Discussion Papers 2007.
Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization.
The Case of Central Europe. 18-51. p.
CASE STUDIES: THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF URBAN
AREAS: KEY FACTORS AND CHARACTERISTIC
FEATURES
The social structure of Hungarian urban areas:
key factors and characteristic features
The impacts of globalization on urban areas in Hungary
The  socio-economic  restructuring  of  Hungary  in  the  1990s,  its  integration  into
global  economy  fostered  the  (regionally  differentiated)  development  of  major
urban  areas  only.  This  has  been  originated  partially  from  the  historic  past  and
partially  from  the  mechanisms  of  global  economy.  The  spatial  structure  of  the
Hungarian  economy  was  historically  big  city  oriented,  although  in  the  state  so-
cialist regime the development of big cities – by various instruments according to
the  changing  interests  of  the  political  system  –  was  restricted  by political inter-
ventions (administrative regulations, regional policy). Following the political and
economic reforms of the 1960s the socio-economic positions and the influential
power  of  major  cities  and  county  seats  have  significantly  strengthened.  A  gov-
ernmental  decree  issued  in  1970  turned  large  and  medium-sized  cities  into  the
driving forces of economic development and in this way the industrial plants with
modern technology and requiring highly trained labour were sited in these central
places. The decisional centres of industrial companies having strategic importance
in  economic  development  were  located  in  urban  and  metropolitan  sites,  while
their different branches and affiliates were settled in small towns and rural areas
(Barta, 2002, 64–65). As a result of these economic development projects large
cities after a successful political lobbying process won significant financial fund-
ing resources and planning support for their development.
The inflowing foreign direct investments from West-Europe in the 1990s were
almost  exclusively  targeted  at  joint  ventures,  stock  companies  and  even  small
enterprises  seated  –  by  regional  determinations  –  in  core  areas  (Barta,  1992).
These core areas (their management and societies) received them not only with a
warm  welcome  but  granted  several  (including  tax)  benefits,  and  provided  them
with labour culture of historical traditions, good infrastructure and skilled labour
force. Global economy initiated quick growth in the Budapest region, on the Bu-
dapest-Vienna  axis,  in  the  cities  of  West-Hungary  (Gy r,  Tatabánya,  Székesfe-
hérvár  and  their  environment).  The  development  of  other  big  cities  of  Hungary
(Pécs, Szeged, Debrecen) was less spectacular but still continuous (Enyedi, 1996).

18

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
North-Hungary, the eastern regions, the rural areas of the Hungarian Great Plain
and urban regions with strong energetic sector (coal mining, metallurgy) and the
settlements of the East Hungarian border zone once prospering from the benefits
of  Hungarian-East-European  economic  relations  were  facing  a  socio-economic
crisis. The crisis was an outcome of the collapse of East-European markets, of the
bankruptcy of plants having sold their products on these markets, of the massive
redundancy of workers, of high unemployment and of the absence of capital re-
sources standing in the way of economic restructuring. However there were some
cities  even  in  the  crisis  areas  that  were  able  to  attract  and  settle  down  private
businesses  and  industrial  plants  that  albeit  were  unable  to  save  them  from  the
crisis but at least could stabilize their economy to a certain extent. In some cases
this could be achieved by the foreign direct investments of Eastern or West-Euro-
pean firms.
The spatial demands of global economy polarized the interaction between cit-
ies and their environment in a specific way. On the one hand – by breaking up the
hierarchical  structures  of  the  past  –  they  changed  and  equalized  the  historically
asymmetrical  relationship  between  cities  and  rural  areas  and  between  core  and
peripheral  areas.  One  of  the  reasons  of  changes  is that global economy reached
not  only  city  centres  but  urban  peripheries  as  well.  During  the  mid–1990s  for
example industrial plants having been built as green field investment projects in
the urban area of Budapest and in Pest County preferably selected the agglomera-
tion zone or the satellite cities of Budapest such as Budaörs, Gödöll  and Dun-
haraszti for their site (Dicházi–Matolcsi, 1997, 38). The site selection strategies of
transnational  and  multinational  firms  increased  the  land  value  of  the  urban  pe-
ripheries of big cities and Budapest as well (Izsák, 2003).
The  spatial  demands  of  global  economy  create  new  dependencies  as  well  in
the  interaction  between  cities  and  their  urban  peripheries.  The  competitive,  top
firms  and  financial  centres  with  global  positions  and  their  regional  (including
Central European) branches are favouring urban centres, capital cities and major
cities in their site selection policies while companies engaged rather in regional or
national markets are more inclined to site their headquarters in the urban periph-
ery of big cities or in small towns (Sassen, 2000, 26). The site selection policy of
foreign companies is determined by their economic importance and this trend can
clearly be seen in Hungary as well. The new researches are verifying that corpo-
rate  management,  the  organisation  of  production  and  decisional  functions  are
rather linked to big cities of central role, while the routine and physical processes
of  manufacturing  are  concentrated  in  their  affiliates  located  in  small  towns  and
rural  settlements  (Barta,  2002,  64–69). This kind of spatial division regenerates
the economic disparities between core areas and peripheries as well.
The spatial impacts of global economy are reflected by the new trends of urban
growth in Hungary such as urban sprawl, the dynamic growth of suburbanization,

19

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
the decreasing population of city centres and the increasing of suburban popula-
tion  as  their  consequences.  (The  population  of  the  urban  areas  involved  in  our
research  decreased  by  5%  between  1993  and  2003.  This  ratio  of  decrease  was
higher  than  the  national  average  (1.6%).  The  greater  part  of  decrease  seems  to
take  place  in  cities.  The  growth  of  suburban  population  was  15.7%  within  the
same period culminating between 1998 and 2003 [Balázsné Varga, 2005]. 66% of
the  Hungarian  population  lives  in  cities.  The  majority  of  Hungarian  citizens  –
following the major trends of Central-European urban societies – are not living in
big cities. For example 16% of the Czech, 14% of the Polish and 31% of the total
Hungarian citizens are living in big cities [Stenning, 2004]). The spreading of ur-
ban lifestyle raises new issues of social problems that are linked to urban sprawl
and  suburbanization  as  well:  such  as  car  traffic  and  its  environmental  impacts,
with  their  damages  for  health,  the  physical  and  social  erosion  of  central  urban
quarters, the lessening of green areas, the social exclusion and the segregation of
urban societies, the increasing gap of socio-spatial differences. The further parts
of this paper are going to discuss these issues.
The characteristic features of the infrastructural and institutional
provision of urban areas in Hungary and their changes in time
Regional development was always heavily influenced by the availability of physi-
cal  infrastructure  and  by  the  characteristics  and  potentials  of  regional  and  local
systems and networks of different services. Their major spatial differences always
played and and are still playing a major role in increasing and maintaining spatial
disparities  and  in  regional  and  local  competitiveness  (Abonyiné  Palotás,  2007).
The  development  and  characteristic  features  of  society  and  economy  have  vital
role in them but they are further influenced by several additional factors.
The networks of infrastructure and services are integrated into major nodes in
the  vicinity  of  big  cities  but  some  of  their  elements  have  major  impacts  on  re-
gional integrations, spatial and regional cohesion. Physical accessibility, the de-
velopment level of communication networks, higher education and health services
all belong to the category of key elements.
In our analysis we tried to assess those further elements and those socio-eco-
nomic  aspects  that  are  mostly  responsible  for  the  socio-economic  disparities  in
Hungary’s urban areas.
To  accomplish  this  task  we  investigated  how  urban  areas  with  their  infra-
structural and institutional characteristics and with their spatial disparities, as an
outcome of certain outstanding socio-economic features, and the differences be-

20

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
tween  big  cities  and  their  background  settlements  have  been  changed  and  what
further changes they are facing during the regime change.3
Physical accessibility
Railway services connecting Hungarian urban areas with their peripheries seem to
be the most suitable mode of transport. The average travel time between cities and
their  nearest  railway  stations  is  eight  minutes.  The  better  than  national  average
travel time is explained by the fact that all Hungarian big cities are intersected by
a main railway route connecting them with some of their background settlements
as well. The city of Debrecen enjoys the most favourable location from this aspect
having  good  connections  with  the  majority  of  its  neighbour settlements. This is
accountable for the fact that the city is positioned at the meeting point of several
major railway routes; therefore the network provides connections to all directions.
The  36  minute  average  travel  time  from  cities  to  their  regional  airports  also
seems to be fairly short. From this aspect the airports of Nyíregyháza, Szeged and
Debrecen  have  the  most  favourable  location  as  they  are  falling  into  their  own
urban  area’s  territory.  Their  utilization  ratio  (except  the  airport  of  Debrecen)  is
low yet but they have bright prospects for economic development. The airports of
Kecskemét, Székesfehérvár and Miskolc are situated at unfavourable geographi-
cal  locations  with  much  longer  travel  time  than  the  national  average.  Of  them
Székesfehérvár  can  the  most  easily  tackle  this  problem  but  due  to  the  financial
shortages of its investors the city has been trapped into a handicapped situation
during  the  competition  of  regional  airports.  Generally  speaking  after  all  the
shorter than ninety minutes travel time to regional airports from any points of all
urban areas seems to be appropriate.
There are greater differences between urban areas from the point of motorway
accessibility.  The  average  travel  time  to  motorways  is  34  minutes  in  Hungary
which  is  much  longer  than  the  West-European  average  values  but  much  better
than in East-Europe. The better than East-European results are resulting from the
motorway building projects of the past 4–5 years. The travel time values to mo-
torways  are  much  better  in  the  urban  areas  of  Budapest,  Gy r,  Kecskemét  and
Székesfehérvár, because all these cities are accessible by motorway and several of
their  background  settlements  have  also  direct  connections  to  these  motorways.
This  means  that  not  only  big  cities  but  also  several  of  their  background  settle-
ments  are  easily  accessible  by  motorway.  Recently  the  physical  accessibility  of
the urban areas of Szeged, Nyíregyháza and Debrecen has significantly improved
by cutting down the distance of these cities from motorways. In 2006 both Debre-
cen and szeged joined the Hungarian motorway network

3For tracking changes we defined three sampling dates. They were years 1993, 1998 and 2003.

21

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
ing the national average. The reducing differences between Budapest and provin-
cial big cities in the coverage of telecommunication services is an indicator of the
quicker  growth  of  telecommunication  service  in  small  and  medium-sized  towns
and in rural settlements.
The role of public Internet access points has significantly increased by the re-
cent  improvement  of  e-administration  services  during  the  past  two  years.  These
services  are  concentrated  in  urban  areas  and  are  available  in  all  the  settlements
involved  in  our  research.  Therefore  they  can  be  eliminated  as  factors  of  spatial
disparities. However only 53% of Hungary’s total settlements have such Internet
access facilities and just those settlements are suffring from the inadequate cover-
age  of  public  Internet  services  that  would  need  them  the  most  due  to  their  low
accessibility of Internet services at home.
Demography and housing
The  9  urban  areas  involved  in  our  research  are  inhabited  by 38% of Hungary’s
total population in 2003 (3.8 million people), but their population concentrating
force has significantly weakened between 1993 and 2003. This can be accounted
for the quickly dropping population of Budapest as a partial result of the otmigra-
tion of residents from the central parts into the agglomaration zone, albeit a minor
part of outmigrants settle down in other parts than the agglomeration zone. The
population drop rate of provincial urban areas is also exceeding the national aver-
age but still moderate, due to the increasing population of their background set-
tlements.
The population changes of urban areas between 1993 and 2003 created a huge
downfall  in  their  core  cities  but  a  dynamic  increase  in  their  background  settle-
ments (Figure 2).
Kecskemét was the only urban area increasing its population due to its special
structure  of  background  settlements  consisting  of  farmsteads4  and  also  to  the
immigration  of  their  residents  into  the  city’s  central  urban  quarters.  (Living
conditions in farmsteads are lagging behind the average level and the faster urban
development of the nearby city makes these differences more spectacular between
the  city  and  its  environment).  This  was  also  a  partial  explanation  in  case  of
Nyíregyháza why it could maintain its population decrease on minimal level and
the higher than the average natural birth-rate index was another counterbalancing
factor against their decreasing population tendencies. On the basis of the radically
dropping  population  in  Budapest,  Miskolc  and  Székesfehérvár  and  of  the
increasing population in their background settlements we assume that the spatial
expansion  of  such  a  high  number  of  inhabitants  involves  a  wider  circle  of

4They  are  villages  having  a  significant  number of peasant houses with a farm in their peripheral
zone but within their administrative boundaries

23

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
degree is the most moderate in the urban areas of Kecskemét, Miskolc, Debrecen
and  Nyíregyháza,  possibly  due  to  the  moderate  development  progress  of  local
insitutes of higher education.
Housing differences, especially differences in the quantitative and qualitative
features of the newly built homes are very important indicators of social inequali-
ties. In urban areas the average – in relation to the total number of inhabitants –
number of newly built homes exceeded the national average in all the three sam-
pling  years  of  our  research.  These  development  tendencies  indicate  that  the
above-described  differences  also  increased  as  in  1993  as  1.9  times  more  new
homes  were  built  in  urban  areas  than  on  national  level  while  in  year  2003  the
value  of  this  multiplier  was  2.1.  This  difference  value  in  some  urban  areas  is
positive with more than double values of the national average such as in the urban
areas of Budapest, Gy r and Pécs in 2003 but even in the urban areas of Székes-
fehérvár, Debrecen and Nyíregyháza they are still exceeding the national average.
The lowest figures of housing provision (showing a falling tendency during the
past  ten  years)  have  been  registered  in  Miskolc,  as  a  consequence  of  the  city’s
lagging – and still ongoing – economic restructuring process.
In big cities housing indicators were below the national average in 1993 but
since 1998 they have been exceeding it. The most spectacular growth in housing
took  place  during  the  past  five  years  which  probably  may  have  resulted  from
building new gated residential communities. This increased the 10% housing ad-
vantage  of  big  cities  to  50%.  Of  the  big  cities  we  registered  significant  below
average values only in Székesfehérvár and Miskolc. In Miskolc as well a sin its
urban area low residential incomes are the most responsible for low housing val-
ues. In Székesfehérvár the late start of building gated residential communities and
the delay of social housing programme are the main reasons of low housing indi-
cators (in 2004 and 2005 the local government built new homes in high number).
In background settlements the ratio of new homes exceeded the national aver-
age in all the three sampling years. Of the background settlements of urban areas
the values registered int he urban areas of Budapest, Gy r and Pécs are exceeding
the  national  average  by  250–300%  indicating  an  increasing  tendency  of  subur-
banization processes (our researches are indicating significant differences among
background  settlements  and  some  settlements  have  outstanding  importance  in
each  urban  area).  But  the  housing  values  in  the  background  settlements  of  the
urban  area  of  Miskolc  and  Kecskemét,  with  the  ratio  of  newly  built  homes  are
below the national average.
Due to the above-described processes the changes in the number of new homes
were varying between urban areas and inside their territory as well between 1993
and 2003 (Figure 4). With the intensification of suburbanization, with the growth
of  construction  industry  and  with  the  increasing  territory  of  local  homebuilding
sites a significant overall growth has been registered in the number of new homes

26

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
Health services
Our  research  data  show  significant  differences  in  the  institutional  supply  of
health, education and cultural services between urban areas. These differences are
strongly increasing socio-spatial differences. Concentration is the most dominant
feature of the changes in the institutional supply of these services i.e. the increas-
ing  role  of  big  cities  in  public  services  which  is  just  contradicting  to  the  new
trends  of  residential  functions  weakening  in  city  centres  and  getting  stronger  in
background settlements.
The number of general practitioners in settlements is a quantitative indicator of
primary health services. It shows how crowded the general practitioners’ waiting
rooms are and how wide is the selection palette of local practitioners.
On the scale of urban areas there are no great differences in the quantitative
indicators of primary health services. The urban areas of Nyíregyháza and Buda-
pest have the worst indicators in this field, due to their relative shortages of gen-
eral  practitioners.  Here  the  average  patient/doctor  ratio  was  2400  in  year  2003
(the average patient/doctor ratio in urban areas is 2080) while in the urban area of
Pécs it is 1500 only (the national level of patient/doctor ratio is 1980). Pécs is in a
unique position, as the health service indicators of its background settlements are
better than of the core city due to their lower number of inhabitants. (Although,
regarding this field, a strong equalization process has been going on since 1993
and some minor settlements in the urban areas of Pécs, Gy r and Székesfehérvár
have been left without any general practitioner services. Their number sorted in
descending  order  is  13,  8  and  3.  The  inhabitants  of  these  settlements  have  no
other choice than visiting the neighbour city’s or village’s general practitioner as
they neither have doctor on duty services) (Figure 11).
Figure  11  is  showing  the  changing ‘utilization ratio’ of general practitioners
between 1993 and 2003. The tendency of changes is varying by urban areas be-
tween 1993 and 2003: on national level the quantitative health service indicators
have improved. A higher than national average improvement was registered in the
urban area of Miskolc only. The quantitative indicators of health service also im-
proved  in  the  background  settlements  of  Kecskemét  and  Miskolc  but  in  all  the
other urban areas they have deteriorated (mostly in Budapest and Pécs and in their
urban  agglomeration).  Thus,  national  level  improvement  is  mainly  the  conse-
quence  of  increasing  quantitative  health  service  indicators  in  small  towns  and
villages excluded from urban areas and a dual tendency may be observed in urban
areas:  worsening  indicators  in  background  settlements  falling  behind  and  im-
proving indicators in core cities exceeding the national average.
Deteriorating indicators are explained by the changing situation of background
settlements. In urban areas core cities are in a better position than their peripheries
but this dichotomy can be eliminated by the assumption that a great part of citi-
zens living in urban peripheries – on the basis of free choice of general practitio-

34

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
In-patient services are an important part of health services where the availabil-
ity (and utilization ratio) of hospital beds is an important statistical indicator. The
value of hospital bed supply per 1,000 inhabitants informs us about the possibili-
ties and limits of health services and the differences of this value are one of the
major indicators of social differences. All these data are relevant to cities only but
some city hospitals – the majority of hospitals involved in our research are oper-
ating in big cities are performing county level services as well (their service ter-
ritory  is  inhabited  by  150–200  thousand  people).  Of  Hungarian  urban  areas
Szeged, Budapest and Nyíregyháza had the highest value of hospital bed supply
per 1,000 inhabitants indicators (between 6 and 3.6), while the lowest values have
been registered in the urban areas of Pécs and Székesfehérvár (between 0.7 and
1.1, the national average is 2.6). Thus, the difference between hospital bed sup-
plies is almost ninefold among the different urban areas.
Between  1993  and  2003  the  number  of  hospital  beds  increased  in  Debrecen
only (113%) while higher than the national average reduction of hospital beds was
carried out in the urban areas of Gy r and Kecskemét (76–83%). There were almost
no hospital bed reductions in the urban areas of Székesfehérvár and Budapest.
Outside the territory of urban areas only the background settlements of Szeged
and Budapest (Deszk, Pomáz, Kistarcsa, Vác, Visegrád, Dunaharaszti and Török-
bálint) have available hospital beds. The cutdown ratio of hospital beds was be-
low the average in the urban area of Szeged and exceeded the national average in
the urban area of Budapest. Cities with the highest hospital bed supply per 1,000
inhabitant indicator (18–20) are located in East-Hungary: (Miskolc, Nyíregyháza
and Debrecen), while Szeged, Gy r and Budapest have the lowest indicators (12–
13). The national level hospital bed supply per 1,000 inhabitants indicator is 2.5,
while this average figure is 1.5 for big cities. The reduction ratio of hospital beds
was the lowest in Debrecen, Székesfehérvár and Nyíregyháza and the highest was
in the cities of Kecskemét and Gy r (Figure 12).
Education
The differences between the institutional supply and the use of education services
were investigated in the public and higher education system. These services are
also dominated by high urban concentration and their importance is continuously
increasing.
The average value of full-time secondary pupils per 1,000 inhabitants informs
us about the present utilization ratio of secondary schools and its future tenden-
cies. On the scale of urban areas the average 8.5 secondary pupil per 1,000 in-
habitants value is nearly one-fifth of the national average (43; but this figure has
resulted  from  the  non-existence  of  students  in  non-existent  background  settle-
ments).  The  two  extreme  values  of  these  data  are  3  secondary  pupils  per  1,000

36

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
The social structure of metropolitan areas: the changing
core-periphery model6
The social structure of Hungarian metropolitan spaces has historically been for-
mulated by the high-ranked core and low ranked periphery model. (In the period
following the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries until the 1950s high social classes
with  high  incomes  lived  in  the  inner  city  quarters  of  Budapest  while  suburban
zones, industrial districts and peripheral settlements were inhabited by low social
classes).7
The  state  socialist  regime  significantly  changed  the  social  inequalities  of  the
historical  core-periphery  model.  These  changes  were  initiated  by  the  functional
and social transformation of city centres and by the suburbanization process of
that time.
Since the 1970s Hungary has been struggling with the problems of inner cities:
the physically eroding houses and flats, the increasing number of slums and the
damages of the environment. Deterioriating cities became more perceivable in the
1980s. The concentration of the poor, the old-aged and the Roma population in
large cities was significant even in the periods mentioned above (Ladányi-Szelé-
nyi, 1988, 83; Musil, 2002). but the massive outmigration of middle classes from
urban peripheries did not start at that time, though the distribution mechanisms of
state housing provision, the building of new housing estates created some oppor-
tunity  for  some  ‘quasi-suburbanisation’.  In  several  cases  the  society  of  housing
estates was originating from the outmigration of the wealthy, socially high-posi-
tioned classes from city centres with better political chances for the enforcement
of their interests. Within the framework of a redistributive state housing provision
system8 the modern, new housing estates built in the outer belt of city centres or

6I used core-periphery model in socio-geographic and sociological sense. In socio-geographic sense
the  core  should  be  interpreted  as  the  spatial  centre  of  a  certain  geographic  unit  while  periphery
means  the  outer  space  of  the  geographic  unit.  Between  core  and  outer  space  there  may  exist
economic,  infrastructural,  functional  and  social  differences  or  disparities.  These  disparities  are
marking  out  the  spatial  centre  of  the  geographic  unit  and  the  periphery's  ecological  and  social
positions.  In  sociological  sense  core  and  periphery  are  marking  out  the  social  rank  of  the
geographical unit's population in the social hierarchy and the social position of population living in
core and peripheral areas. In my ‘traditional’ core-periphery model the inhabitants living in core
areas have the highest social rank gradually lowering as moving out of the city centre.
7In  Hungarian  big  cities  the  core-periphery  model  has  never  followed  directly  this pure analogy.
City centres had always residents from the lower classes as well. This goes back to architectural
reasons on the one hand and to the traditional structure of urban societies resulting from the low
percentage of upper and middle classes.
8The redistributive housing provision system was an organic component of the housing policy of the
socialist regime until the late 1980s. It was characterized by the state’s dominance in the provision
of  flats.  The  system  was  originally  targeted  at  reducing  social  differences  in  the  state’s  welfare
services.  However  in  most  cases  the  provision  of  flats  –  by  eliminating  the  rules  of  market  and
social aspects – was driven by different political motivations and by certain elite groups in power.

40

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
in urban outskirts equipped with all comfort and amenities were considered as an
acknowledgement of social and political position and a bonus for the loyalty to
the state. The less preferential middle-class and lower middle classes, positioned
at  a  lower  level  of  the  social  and  political  ranking  system,  had  no  chances  for
leaving  their  homes  located  in  urban  centres  within  the  framework  of  the  state
housing provision system (Cséfalvay 1995, 41).
The  above-described  processes  changed  the  linear  downward  tendency  of
physical environment and social position indicators as moving out from the city
centre  towards  the  peripheral  zone.  The  ecological  position  of  city  centres  has
deteriorated,  the  social  reputation  of  transitional  urban  zones  has  increased  as  a
result of building new housing estates and the social classes settled down there.
At the same time the social reputation of urban peripheries remained low.
The 1990s was a period of fundamental changes. These changes took place in
a  very  contradictory  way  with  a  rapid  and  spectacular  development  at  certain
spots of urban centres while other parts were lagging and gradually perishing. The
advantages of urban restructuring are originating from ‘big city life’-styled devel-
opment  processes,  from  the  domination  of  business  and  commercial  functions.
This assigns characteristic features for metropolitan centres: the building of finan-
cial  centres,  banks,  office  quarters  the  building  of  new  or  the  rehabilitation  of
urban economic and commercial centres, the construction of their servicing infra-
structure,  building  or  renewing  hotels,  shopping  centres  and  business  or  market
oriented  real  estate  developments.  The  elegant  shops,  the  new  restaurants,  bars
and cafeterias, pedestrian streets, tourist spots create a modern urban environment
in  city  centres.  The  above-described  changes  have  partially  improved  and  par-
tially spoiled the city centres’ ecological positions in the traditional core-periph-
ery model.
Since  the  1980s  an  increasing  number  of  people  have  outmigrated  from  city
centres  into  urban  peripheries.  The  years  of  the  1990s  further  increased  the  dy-
namics of suburbanization.9 Subutrbanization processes were further encouraged
by the economic demands of spatially expanding residents and by the spatial de-
centralization of economy. The new housing market positions, the increasing sala-
ries  of  (mostly  high  class)  citizens,  the  widening  selection  alternatives  and  de-
mands for suburban residential areas are further catalysators of suburbanization.
These  new  demands  were  correlating  with  urban  environmental  problems  too,
such as air pollution, noise and the missing rehabilitation of central urban quar-

9The above described socio-statistical analyses have also verified the dynamically growing intensity
of suburbanization. The population of big cities and their urban areas has dropped by 5% between
1993 and 2003. This drop rate exceeded the national average. One of the largest population drop
rates (nearly 7%) was revealed in the Budapest agglomeration zone. The greater part of population
drop  took  place  in  cities.  It  was  14.6%  in  Budapest  and  the  average  drop  rate  of  the  remaining
cities was 4.8%. The average population growth rate of suburbs was 15.7%.

41

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
ters. The local development policy of suburban municipalities is further increas-
ing  the  dynamism  of  suburbanisation  by  encouraging  outmigrants  for  settling
down by different means of land use policy, such as infrastructure development
and big supply of building sites.
The  findings  of  the  representative  survey  in  9  urban  areas  in  2004  have  re-
vealed that suburbanization process may be interpreted as a spatial restructuring
of  high  classes  in  the  city  pursuant  to  their  gradual  outmigration  from  the  city
centre  into  external  urban  zones  and  finally  to  suburban  zone.  The  outmigrants
first selected well-advanced urban peripheries, then good quality urban outskirts
and finally less-advanced urban peripheries.10 On the other hand we also followed
the spatial migration of low classes within urban zones. For example in Székesfe-
hérvár only a low ratio of high and upper-middle classes are involved in subur-
banization but middle and low classes were more mobile. (A representative sur-
vey for the suburban population of Székesfehérvár indicates that 8.4% of the out-
migrants from city centre are top or medium-level managers, 7% are private en-
trepreneurs,  13%  are  high-educated  employees  and  48%  are  skilled  or  semi-
skilled workers (Szirmai et al. 2003a).
Several urban researches have revealed that the majority of citizens including
high classes have no intentions to move out from the city centre. In a representa-
tive sociological survey carried out in 2003 only 5% of people interviewed had
definite plans for outmigrating and another 3% are also intended to leave the city
centre  but  had  no  chances  for  doing  it.  Another  4%  are  going  to  leave  the  city
centre  within  the  next  few  years11  (Szirmai  et al 2003b). A public poll made in
Tatabánya in 2000 also confirmed this tendency as 78% of the interviewed resi-
dents claimed they would remain in the city and only 7% claimed expressed their
wish to outmigrate the city (Kiss–Dénes, 2000, 36).

10The  zoning  of  the  9  urban  areas  of  our  investigation  was  partially  made  on  the  basis  of  the
traditional  (human  and  ecological)  classification  categories  of  urban  sociology  and  partially  by
local experiences and on-site inspection walks. The following major urban zones were delimited:
central  urban  zone  or  the  historic  city  centre  in  other  words.  It  is  the  old  town  and  the  first
employment  zone  with  the  city’s  employment  organisations  of  outstanding  importance
(administrative bodies, banks and credit institutes, educational and cultural organisations, offices
etc.), business, commercial and entertainment facilities. This area is characterized by multi-storey
office  blocks  and  high  built-in  density.  The  transitional  zone  comprises  industrial  plants  and
commercial  centres  with  their  surrounding  residential  quarters.  The  suburban  zone  consists  of
satellite cities standing in close functional relationship with the city. These satellite cities used to
function  in  administrative  sense  as  independent  settlements  in  the  past.  Today  this  zone  has
residential  functions  primarily.  It  is  generally  built  in  with  private  houses,  housing  estates  or
nowadays more and more gated residential communities are emerging here
11In an NKFP survey made in 2005 already 6.4% of the inhabitants of Székesfehérvár stated they
had a definite plan to leave the city and another 9.7% claimed they would like to leave the city
centre but had no chances for doing it.

42

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
The results of the representative survey of urban areas in 2005 have also re-
vealed that the majority of urban area residents – 79.6% – are not intending (or
having no chances) to change their place of residence. Only 13% of city dwellers
stated they definitely would move out of the city and another 7.3% claimed they
intended to leave the city but had no chances for doing it. Of the suburban citizens
4.2% would move but had no chances for doing it. Of those being sure of moving
the percentage of city centre and transitional zone inhabitants is high. In inner city
quarters  people  with  secondary  and  high  education  and  brain  workers  while  in
transitional zones and city outskirts people with secondary education and private
entrepreneurs  are  over-represented  among  those  claiming  to  be  definite  of
changing their residential location. In advanced and less advanced suburban zones
again the ratio of people with secondary and high-education, private entrepreneurs
and brain workers is the highest within the same question item. Thus, it is an in-
teresting phenomenon that on the two endpoints of urban hierarchy – in the core
city and in the periphery – the percentage of the highest social classes while in
transitional  urban  zones  the  percentage  of  middle  classes  is  the  highest  in  the
group wishing to change residential place.
More than half of the citizens intending to move would like to find their new
residence  within  the  same  city  and  22%  would  remain  in the neighbourhood of
their present home. (This figure is 13% in urban peripheries). Of the urban resi-
dents  we  have  interviewed  27%  would  like  to  find  their  new  home  outside  the
city. Our data are indicating a higher than average ratio of low social classes se-
lecting socially low-ranked urban districts, such as urban-style residential areas in
the proximity of the city centre or garden city areas or rural style suburban zones
to  live  in.  Middle  classes  prefer  to  settle  down  in  elite  residential  areas,  garden
cities or gated residential communities. The highest social classes and profession-
als intending to leave the city centre follow two patterns during the selection of
their  new  homesite:  they  either  move  out to elite central urban districts of their
cities, the historic old town part or escape out of the city to suburban garden villa
quarters  or  elite  gated  residential  communities.  Brainworkers  and  professionals
prefer rural style urban peripheries for their living environment. Finding correla-
tion between a position of a selected (or desired) residential area in the ecologi-
cal hierarchy and the social position of the interviewed persons is a very impor-
tant result of our research: different social classes select ecological-social units
harmonising the best with their social position and financial circumstances.
Residence change plans in Hungarian urban areas do not provide a sufficient
basis for forecasting a significantly accelerating suburbanisation process. Today’s
residence  change  plans  do  not  represent  a  massive  trend;  they  are  rather  repre-
senting the disstisfaction of minority groups with their present place of residence
or expressing their new expectations for their residential area. This does not prog-
nostify a radical change in the present social structure of urban zones and in the

43

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
ferences can be seen between the two extreme values in the category of average
incomes (50–75 thousand HUF) and in zero income categories which means they
are not fitting into the hierarchical structure model.
Thus, as the above listed indicators are illustrating, the geographical units of
urban areas i.e. the core settlement (the city) and the periphery (the suburb) are
also  differentiated  in  the  context  of  infrastructural  and  institutional  supply  in-
cluding  (and  verified  by  the  statistically  analysed)  socio-spatial  and  ecological
inequalities and of the different spatial concetration of different social classes.
The dual structured core-periphery model
And now we are analysing the changing core-periphery model by a figure (Figure
x), where the starting and at the same time the peak point is representing the core
area, i.e. the historic city centre and the endpoint is representing the periphery i.e.
the underdeveloped suburb. By the same figure we are demonstrating the spatial
division of the urban area’s population by education level, profession and income
categories.  As  it  can  clearly  be  noticed  the  social  structure  of  advanced  urban
peripheries is breaking the monotonous downsliding trend of the traditional spa-
tial, ecological and social hierarchies by turning it back into an upward direction
for a while. This can be explained by the fact that new social values have been
assigned to the peripheral zones of urban areas. Due to the outcomes of the pre-
sent socio-economic processes of suburbanization and to the new socio-economic
and functional relations of urban peripheries the social appreciation of urban pe-
ripheries  has  been  differentiated;  the  suburban  parts  of  urban  zones  have  been
divided into low-ranked and high ranked socio-spatial units. These units – periur-
ban distrits and villages – are populated both by high and low social classes.
The recent changes of inner city quarters (slums, regenerated areas) have also
changed  the  earlier  ecological  and  social  structure  of  cities.  The  once  homoge-
nous  high  social  reputation  of  inner  cities  has  been  eroded  by  the  deteriorating
parts of inner city quarters.
The socio-spatial analyses of urban areas suggest that the traditional core-pe-
riphery  model  is  relevant  for  the  urban  areas  in  Hungary  as  well.  In  cities  and
their  central  areas  the  presence  of  high  classes  is  dominant  while  in  suburban
zones and urban peripheries generally low classes are in majority. Going outward
from  core  areas  towards  the  periphery  the  social  structure  shows  a  hierarchical
structure. Going down the ecological-spatial slope indicating the economic, infra-
structural and institutional supply level of the different geographical units of ur-
ban spaces we can see a gradually decreasing presence of high social classes and
a gradually increasing presence of low social classes.
On  the  basis  of  the  evaluation  of  research  data  we  can  also  declare  that  in
Hungarian urban spaces the traditional core-periphery model cannot be identified

48

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
in its original form any more: the social structure of advanced urban peripheries is
firmly breaking up the monotony of the downward line of the ecological-spatial
slope of social hierarchy between the 'two endpoints': the core and the periphery.
As a consequence of transition and globalisation the social structure of Hun-
garian  metropolitan  spaces  and  the  social  content  of  the  core-periphery  model
have  significantly  changed.  The  social  processes  of  the  past  years  through  the
differentiated – partially high, partially low social contents of the core-periphery
model created a dual socio-spatial hierarchy. The first type of socio-spatial hier-
archy contains a high-ranked core and a low ranked periphery model. The second
type of socio-spatial hierarchy shows a formation of low-ranked core and a high-
ranked  periphery  model.    Both  hierarchies  are  simultaneously  present  in  urban
spaces.
Conclusion
On the basis of analysing the spatial disparities of Hungarian urban areas we can
draw the following conclusions:
The  analysis  of  the  infrastructural,  demographic,  housing,  economic  and
institutional  supply  indicators  in  Hungary’s  nine  urban  areas  has  revealed  two
major  tendencies:  On  the  one  hand  during  the  research  period  the  separation of
residential and public service functions further increased and also has restructured
the  relevant  spatial  disparities.  This  means  that  the  improving  residential
functions  in  background  settlements  were  not  followed  by  an  appropriate
development  of  those  public  services  that  we  have  investigated  in  our  research.
Institutions  and  services  providing  extra  facilities  beyond  the  essential  public
services  are  concentrated  in  big  cities  only,  which  increases  the  dependency  of
background  settlements  on  core  cities.  On  the  other  hand,  however,  successful
economic  restructuring  does  no  necessarily  imply  a  dynamic  development  of
institutional  supply  because  the  expansion  or  retreat  of  the  services  we  have
investigated are influenced by other factors as well, such as residential incomes,
the key factors of public consumption or the historical background of institutional
supply.  In  certain  areas  the  provision  of  public  services  was  abandoned  by  the
state and there were no businesses to fill in the gap of missing public services by
the same or similar ones.
1)  The  spatial  disparities  of  economic  development  are  increasing  the
superiority of the metropolitan area of Budapest in the areas of economic
power  and  efficiency  (foreign  direct  investments,  the  level  of  incomes,
economic performance, employment structure, purchasing power etc.). The
current development disparities of provincial urban areas are showing ten-
dencies having been emerged several decades ago: the urban areas of Gy r
and  Székesfehérvár  in  Northern  Transdanubia  besides  functioning  as  re-

49

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
gional  centres  enjoy  significant  competitive  advantages  as  well  and  are
pretty far ahead of their competitors;: the urban areas of Nyíregyháza, Mi-
skolc and Kecskemét. Within urban areas economic resources are heavily
concentrated in core cities. A comparison of the division of economic per-
formance between central cities and non-central settlements points out that
the economic performance of non-central settlements is only 10–15% of the
urban  area’s  overall  economic  performance.  This  figure  is  only  cca  20%
even in the metropolitan area of Budapest.
2)  The changes of demographic and economic indicators within the period be-
tween 1993 and 2003 (and 1990–2001) are clearly marking a strong corre-
lation between increasing social inequalities and agglomeration tendencies.
As  it  is  seen  the  spatial  disparities  between  urban  areas  originating  from
macroregional  development  differences  have  decreased  but  due  to  the  in-
tensification of suburbanization and to its consequences core-periphery re-
lations and spatial dependencies have increased within urban areas.
3)  The  development  chances  of  background  settlements  were  determined  by
their  geographical  location.  Settlements  with  good  physical  accessibility
and having built strong connections with other settlements can easily inte-
grate themselves into their urban area. This can easily be verified by statis-
tical figures. Others with less favourable circumstances seem to be uncer-
tain of their integration into their urban area and they are bouncing between
closing up and ‘fading out’ i.e. falling off to the level of disadvantaged ru-
ral areas.
4)  Spatial disparities are also largely influenced by the processes and impacts
of the integration to global economy (the benefits that can be gained from
the  socio-economic  impacts  of  global  networks  and  foreign  direct  invest-
ments). At the same time these processes and impacts are also warning of
the threats of socio-economic inequalities, of the increasing interaction, of
their  mutual  consequences  and  of  their  spatial  expansion.  All  these  may
intensify social conflicts that can already be noticed in Budapest and its en-
vironment due to the increasing problems of transport and loads on envi-
ronment and to their negative social impacts seen day by day.
5)  The results of the representative research of Hungary’s metropolitan areas
are providing clear evidences on the socio-structural inequalities of urban
areas. The centres of Hungarian urban areas are concentrating high social
classes,  high-educated  and  qualified  professionals  earning  high  salaries,
while low social classes generally live in the peripheral parts and in suburbs
of  low  social  prestige.  However  some  groups  of  handicapped  classes  do
live in the city centre as well and the percentage of high social classes is
also  significant  in  suburbs.  Today’s  socio-spatial  processes,  their  historic
determinations, the age of transition and global integration have all created

50

Molnár, Balázs - Szépvölgyi, Ákos - Szirmai, Viktória :
The Social Structure of Hungarian Urban Areas: Key Factors and Characteristic Features.
In: Social Inequalities in Urban Areas and Globalization. The Case of Central Europe.
Pécs: Centre for Regional Studies, 2007. 18-51. p. Discussion Papers, Special
a core-periphery model of dual social structure where the traditional model
of  socially  high-ranked  centrre  with  and  low-ranked  periphery  has  been
extended by another scheme of low-ranked centre and high-ranked periph-
ery. All these processes have created a new type of socio-spatial unit.
The Austrian case study – Social Inequalities
in the Vienna Metropolitan Region
Preface
A spatial analysis of social inequalities tackles one of the major issues of modern
human  geography:  How  equal  or  unequal  is  society  and  its  spatial  distribution?
The answers range from one extreme, a totally equal distribution representing a
homogeneous social area, to the other, a distinctly unequal distribution as a char-
acteristic feature of a society that is socially as well as spatially highly diverse.
Equal  distribution  indicates  that  all  spatial  units  share  the  same  features,  which
means that all units have the same proportion of affluent and poor residents, the
same proportion of qualified and unqualified employed persons and of large and
small apartments. Unequal distribution obviously refers to the complete opposite.
The highly qualified and well-off groups of population as well as the large apart-
ments  concentrate  in  a  very  limited  number  of  units,  whereas  low-income  and
unskilled residents living in small apartments concentrate in a completely differ-
ent  set  of  spatial  units.  What  is  not  intended  in  this  context,  however,  is  an
evaluation of socio-spatial inequality, since the question whether an unequal spa-
tial  distribution  is  to  be  interpreted  as  fair  or  unfair  will  always  be  a  matter  of
ideology. Therefore the focus of this paper will rather be put on an objective de-
scription.
The analysis itself is primarily based on data of the census 2001, which allows
a very detailed spatial differentiation. The first step includes the identification of
relevant  indicators  characterizing  social  inequality,  the  second  step  is  aimed  at
depicting their spatial distribution and, thirdly, the individual features are going to
be  combined  in  order  to  establish  basic  dimensions  of  inequality.  The  smallest
spatial  unit  in  this  analysis  is  the  community  or  municipality  for  the  suburban
region  of  Vienna  or  the  census  tract  for  the  City  of  Vienna  itself.  Together  the
City of Vienna and its suburban region constitute the Vienna Metropolitan Region
that has been subject of the analysis.14

14In this context Ms D. Schönbichler is to be thanked for the translation into English as well as for
reviewing the draft.

51