Budapest, Hungary
City population: 1728868
Duration: 2020 – ongoing
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Previous derelict area
Last updated: October 2021

The Rákos-patak Green Corridor is a large-scale development project aimed at revitalizing the environment of the Rákos Stream on a 23 kilometre long path from it's areas in the outskirts of Budapest to the city center. The most important element of the development project is the planned bicycle lane, which would connect the already existing bicycle lanes along the stream into a full 23 kilometre one. In some areas of the planned corridor, other developments will happen with the goal of preserving and restoring habitats which originally existed in the area before it was first regulated. Near the outer areas of the stream, afforestation will also take place. (Reference 9) The area of the stream is currently underdeveloped. According to the plans, the new green corridor could help decrease urban stress.

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Blue infrastructure
  • Riverbank/Lakeside greens
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Green corridors and green belts
  • Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries

Key challenges

  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Environmental quality
  • Air quality improvement
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Enabling opportunities for physical activity
  • Improving physical health
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation

Focus

Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Protection of natural ecosystems, Transformation of previously derelict areas

Project objectives

The main goals of the project include: - stimulating the use of bicycles in daily commuting and thus decreasing air pollution and promoting a more sustainable urban environment (Reference 2); - decreasing traffic jams with a more diverse and balanced transportation system and with the improvement of bicycle networks in Budapest; - promoting bike tourism and recreation (Reference 1, p.5); - protecting habitats; - restoring the degraded ecosystem of the area (Reference 9); - afforestation.

Implementation activities

The project is in the planning phase, so far no implementation activity has been made.

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity conservation:

  • Protect and enhance urban habitats
  • Create new habitats

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
  • Restore native species

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
  • Other

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The Municipality of Budapest, as the beneficiary of the EU funding implements the project together with BKK Zrt. And the affected districts, in a consortium. (Reference 11)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Yes (The project gained funding from the Central Hungary Operational Programme of the ERDF under the European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) Regulation (Reference 4).)
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (The project is in line with the New Hungary Development Plan as it gained funding from the Central Hungary Operational Programme of the ERDF under the European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) Regulation (Reference 4).)
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (At least one of the local governments that involved in the project had had a green strategy which contained Rákos-patak Green Corridor as a stated goal (Reference 5), and the project is in line with the concepts of two other local government (Reference 7, 8).)

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • EU funds

Type of funding

  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Unknown

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Unknown

Type of reported impacts

No impacts reported

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. Budapesti Közlekedési Központ. (2017). "Rákos-patak menti ökoturisztikai folyosó kerékpáros útvonal fejlesztése” projekt keretében engedélyezési és kiviteli tervek készítése, valamint engedélyek megszerzése. BKK: Budapest. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 2020.06.18]
2. Source link. (2017). Online Public Survey. Újnemzedék. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed: 18.06.2020]
3. Erdős, Z. (2017). A Rákos-patak lehet Budapest első városi zöldútja: De mi az a városi zöldút?. [online] Kerékpárosklub. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 2020.06.18]
4. Source link. (2016). 1613/2016. (XI. 8.) Korm. határozat egyes, a Terület- és Településfejlesztési Operatív Program keretében megvalósuló, valamint a Source link azonosító jelű („Fenntartható közlekedésfejlesztés Budapesten” című) pályázati felhívásra beérkezett, egymilliárd forintot meghaladó támogatási igényű projektjavaslatok támogatásához való hozzájárulásról. [online] Available at: Source link. [Accessed: 18.06.2020].
5. XIII. Kerületi Önkormányzat. (2011) "AngyalZÖLD Stratégia, 2011-2014: Összefogással az élhetőbb környezetért." Budapest: XIII. Kerületi Önkormányzat. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 18.06.2020]
6. Source link. 2017. AngyalZÖLD Stratégia - A XIII. kerületi Önkormányzat zöldhálózat-fejlesztési programterve, Budapest. [online] Available at: Source link. [Accessed: 18.06.2020].
7. Berényi, M., Vojnits, Cs., Balás, G. and Szendrei, Zs. 2015. "Rákosmente 2015 – 2030: Településfejlesztési Koncepciója" Budapest: Rákosmente Önkormányzata. Available at: Source link Accessed: [19.06.2020]
8. Radványi, G. (2011) Előterjesztés a Kerületfejlesztési és Környezetvédelmi Bizottság részére A Rákos-patak menti ökoturisztikai jelentőségű zöldfolyosó kerékpáros túraútvonalként való kiépítésének koncepciójáról. Budapest: Kőbányai Önkormányzat. Available at: Source link Accessed: [19.06.2020]
9. Source link (2019) Péceltől a Dunáig épül Budapest leghosszabb parkja. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed: 13.07.2020]
10. Budapest Főváros Önkormányzata. (2017) Rákos-patak és környékének revitalizációja. Available at: Source link [Accessed: 13.07.2020]
11. Budapest Főváros Önkormányzata. (2017) Rákos-patak menti ökoturisztikai folyosó. [online] Available at: Source link [Accessed: 13.07.2020]