Enying, the green town: blue-green infrastructure rehabilitation

Narrative

The goal of the 500 million HUF (~1,3 mil EUR) programme was to rehabilitate the blue-green infrastructure of the town of Enying, a small town of about 7000 inhabitants near, but not adjacent to Lake Balaton (one of the primary touristic destinations of Hungary). The ratio of disadvantaged residents in the town’s population is higher than the national average, and significantly higher than the county average. Thanks to the project, several blue-green infrastructure developments took place improving the local climate, the population’s recreational and cultural options and local tourism. For example, new green public spaces have been created, a park has been rehabilitated with community and recreational functions and a small river and a pond have been restored in a nature-based approach. Besides the positive impact of improving and increasing urban blue-green areas, the project is also a good example for sustainable regional development, because the areas similar to Enying (located near a popular tourist destination) are especially vulnerable to overbuilding and oversized tourism developments usually benefitting the owners of private businesses instead of the wider public. Also, in municipalities with a relatively high percentage of disadvantaged population, investing into blue-green infrastructure in public spaces is often underpriortized, although it has several additional social benefits. For example, it improves the life quality of residents, improves social inclusion and increases the value of real estate properties in the area.

Financial data

500 000 000 HUF (~1.3 mil EUR, 100% EU funding)

Recommendations

The improvement and increase of urban green-blue areas using public funds is recommended, as it is an essential element of climate adaptation and improving local resilience. The improvement and increase of blue-green infrastructure should be in the focus of regional development, because besides improving local climate resilience, such investments are efficient in improving the life quality of local inhabitants and they create space for social inclusion, too. So far, “Regional development” from public funds has quite often meant the development of industrial and other built areas, or providing discretionary financial support to private businesses, while such developments should be financed from private funds only. In areas vulnerable to tourism development (such as the Lake Balaton aea, which is designated as a priority development area in Hungary’s Partnership Agreement for the period 2021-2027, even though the natural conditions of the lake have been declining in the last decade), particularly vulnerable to overbuilding and oversized developments, it is especially important to spend public funds on the development of blue-green infrastructure, which is not increasing, or even reducing the size of built in areas.