The Politics of Space: Moszkva Square in Budapest
The social map of Budapest has been through several significant changes during the years, which followed a semi-repressive economy and the political oppression of the communist party. One of the major changes from a protective low-risk economy to a competitive high-risk one exasperated the socio-economic disparity between the higher-educated youth and the impoverished pensioners, the unemployed and the minorities. Although this is not a new phenomenon, the social and public exhibition of it is and one of the most visible expressions of this is in Moszkva Tér (Square), located in Buda. Moszkva Tér is the busiest transportation center in Buda and leads to the wealthiest parts of Budapest, with buses, trams and a metro. The Foreign Labourers, the Elderly Ladies, the Transylvanian women, the Hungarian Roma vendors and the Beggars all “share” the Moszkva Tér. They try to exist alongside, business men and women, the elite, and the state officials which traverse the square daily. The disorderly nature of the new political-economic order is the symptom of this “new” capitalist city,[1] in which the social landscape of a square can embody the tensions of a whole society.
During the socialist ideology of the communist years, public displays of poverty would have demonstrated the handicap of the Marxist-Leninist theory the party was based on, and on which their legitimacy rested, as a result beggars, the homeless and the unemployed were forbidden to “litter” the streets.[2] Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of its former European countries have taken on measures to adapt to the new political, social and economic setting. Beyond policy initiatives and implementation of democratic practices, countries have taken on building and reconstructing the cityscape in which they live. This includes an increase in multinational corporations and foreign direct investments to create and fund new business endeavors.[3] Most of these changes take place in the larger cities with a significant population and highly educated citizens. Budapest is no exception to the rule and although different divisions bear unique and often opposing views, the advancement of better housing, job opportunities, and restoration of old and the creation of new environmental spaces is something everyone can agree on.
Budapest has three major geographical spaces – Buda, Pest and Óbuda – in which distinctions are not only evident on a map, but in the income, education and prospects of the dwellers that inhabit that space. Pest is where culture, politics and poverty live side by side, which may be the reason why living in Budapest means one is a “Pesti”. It is the modern city of nineteenth century architecture with opera houses, museums and mansions. But it is also the place where the most impoverished groups reside, along with abandoned industrial factories and bankrupt-boarded up businesses: signs of the capitalist waste. The parliament, and the federal governmental institutions are situated here, many of the embassies, consulates and major universities have established their mark in the cultural center of Budapest along with multinational corporations. The land is flat and the buildings are condensed, there is little green space – except for two major parks on opposing ends of the city – and there is a constant rush and energy to this space.[4]
Óbuda (Old Buda), situated in the northern part of Buda is the oldest part of the city. It used to be called Pannonia by the Romans who in the first century built the city capital of Aquincum there. It used to be divided as a distinct city-center till it united with Buda and Pest in 1873. Óbuda which is now District III in Budapest is filled with the ruins of aqueducts, city planning and coliseums but also the largest successful socialist-housing complexes in Budapest. Ancient Roman aesthetics of ideal city planning are adjacent to simple and modern solutions for a growing urban population.[5]
Buda plays tribute to the old imperialist rule of kings and ancient rivalries. Its many hills made an ideal place to build the fortifications of a castle, and its periphery. Buda and Pest is divided by the Danube River, and until the building of the first bridge in 1843, the only way to cross the river was by boats or ferries. The Buda castle afforded a superb view of the river and protection from an invasion. All too often however, its walls were no match from the destructions of the Ottoman Turks in 1541 or the Second World War. It has, however, gained a prestigious place in cultural and artistic circles – considered a World Heritage Site – in the city.[6] The people, who now reside in the Castle District or Buda in general, comprise an elite and wealthy stratum. This is where Moszkva Tér is situated, between the four sub-districts of the Second District and the Twelfth District; the largest housing boom in the city since the mid-1990s.[7]
Moszkva Tér has played an important role in the expansion of a sub-urban ideal and city-limit tourism, with its innovative design and extended routes within Buda.[8] It is enclosed today by the juxtaposition of wealth and poverty, which is so evident in the city itself. The Square can be analyzed to reveal some of the tensions and misgivings of the political-social economy of the entire city.[9] The problem of homelessness, unemployment, underemployment, and illegal migration all reveal a major class-disparity between the people who pass through versus the people who remain in the square. It becomes a question of the old socialist ideal verses their destruction in the form of capitalist realism. The square has become a smaller battle to a larger national problem between the have and the have-nots or more precisely, the winners and losers of the free market.
The location in which Moszkva Square now resides has seen considerable shifts in both its physical and social landscape. Once one of the most recognized Squares in Hungary for its technological innovation, it is now viewed as the most unseemly and frankly one of the most unsightly Squares in Budapest. The square’s lack of prestige can be attributed to its physical ware, litter, boarded-up vendor stalls, its “human capital” and its pamphlet-distributing, card and booklet selling schemes to corner and harass the public.[10] However, its repulsiveness has now become its celebrity with the recent European release of the film entitled “Moszkva Tér” in 2000, which deals with the reactions to the collapse of communism, by a group of friends in their teens.[11] In the film, the characters take on the role of the free-state, hopeful in the beginning then disappointed by the outcome. The socialist regime as well as the new political order takes on the backdrop of Moszkva Tér, which is one of the few places in Budapest that has not been touched by identity crisis, struggles, or renaming since the collapse of the system. Evidence of the square’s impact seems to suggest a larger social phenomenon and its importance in the study of Budapest’s societal characteristics.
It was in 1951 that Kálmán Széll Square[12] was renamed Moszkva Tér and the inauguration of the Moszkva Tér mosaic appeared to have sealed its permanence. During the Second World War the Square was used by Germans to ship supplies from and to the near-by Déli (South) Train Station, once the Soviets took over the square in 1944, the square had already made a mark in history, as the primary station of Buda to pass through for weekend excursions. In comparison to the city of Pest, where buildings grew beside other buildings, Buda was a haven of hills, trees and relaxation. Before 1938, the square comprised only the far western part of the area, which included an Athletic Club and clubhouse. By popular demand the square expanded to include the whole area in 1939 and the only major change seen since then was in 1972, when the Subway Station was constructed.[13]
Since the collapse of the socialist welfare and security system, the present times offer a growing disparity between the wealth of the city’s commercial and multinational aspect and the minimum wage of the youth and elderly. Some of the signs of this change, in and around the Moszkva Tér is the Mammut shopping-center and the Millennium Park. The Mammut shopping-center is located around the corner from Moszkva Tér, it was built in 2004 to take advantage of the growing number of individuals in the square but most distinguishingly the wealthy from the Buda hills. It has stores which accommodate not only a shopping experience but an excursion, with a movie theatre, night-club, bars and cafés.[14] Many of the young people that can afford the merchandise in the high-end retail stores like Gas, Retro, Esprit, Sony, etc…are also the same people that play a role in the continued landscape of the Moszkva Tér. In Budapest, the well to-do individual will drive a car in the city, even if traffic is evidently bad, rather than take the public transportation, as a result the children of these individuals use the square to meet, interact or take in a Saturday night music fest. Every Saturday a religious rock band plays in the square, other times there is a public exhibition of contemporary works.
In 2003, the European Community and the Hungarian government, with the help of the Ludwig Museum – located in the Castle district – funded an exhibition of social awareness called Moszkva Tér Gravitation.[15] The issues dealt with homelessness, unemployment, the commercial city, multinationals and investment. Most of the people who traversed the square took little notice of the change in their environment, while the people that remained in the square were surrounded with reminders of their life and misfortune. It was an interesting play on social interaction between the art and its representatives.
The Millennium Park is another example of a public space in the area, which is extremely at odds with the site of the Moszkva Tér. This is a public park where events, shows and exhibitions take place. Admission is free of charge and anyone has the right to enter, stay or walk around the park. The “Csodák Palotája” (science center) is located on the parks’ land, as well as a playground, large pond area, the modern structure of an outdoor theatre and the children’s center. The park is located in the old Ganz industrial site, and was built at the cost of six billion Ft ($21 million) in 2001.[16] The area inhabits upper-middle class families, once the favorite location of the socialist elites. Five minutes walk from Moszkva Tér, the difference is spectacular, and no matter how beautiful the park is, it does not seem to attract the lower class Diasporas and is often empty and desolate – except for the odd concerts – unlike the boom of the Moszkva Tér.
Both the Millennium Park and the Mammut Shopping Center are located in the Rose-Hill (Rózsa Domb) area, North-West of Moszkva Tér, in a prestigious residential neighborhood. Over the last five years, small shops and businesses have been opened up to reveal a variant shopping experience. But hovering over are the now Mammut I & II, and at the same time the old reminders of the socialist times on the walls of many of these businesses in the form of social-realist reliefs, not surprising in reference to its past socialist residence.[17] The symbols of the past, the present and the future are present in this environment, but Moszkva Tér’s physical appearance has changed little compared to its environment, some might say it has not adopted to the times, but there is something comforting in the old; even if it is seen as undignified when compared to some of the beautiful architecture Budapest exhibits.
The service sector is the fastest growing industry, seen by the growth in retail and trade, evident in Rose Hill, but the advent of the fast-food industry is one of the most obvious throughout the city, not only because of their oversized signs but because there is either a McDonald’s or Burger King or both, at a walking distance from any part of the inner-city. The Burger King located a little outside the square on the north took over the once famous Honey Bar patisserie in 1993. The McDonald’s is located in the periphery of the square; it remodeled a two-story turn of the century building in 1995.[18] The growing information age has created a community within Budapest which sees a great number of internet cafés or simply cafés with internet. Burger King offers internet access for a fee which can be redeemed with a purchase and McDonald’s has free access to a variety of musical experiences. The high-tech McDonald’s with its modern youth-oriented interior in Moszkva Tér has remodeled their restaurant in 2006 to feature large flat screen TV’s for music videos and individual booths with music of your choice. This change suggests that their clientele base or prospective buyer will be the cell-phone population of the youth; this not only brings in business for the restaurant but promotes global music, of the restaurant’s choosing, shaping societies’ ideas of taste and values.
Mixed in with this commercialized, high-tech world of the internet and cell-phones, are the meek and desolate that are in the square trying to survive from day to day. There are five major groups that are the most significant in the square’s environment. Other then the local vendor operators, Youth American Missionaries, and the odd political talks, the square is occupied by the foreign labourers, elderly ladies, Transylvanian women, the Hungarian Roma and the beggars.[19] These groups play on the opposite end of the economic sector and have a difficult time making a living; many are pensioners like the elderly ladies and the Transylvanian women. These two groups are quite distinctive, they appear to be on the same social standing but in reality they are as different as their products. Although their products are dissimilar as well as their clientele, their dislike for each other is obvious.
The Elderly Ladies that come to the square to sell their flowers were one of the few immobile elements to first appear there in the 1970s. Selling flower bouquets has grown to selling fresh fruit, vegetables, antiques and anything fashionable as well. These ladies still use this money to supplement their pensions, these are the women that lived through the turbulent post-World War Two years, the socialist years and are now forced to adapt to a system that sees little use for them anymore.[20] The capitalist system is designed for the youth evident in the cities move towards a global economy; they have found a niche in the market however. With the growing prices of food in the market place near by, the elderly women compete and often sell out of their products, which are often fresher –since they have to replenish daily – and more friendlier then in the near by market, located in a semi-outdoor setting in the shadow of the Mammut mall. The market used to be the primary reason for stopping off at Moszkva Tér on the way home from work, which has now been replaced not only by elderly women in the square, but by major grocery chains, that provide for any demand a customer might have.
The Transylvanian women come from Romania, for about a week every month or two. This provides for different vendors every week with similar but sometimes different products to sell. These women speak a different Hungarian tongue and are often compared to the Roma, because of their noticeably darker skin. They are not, however, Roma, but are the survivors of the Hungarian oppression and discrimination of the Chouchesku dictatorship. Hungarians in Erdély (Transylvania) saw greater repression and hardship then post-1956 Hungarians. While Hungary was on the road to a softer and friendlier “goulash communism” the Hungarian minorities in Romania saw their cultural traditions crumble, along with its many Christian churches. They started to sell their products in the square in the 1980s, with popularity in urban folklore. Their products comprise a higher quality in cultural value such as fine needlework on napkins, table cloths and decorative wall hangings. They also ware very distinguishable clothing of the old Hungarian peasantry, with the headscarves and handmade dresses. The two groups’ conflict stems from “authenticity” and nationalism.[21] While the Hungarian minority had to fight to keep their language and community alive in Romania, having it in Hungary was a given. Especially in Budapest, where western influences have seeped in more thoroughly than in other places, the Transylvanian women see themselves as the “true” Hungarians, while they criticize the Pesti people for their conformity. The one thing these two groups agree on however is their dislike of the Roma vendors.
The Hungarian Roma vendors in the square, makes up the tri-political women’s space that comprise this environment. These are another line of women that stand between the 56 tram – which uses the encircled railway[22] – and the first floor of the Bistro Café. The area is made even smaller by these women, and coming face to face in unavoidable. They mostly sell cheaper, lower-quality mass produced clothing, most evident are socks, shoes, underwear and liquor of unknown origin.[23] They often hold up their products for the public, yell like newspaper boys, and wave the dresses, shirts or underwear in the public’s face. These tree groups are present in the square till about six or seven in the evening and arrive about seven-eight in the morning. But before they ever arrive, the square comes to life with the Foreign Labour market, sometimes Hungarian, sometimes Roma but mostly Transylvanian Hungarian men.
The Foreign Labour market is something that prospered since the collapse of communism with the construction boom in the Buda Hills. It started as the black-labour pool in the 1970s for working men to supplement their incomes.[24] Often these men would be married with children and worked at these jobs to make their lives a little easier. The man would be picked up by construction or shipping industries to work for a couple of hours usually in the after-hours, post their regular jobs, they comprised men from all sectors of society from the factory worker to the doctor. The change of the job-seeking public in the square reveals a west/east change in income and prosperity as well.
The Transylvanian men that now seek jobs are between twenty and forty, with families of their own in Romania. They come to Budapest to make a living and send money home, where chances for employment are very weak and the pay even worse. It is an ideal place for them to work, most already have construction or manual labour experience, they speak the language and create a network with other Transylvanian men.[25] They are often hired by private businesses that are working on construction in the area. In 1993, construction in the Buda Hills increased by 16 percent from the year before and overall housing projects increased 30 percent in the area, vying for efficient and experienced hands.[26] But these hands are hired illegally, benefiting both sides, since the illegal migrant is paid for his work and the employer pays no taxes on the worker.
These men are at the Moszkva Tér by about five in the morning; often all are picked up by seven in large trucks. These illegal, undocumented, mostly seasonal migrants take the jobs that men in the city do not want due to the low wage and extreme hardships the work entails. Men from Romania work harder for less pay making them the best option for employers. Moszkva Tér becomes a stopping point for a network of jobs in the city, once the employer knows them, they gain employment through their contacts rather then in the scare, and as such new groups occupy the square monthly.[27] However, because they are undocumented no one is really sure how many actually reside in the city and for how long. The Human Market is the most visible aspect of the space which is unlikely to change for the time being, however, a new plan for the reconstruction of the square in underway for 2007.
Since the expansion of the square in 1938, the space which occupies the square has not changed. A metro-station was added, railway lines changed but it remained the same size. The new plan is now proposing not only to remodel or restore the square by to change its fundamental design and size.[28] The city has seen a growing number of cars and an increase in traffic related problems, the plan proposes to correct this by removing the tram lines running from north-south and creating roads for car traffic.[29] It also wants to see a “better use” of the square by pedestrians, which means greener spaces and benches. How the labour market in the square would be affected by this change is unknown, what is certain however is that it will either transfer or remain but it will not disappear. The advocates towards change have been the surrounding communities that would like to see the square live up to the progress of the area and Budapest as a whole.
Moszkva Tér’s urban social fabric is headed for another change with its remodeling; the human labour is not the only thing that is bound to change. With the cities focus on car traffic in Budapest the square is likely to become another transfer spot among the many and its unique civil society is likely to blend into the space and the problems of unemployment, and homelessness – an everyday reminder now – is likely to be pushed outside of the city and segregated. The collective peoples from all backgrounds make up the space; this is really the only place where the upper-crust meets with the very-low-crust of society, a unique and comprehensive study of the emerging socio-economic structure of the entire city.
Endnotes:
[1] János Ladányi and Szelényi, Iván “Class, Ethnicity and Urban Restructuring in Postcommunist Hungary” in György Enyedi’s (ed.) Social Change and Urban Restructuring in Central Europe. Budapest: Akadémia Kiadó (Press), 1998, pp. 67-86.
[2] Micheal Stewart “Gypsies, Work and Civil Society” in C.M. Hann’s (ed.) Market Economy and Civil Society in Hungary. Britain: Frank Cass, 1990, pp.140-162.
[3] Luděk Sýkora “Commercial Property Development in Budapest, Prague and Warsaw” in György Enyedi’s (ed.) Social Change and Urban Restructuring in Central Europe. Budapest: Akadémia Kiadó (Press), 1998, pp. 109-136.
[4] György Enyedi and Szirmai Viktória. Budapest: A Central European Capital. London: Belhaven Press, 1992.
[5] György Enyedi and Szirmai Viktória. Budapest: A Central European Capital. London: Belhaven Press, 1992.
[6] György Enyedi and Szirmai Viktória. Budapest: A Central European Capital. London: Belhaven Press, 1992.
[7] Michael James Douglas. A Change of system: housing system transformation and neighbourhood change in Budapest. Nederlandse Geografische Studies 222: Utrecht 1997.
[9] Györgyi Barta “Industrial Restructuring or Deindustrialisation?” in György Enyedi’s (ed.) Social Change and Urban Restructuring in Central Europe. Budapest: Akadémia Kiadó (Press), 1998, pp. 189-207.
[10] Dušan Drbohlav and Čermák, Zdeněk “International Migration in Central European Cities” in György Enyedi’s (ed.) Social Change and Urban Restructuring in Central Europe. Budapest: Akadémia Kiadó (Press), 1998, pp. 87-107.
[13] Judit Bodnár. “Assembling the Square: Social Transformation in Public Space and Broken Mirage of the Second Economy” in Judit Bodnár’s Fin de Millénaire Budapest: Metamorphoses of Urban Life. London: University of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 103-187.
[14] Judit Bodnár. “Assembling the Square: Social Transformation in Public Space and Broken Mirage of the Second Economy” in Judit Bodnár’s Fin de Millénaire Budapest: Metamorphoses of Urban Life. London: University of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 103-187.
[15] Dora Hegyi (ed.) “Moszkvatér Gravitácio” Pestiest Különszám, vol.7, no.16, May 16 – June 29, 2003.
[16] Judit Bodnár. “Assembling the Square: Social Transformation in Public Space and Broken Mirage of the Second Economy” in Judit Bodnár’s Fin de Millénaire Budapest: Metamorphoses of Urban Life. London: University of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 103-187.
[17] Zoltán Ádám Németh and Székács, András. “Moszkva téri villamos scomópont egykor és ma” : http://villamosok.hu/moszkv.html
[18] Judit Bodnár. “Assembling the Square: Social Transformation in Public Space and Broken Mirage of the Second Economy” in Judit Bodnár’s Fin de Millénaire Budapest: Metamorphoses of Urban Life. London: University of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 103-187.
[19] Ilona Sármány-Parsons “Aesthetic Aspects of Change in Urban Space in Prague and Budapest during the Transition” in György Enyedi’s (ed.) Social Change and Urban Restructuring in Central Europe. Budapest: Akadémia Kiadó (Press), 1998, pp. 209-231.
[20] Grzegorz Węcławowicz “Social Polarisation in Postsocialist Cities: Budapest, Prague and Warsaw” in György Enyedi’s (ed.) Social Change and Urban Restructuring in Central Europe. Budapest: Akadémia Kiadó (Press), 1998, pp. 55-66.
[21] Michael Hebbert “Street as locus of collective memory” Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 2005, Vol. 23, pp. 581-596.
[23] Judit Bodnár. “Assembling the Square: Social Transformation in Public Space and Broken Mirage of the Second Economy” in Judit Bodnár’s Fin de Millénaire Budapest: Metamorphoses of Urban Life. London: University of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 103-187.
[26] Judit Bodnár. “Assembling the Square: Social Transformation in Public Space and Broken Mirage of the Second Economy” in Judit Bodnár’s Fin de Millénaire Budapest: Metamorphoses of Urban Life. London: University of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 103-187.
[27] Judit Bodnár. “Assembling the Square: Social Transformation in Public Space and Broken Mirage of the Second Economy” in Judit Bodnár’s Fin de Millénaire Budapest: Metamorphoses of Urban Life. London: University of Minnesota Press, 2001, pp. 103-187.
[28] János Irma. “A Moszkva tér mindannyiunk szivügye” Szabad Kikötö. January 11, 2002, pp. 1-2.
[29] István Tózsa. “Green Spaces and Urban Sustainability in Budapest” Moravian Geographical Reports, No. 1-2, vol. 3, 1995 pp. 53-65.
