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Homelessness, drug use, and prostitution plague Népliget, Budapest’s vast city park
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Népliget was once Budapest’s most popular park, but today it stands as a neglected green space. Despite long-standing renovation plans, meaningful progress has yet to begin, and the park’s condition continues to deteriorate.
Budapest’s largest public park
When people think of Budapest’s public parks, the recently renovated City Park usually comes to mind first. With its green spaces, museums, cultural institutions, and regular events, it has become one of the capital’s most attractive destinations. Yet there is another, even larger park that has seen far better days: Népliget.
Opened in the late 19th century and covering more than 110 hectares, Népliget was once regarded as one of the city’s premier recreational areas. The park hosted the 1936 Hungarian Grand Prix, once featured an amusement park and puppet theatre, and was home to the much-loved Planetarium.
In recent decades, however, Népliget has steadily lost its appeal. Once-thriving community spaces have closed down, facilities have either deteriorated or become outdated, and maintenance efforts have fallen away.
The consequences of this neglect are now painfully evident. Visitors are often confronted with piles of rubbish, abandoned clothing, and vast, unused areas. The park also carries a poor reputation, with many citing concerns about public safety and pointing to the presence of homeless people, drug users, and prostitution. As a result, the city’s largest park has all but disappeared from the daily lives of Budapest residents.
Plans in the drawer – Why hasn’t Népliget been renovated?
According to a report by ATV, the comprehensive renovation of Népliget has been on the city’s agenda for several years. A long-term strategic plan was approved by Budapest’s leadership in 2021, outlining the objectives and tasks of reconstruction. Preparatory work began in 2022, including a historical landscape analysis and a landscape architecture design competition, which led to the creation of a spatial masterplan by 2023.
The renovation of Népliget is one of the flagship projects of the Radó Dezső Plan, which aims to expand green space, reduce paved surfaces, introduce climate-friendly ecological improvements, enhance accessibility and connectivity, and ease traffic flow.
I mean, why waste taxpayers’ money on rehabilitating a beautiful park for said taxpayers to enjoy, when you can instead blow it on bicycle tracks that stand empty, “pride” demonstrations, and “culture” days, all for those who do not actually pay any taxes!?!?
All those things you mentioned come under culture, yes, parks and green spaces are essential but so are the other things.
Why not have them all?
You forgot about the other issues mentioned, the homeless, the prostitues and the drug addicts?
No little girl or boy dreams of growing up to be a homless, drug addicted prostitue, whatever you think about these people they are still people and we have failed them as a society.
Oh and Pride isn’t a demonstration but a celebration, in a perfect world there wouldn’t be a need for Pride events as acceptance would be the norm and society would embrace that we are not all the same.