourism and foreign consumers play an extremely important role in the gentrification process. This is especially true in our case study area the ‘party quarter’ in District VII of Budapest. The authors explore the inter-relationship between gentrification, tourism and the night-time economy in this area focusing on the effects of regulations and political struggles under post-socialist neo-patrimonial governance.
The r el ationshi p b et we en urb an plann ing and tourism c onsump ti on is pre s ente d throug... more The r el ationshi p b et we en urb an plann ing and tourism c onsump ti on
is pre s ente d through o ne of the m os t att rac tive and pop ular district s
of Buda pest ( District VII). Bud apest i s t he cap ital city o f H ungary a nd
has a pop ulation of 1 .7 million i nhab it ants making it one of the
largest m etropolitan r egions in Cent ral Eastern Europe . Budap est is
typical of many other p ost-socialist c ities in that its urban
development process has followed a somewhat different trajectory
from m any Western E urop ean cities until rec ently, for ex amp le the
r elatively slow r ate of ge nt rification in t h e post- so cialist ye ars. The
p aper will fo cus in particular on one cent ral district of the c ity (VII)
which currently contains a high c oncentration of hospita lity and
entertainm en t f acilities (espec ially ‘ruin pub s’) and a ttr act s a l arge
numbers of tourists. T he pla nning a nd developm ent hi story of the
district will be explained, including many controversies and conflicts
which hav e arisen o v er the year s. In addition t o analysing the
sign i fic anc e o f t he are a s ’ heritage and the intensive g rowth of the
cr eat iv e indust ries, t he pape r w ill also p ro vide a case s tudy a bout the
Bud apest-specific ‘ruin bar ’ p henomenon, as well as data on the
global issueofAirbnb, whichisbecominganextremely topicaland
cont rove rsial issue i n ma ny o t he r cities in the wor ld t o day . ‘Ruin bar s ’
and A irbnb r epresent local and global exam ples of tourism
consump tion w hich have flourished d es pite or even b ecause o f an
unstructured , o ften unregulated u rban p lanning system. T hr ough this
examinat ion, t wo main q uest ions are ad dressed : to what ext ent ha s
p lanning (or a lack of it ) in fluenced urb an development and t he new
trend s of international tourism i n Budap es t? a nd w hat role ha s
tourism played i n t he transformati on of a c en tra l d is trict w ithin the
inne r c it y?
Benjamin Barber suggests in his book 'If mayors ruled the world …' (2013) that city leaders make ... more Benjamin Barber suggests in his book 'If mayors ruled the world …' (2013) that city leaders make pragmatic and un-ideological decisions controlled by politically active urbanites. These claims, however, are criticized by critical human geographers, because the hegemony of private property and market mechanisms threaten urban democracy. Even if local residents are involved in decision making, this can be disadvantageous for people living elsewhere. In certain cases achieving urban democracy is problematic not only because of the dominance of market interests but also because of the specific power relations in some historical, political and social contexts. For example in the context of post-socialist Hungary, state institutions captured by political interest groups directly obstruct democratic rights and involvement of citizens. This chapter presents cases of urban rehabilitation from the post-socialist city of Budapest and show how residents were affected and how they resisted them. The research illustrates that besides the neoliberal ideology, 'neo-patrimonial' and 'neo-prebendal' power and property relations also play a role in obstructing citizens from exercising their right to the city.
In an earlier account by two co-authors of this paper we presented the processes that risk the 19... more In an earlier account by two co-authors of this paper we presented the processes that risk the 19th century built cultural heritage of the inner city of Budapest. We focused on the real estate market processes and their effects on the built environment. However we could only refer briefly on the everyday conflicts caused by the urban changes that resulted in the emergence of the so called 'ruin bars' and other hospitality venues in a densely populated inner city area. Although cultural heritage sites and a rich cultural offer are already present in this part of the city, binge drinking tourism and stag and hen parties overshadow these options. Public bodies – such as the local authority of the city and the district and the national level tourism management agency-however have not really reflected on this problem yet. In Western examples there were attempts to ameliorate the problem of night noise caused by tourism with cultural offers reorienting the consumption habits of visitors. In this paper we present new research data concerning these issues: first we explain the failure of a cultural development initiative – the EU financed Street of Culture-that instead of enriching the cultural offer resulted in more bars and discos. Then we present the preliminary data of our quantitative survey (N=300) in the area about the consumption habits of tourists and guests from other parts of Budapest and the perception of the tourism development by local residents. With the help of the case study and the analysis of the survey data we draw attention on the possibilities and difficulties of cultural tourism management with special attention on the institutional background and the effects of the post-socialist context.
Urbani izziv, 2010
This article outlines recent social processes in central Budapest, focusing on social sustainabil... more This article outlines recent social processes in central Budapest, focusing on social sustainability and gentrification, and presents the potential social conflicts emerging in this area. We examine the recent history of the housing market and areas of gentrification in the city centre. The second part of the article presents the trends and possible long-term effects of real-estate development in the
Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 2019
The processes of gentrification and tourism are often inextricably linked, but their relationship... more The processes of gentrification and tourism are often inextricably linked, but their relationship is not unequivocal: tourists can be explorers of stigmatised areas before gentrification or touristification can expel middle-class gentrifiers. In the post-socialist context, tourism and foreign consumers play an extremely important role in the gentrification process. This is especially true in our case study area the ‘party quarter’ in District VII of Budapest. The authors explore the inter-relationship between gentrification, tourism and the night-time economy in this area focusing on the effects of regulations and political struggles under post-socialist neo-patrimonial governance.
The r el ationshi p b et we en urb an plann ing and tourism c onsump ti on is pre s ente d throug... more The r el ationshi p b et we en urb an plann ing and tourism c onsump ti on
is pre s ente d through o ne of the m os t att rac tive and pop ular district s
of Buda pest ( District VII). Bud apest i s t he cap ital city o f H ungary a nd
has a pop ulation of 1 .7 million i nhab it ants making it one of the
largest m etropolitan r egions in Cent ral Eastern Europe . Budap est is
typical of many other p ost-socialist c ities in that its urban
development process has followed a somewhat different trajectory
from m any Western E urop ean cities until rec ently, for ex amp le the
r elatively slow r ate of ge nt rification in t h e post- so cialist ye ars. The
p aper will fo cus in particular on one cent ral district of the c ity (VII)
which currently contains a high c oncentration of hospita lity and
entertainm en t f acilities (espec ially ‘ruin pub s’) and a ttr act s a l arge
numbers of tourists. T he pla nning a nd developm ent hi story of the
district will be explained, including many controversies and conflicts
which hav e arisen o v er the year s. In addition t o analysing the
sign i fic anc e o f t he are a s ’ heritage and the intensive g rowth of the
cr eat iv e indust ries, t he pape r w ill also p ro vide a case s tudy a bout the
Bud apest-specific ‘ruin bar ’ p henomenon, as well as data on the
global issueofAirbnb, whichisbecominganextremely topicaland
cont rove rsial issue i n ma ny o t he r cities in the wor ld t o day . ‘Ruin bar s ’
and A irbnb r epresent local and global exam ples of tourism
consump tion w hich have flourished d es pite or even b ecause o f an
unstructured , o ften unregulated u rban p lanning system. T hr ough this
examinat ion, t wo main q uest ions are ad dressed : to what ext ent ha s
p lanning (or a lack of it ) in fluenced urb an development and t he new
trend s of international tourism i n Budap es t? a nd w hat role ha s
tourism played i n t he transformati on of a c en tra l d is trict w ithin the
inne r c it y?
Benjamin Barber suggests in his book 'If mayors ruled the world …' (2013) that city leaders make ... more Benjamin Barber suggests in his book 'If mayors ruled the world …' (2013) that city leaders make pragmatic and un-ideological decisions controlled by politically active urbanites. These claims, however, are criticized by critical human geographers, because the hegemony of private property and market mechanisms threaten urban democracy. Even if local residents are involved in decision making, this can be disadvantageous for people living elsewhere. In certain cases achieving urban democracy is problematic not only because of the dominance of market interests but also because of the specific power relations in some historical, political and social contexts. For example in the context of post-socialist Hungary, state institutions captured by political interest groups directly obstruct democratic rights and involvement of citizens. This chapter presents cases of urban rehabilitation from the post-socialist city of Budapest and show how residents were affected and how they resisted them. The research illustrates that besides the neoliberal ideology, 'neo-patrimonial' and 'neo-prebendal' power and property relations also play a role in obstructing citizens from exercising their right to the city.
In an earlier account by two co-authors of this paper we presented the processes that risk the 19... more In an earlier account by two co-authors of this paper we presented the processes that risk the 19th century built cultural heritage of the inner city of Budapest. We focused on the real estate market processes and their effects on the built environment. However we could only refer briefly on the everyday conflicts caused by the urban changes that resulted in the emergence of the so called 'ruin bars' and other hospitality venues in a densely populated inner city area. Although cultural heritage sites and a rich cultural offer are already present in this part of the city, binge drinking tourism and stag and hen parties overshadow these options. Public bodies – such as the local authority of the city and the district and the national level tourism management agency-however have not really reflected on this problem yet. In Western examples there were attempts to ameliorate the problem of night noise caused by tourism with cultural offers reorienting the consumption habits of visitors. In this paper we present new research data concerning these issues: first we explain the failure of a cultural development initiative – the EU financed Street of Culture-that instead of enriching the cultural offer resulted in more bars and discos. Then we present the preliminary data of our quantitative survey (N=300) in the area about the consumption habits of tourists and guests from other parts of Budapest and the perception of the tourism development by local residents. With the help of the case study and the analysis of the survey data we draw attention on the possibilities and difficulties of cultural tourism management with special attention on the institutional background and the effects of the post-socialist context.
Urbani izziv, 2010
This article outlines recent social processes in central Budapest, focusing on social sustainabil... more This article outlines recent social processes in central Budapest, focusing on social sustainability and gentrification, and presents the potential social conflicts emerging in this area. We examine the recent history of the housing market and areas of gentrification in the city centre. The second part of the article presents the trends and possible long-term effects of real-estate development in the