SZIGETHALOM TELEPÜLÉSMORFOLÓGIÁJA

URBAN MORPHOLOGY OF SZIGETHALOM

Abstract

Szigethalom was planned as a suburb for villas in the neighborhood of Budapest, but the plan failed, settlers built their houses for farming and later commuters came until the World War II. In the fifties, after the secession from Tököl, the new community became site of industrial development of the planning economy and the truck plant played an important role in Szigethalom’s life until the system change. Due the immigration, the parcels, plots were divided into smaller units to satisfy housing goals, loosing the farming image. Szigethalom grew to its limits, promoted to town, its main problem is not the chaotic grow and dense building up, but the lack of a planned center, a functional downtown. After drawing a sketch from the historical urban development and mapping the morphological elements, the author depicts the efforts of the town council’s and his visions as well, further his struggle with the local decision makers, his fight against real estate speculations.