THE CITY AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS IN CITIES WITH COUNTRY RIGHTS

Abstract

The study examines the development of the historical urban cores of Hungarian cities, with
a special focus on the period following the regime change. Between the two world wars, the
gradual transformation of city centres into cities started in the largest cities, a process that
came to a halt during the socialist period. After the political and economic transformation,
the process of city formation accelerated. The emergence of the market economy led to the
displacement of residential functions from city centres, with an increasing number of
administrative, educational, cultural, commercial and service functions together with their
buildings. Already around the turn of the millennium, the centres of major settlements were
transformed into cities, by today the city has been divided into functionally distinct parts.
The paper illustrates this process and the subdivision of the city by using the examples of
some large spots.