COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUILD-UP TYPES IN TWO WEST-HUNGARIAN TOWNS, BÜK AND CSEPREG IN 2013

Abstract

The subject of this study is the analysis of the building methods in two West-Transdanubian small towns, Bük and Csepreg, which can be compared for many reasons:

They are on the same level in the social-economic field, and their settlement shaping potencies are similar accordingly.

They are similar sized, with a population under 5000 persons, called small towns in the Hungarian terminology. That means, they belong to the same category in the settlement hierarchy. It is important regarding the settlement policy, because in every historical era it made its decisions about the subjects, goals, methods and the measure of interventions by the population category. The size of the settlements is a prime aspect in the source allocation of the European Union, therefore the status and potency of Bük and Csepreg suppose to be the same as well. However, the reality is different, because the spa town has better financial conditions than the old country town.

Both of them are towns not only by rights, but functionally as well. Consequently they possess roles, that cater their own and other towns’ population. In this point of view they are centers and the catered places constitute their agglomeration. Bük is primarily stronger in the newly established central functions (for example ambulance station, workplaces), however, Csepreg is abounding with traditional roles and functions (for example education, culture). In this way the two towns complete each other in the north of county Vas, this lack of town region.

In the analysis of the building methods of Bük and Csepreg the study uses the urban geography standardization, but when it is professionally necessary, it refers to local turn-outs of two other – the architectural and statistic trade’s - standardization as well.

The most important observation of the study is that in contrast with Bük, the built-up area in Csepreg does not grow, its building forms lose their variety, therefore their character gets further from the nature of towns, according to the decrease of the productive and catering activities and the shrinking of the institutions, the settlement becomes more rural instead of urbane. This is mostly evident in the way that like in villages, the living function and the private owned grounds with family houses are more significant in the settlement.