David Vitézy Claims a New Amusement Park in Budapest Could be Built by the End of the Next Municipal Term Without Needing Public Funds
According to David Vitézy, leading the wish list of Budapest's voters at the request of the mayoral candidate, is the construction of an amusement park.
The transport expert, who is running for mayor in the municipal elections, pledges to provide a new entertainment center for the residents of Budapest after reinforcing the BKK (Budapest Transport Centre) security services.
Vitézy, who has inquired about amusement parks in several European cities, explains that a city of this size could easily support an amusement park, citing examples from Copenhagen to Barcelona and the Prater in Vienna. However, unlike before, the operation should not be entrusted to a municipal company but rather to a foreign operator with the appropriate experience, selected through a targeted utilization tender by the municipality.
"The practice of channeling private capital into community development projects through municipal building regulations, a common practice abroad, has completely disappeared from the toolkit of Hungarian municipalities. The area I propose in North Csepel is currently designated as a public park in the regulatory plans. The city, by virtue of its building authority, could provide an opportunity to a carefully selected investor to develop a significant green area as well as an amusement park on this approximately 82-hectare site. For comparison:
As promised earlier, a vast public park could be created on the site, locals could enjoy pedal boating and rowing in the Soroksár-Ráckeve branch of the Danube, and there could be playgrounds and outdoor sports fields next to the entertainment park. Similar to the Prater in Vienna, entry to the park would be free of charge; visitors would only have to pay for the attractions,” detailed Vitézy, who also sees this North Csepel site as an ideal location partly because a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge, built as part of the new Athletic Stadium project on the other side of Kvassay Bridge, would allow people to reach the area from MÜPA in 5 minutes. If the riverside promenade in Pest is completed, the city center would not be more than 20 minutes away.
In 2005, stirring quite a controversy, the Spanish real estate developer Fadesa purchased the four-plot property from the cash-strapped Csepel municipality for 11.3 billion forints, with plans to build a mini-Manhattan complete with skyscrapers. However, due to the lack of appropriate regulatory plans, the area remained undeveloped. The city municipality had already dreamed of turning the area into a public park and building a bridge. But in 2008, the Spanish company went bankrupt, and the property fell into the hands of one of its creditor banks. The mayoral candidate is hopeful he can reach an agreement with them, especially since the property, currently designated for a public park, cannot be developed. Nonetheless, Vitézy does not exclusively commit to North Csepel.
Vitézy would not relocate the remaining wooden-frame rollercoaster from the old amusement park; in his opinion, it should be renovated on site. He mentions that this was included in the government subsidy received for the biodome, making it puzzling why it has not yet been realized.