From the 10th to the 14th of May I was in Budapest, invited by Sander. I joint him and his city-master fellows to visit one of the most important Eastern European capitals. It was also an opportunity to visit a country not as a tourist, but within this academic program. And it has been really interesting...
What can I say about Budapest? It is an attractive, interesting city. It has personality. Sometimes it looks like Wien, sometimes it just looks senseless. Some streets are completely new and bright, some others... let's just say that they aren't. Nevertheless, it truly is a very interesting city, which I recommend to everybody.
Let's start with a bunch of day-photos:
You all can see pictures of the Old District: Fisherman's Bastion, Széchenyi Chain and Erzsébet bridges, Turul a várban, the Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica, the Buda Castle, the newly constructed Opera and Palace of Arts, and two interesting new building areas, Marina Part and the Gaphisoft Park.
Besides the "historical" pictures, the ones form Marina Part and Gaphisoft Park are interesting from a social perspective. The first one, because recreates the old soviet style of housing, although its intention is to provide a safe home for middle-class people. The second one is interesting because it is neither Budapest nor Hungary at all. It is America! I don't know if Budapest needs that, but what it actually doesn't need is the projected private campus to train white collar workers for the based companies. University should be a place for knowledge and criticism, not a training factory to produce obedient skilled workers...
Now, a few night pictures:
The motives are more or less the same, so there's hardly anything to add.
The last day we visited Dunaújváros (Dunau New City), called before Sztálinváros (Stalin's City), an old soviet city built up from nothing in other to provide work force to the steel company Dunaferr. I'll talk a bit about this last one later.
Dunaújváros has been shrinking population since 1990s, and about 30% of active population is employed by the local steel company. It's economy basically depends on this factory, besides the local efforts to diversify their industrial production. The place serves the factory, that's all. All their future depends on if the factory is able to survive or not. Simple and clear.
Dunaferr, a really old soviet factory (now in hands of Russians and Ukrainians) is an open door to the past. This is not only because the factory itself is old and careless as hell, but also because the working conditions aren't very safe. Two notes about the current owners; when the spoke-person to which we talked was asked about the life expectancy of his workers and about existing health-care plans for developed respiratory diseases of his staff (there were breathing iron all the day, so we did too), this guy had not a fucking clue, not a single answer.
God save capitalism and neoliberalism...!
the pictures are also geotagged in Picasa.
more
Let's start with a bunch of day-photos:
You all can see pictures of the Old District: Fisherman's Bastion, Széchenyi Chain and Erzsébet bridges, Turul a várban, the Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica, the Buda Castle, the newly constructed Opera and Palace of Arts, and two interesting new building areas, Marina Part and the Gaphisoft Park.
I like this one a lot:
Besides the "historical" pictures, the ones form Marina Part and Gaphisoft Park are interesting from a social perspective. The first one, because recreates the old soviet style of housing, although its intention is to provide a safe home for middle-class people. The second one is interesting because it is neither Budapest nor Hungary at all. It is America! I don't know if Budapest needs that, but what it actually doesn't need is the projected private campus to train white collar workers for the based companies. University should be a place for knowledge and criticism, not a training factory to produce obedient skilled workers...
Now, a few night pictures:
The motives are more or less the same, so there's hardly anything to add.
The last day we visited Dunaújváros (Dunau New City), called before Sztálinváros (Stalin's City), an old soviet city built up from nothing in other to provide work force to the steel company Dunaferr. I'll talk a bit about this last one later.
Dunaújváros has been shrinking population since 1990s, and about 30% of active population is employed by the local steel company. It's economy basically depends on this factory, besides the local efforts to diversify their industrial production. The place serves the factory, that's all. All their future depends on if the factory is able to survive or not. Simple and clear.
Dunaferr, a really old soviet factory (now in hands of Russians and Ukrainians) is an open door to the past. This is not only because the factory itself is old and careless as hell, but also because the working conditions aren't very safe. Two notes about the current owners; when the spoke-person to which we talked was asked about the life expectancy of his workers and about existing health-care plans for developed respiratory diseases of his staff (there were breathing iron all the day, so we did too), this guy had not a fucking clue, not a single answer.
God save capitalism and neoliberalism...!
the pictures are also geotagged in Picasa.
(c) José Miguel Roncero Martín, May 2010
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2 comentarios:
Querido José Miguel, el talento que tienes con el lente ya se da por sentado,pero siempre tengo que resaltalo.
Me parece que este paseo ha resultado muy interesante para ti y así los has transmitido en lo que escribiste. Una ciudad con tanta historia y contrastes siempre nos tiene que abrir nuevos horizontes de reflexión sobre los que tienen nuestras ciudades de origen , lo que les falta o sobra, o simplemtne ver distintos tipos de desarrollo condicionados por la hitoria y modelos econónimicos diferentes.
Me gustó especialmente Dunaújváros, la industra del hierro dando empleo al 30% de la PEA revela su importancia. Las imágenes son espectaculares.
Y bueno, que viva el capitalismo y el neoliberalismo de ciertos modelos, que no todo es igual ni ha dado los mismo resultados por doquier.
Besos amigo querido
Me sacas los colores, Tani. Muchas gracias por tus amables palabras :)
Ciertamente, Hungría ha sido una escapada interesante. Budapest ofrece otra perspectiva de centro Europa, ya que aunque geográficamente está situada bastante al este, Hungría ha pertenecido políticamente al Occidente europeo, debido al Imperio Austro-húngaro. Y sin embargo, cayó bajo la esfera soviética.
Dunaújváros fue harto interesante, no me cabe la menor duda. Pero si te soy sincero, los mismos portavoces ucranianos de la fábrica nos dieron a entender que explotarán la factoría hasta que puedan o la UE les permita, y que en cuanto deje de dar beneficios (y no es que dé muchos actualmente), la cierran y "santas pascuas", como se dice por Castilla. En mi opinión, Dunaújváros está condenada.
Sobre el capitalismo y el neoliberalismo, tengo que aclarar, es cierto. El gran problema que veo en los países de la Europa del este ha sido el cambio radical de modos y formas, de un modelo estatal planificado a uno salvajemente neoliberal sin controles ni restricciones. Pero mientras modos y formas han cambiado, las mentalidades no lo han hecho, al menos no para la mayoría de la población. Según nos contaban los diferentes profesores húngaros con los que teníamos la oportunidad de discutir, la población aún piensa "a lo soviético", es decir, que esperan que el Estado les proporcione trabajo y casa. Literalmente hablando.
El nuevo sistema económico sencillamente no tiene una cultura social que lo respalde, y por ello el sistema político democrático no es muy popular. En las últimas elecciones, la derecha y la extrema derecha ganaron ampliamente a los partidos de centro, socialdemócratas y de izquierda. Los húngaros sencillamente creen que el problema que tiene se resuelve cambiando el sistema político, o "derechizándolo", cuando en realidad es un problema de mentalidad. En España, por ejemplo, el paso de la dictadura franquista a la democracia no fue traumático porque el sistema económico era ya capitalista desde hacía muchos años.
Bueno, me pongo a hablar y me extiendo xD Mi novia se queja mucho de eso, de que no me callo.
Un abrazo desde Ginebra.
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