Sustainable development of Enying city's historical green centre
„Enying Green City” is a special example of sustainable urban development, since our studios were leading the whole process from creating a strategy, building a participatory based planning process till the end of the construction and supporting the re-connection of locals with the renewed sites. We finished the set of small scale wooden installations in 2022 by two pro bono pieces to help the local community after recent years’ high inflation hindering the completion of the original project.
Local
Hungary
Enying city, Fejér County
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
Yes
ERDF : European Regional Development Fund
Starting year of the Green city project: 2016.
No
Yes
2022-09-10
As a representative of an organization, in partnership with other organisations
Name of the organisation(s): Opinion Builders Kft. Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Júlia Last name of representative: Pokol Gender: Female Nationality: Hungary Function: Architect Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Belgrád rakpart 17. Town: Budapest Postal code: 1056 Country: Hungary Direct Tel:+36 20 473 7919 E-mail:julia.pokol@opinionbuilders.com Website:https://opinionbuilders.com/en/index/
Name of the organisation(s): ADI Studio Kft. Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Bálint Last name of representative: Kádár Gender: Male Nationality: Hungary Function: Lead Architect Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Tamara utca 6 Town: Budapest Postal code: 1029 Country: Hungary Direct Tel:+36 20 410 2858 E-mail:balint.kadar@opinionbuilders.com Website:http://adistudio.weebly.com/info.html
Name of the organisation(s): Contemporary Architecture Centre Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Eszter Last name of representative: Dávida Gender: Female Nationality: Hungary Function: Architect, Manager Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Bartók Béla út 10-12. Town: Budapest Postal code: 1111 Country: Hungary Direct Tel:+36 30 522 5994 E-mail:info@kek.org.hu Website:http://kek.org.hu/
Name of the organisation(s): Enying city local government Type of organisation: Public authority (European/national/regional/local) First name of representative: Anna Last name of representative: Diószegi Gender: Female Nationality: Hungary Function: Leader of Teachnical Department Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Kossuth Lajos u. 26. Town: Enying Postal code: 8130 Country: Hungary Direct Tel:+36 70 684 8184 E-mail:dioszegi.anna.pmhiv@enying.eu Website:http://www.enying.eu/
The rehabilitation of the main square, Cifra park and river valley of Enying started in 2016. This sustainable and integrated project reconnected the historic green axis of the town blocked since communism by a row of private houses, reconverting one of these into a new community center. To support the community the designer teams built by their own hands functions that remained unrealised from the project due to recent years’ high inflation. These pro bono built wooden structures finalized the project in 2022, bringing community spirit and fun to the green center of Enying.
public green
leisure
participation and community
revitalization
sustainability
Enying was a historic agricultural center, but during the years of communism its historic urban structures were compromised, its community lost pride in their hometown. In 2016 the local government started a collaboration with an interdisciplinary design studio (DANU) to implement a sustainable revitalization project for the green infrastructure of Enying using EU development funds. The “Enying Green Revival'' project targets many aspects of urban well-being and resiliency, the designers recognised that the only way to create a sustainable project is through community and stakeholder involvement, as people had to reconnect with their public spaces and history in order to become pride of these and use them, maintain them. Therefore the project was based on participatory design, involving also an expert NGO to ensure professional engagement of the community. The project reconnected Enying’s historic center through an old-new green axis. Designers set a goal to make the maximum impact from the given funding, and to achieve the lowest carbon footprint possible, choosing materials and techniques that are cheap, locally accessible and durable. The emphasis was on restoring as much as possible the historic green park, planting trees and even creating a new lake with an island only accessible for birds. The new additions used mainly wood, while the materials of the demolished structures were used on site, like the concrete benches and stone covering of the old open air theater. Due to heavy inflation some parts of the development could not be concluded in the framework of the EU development program. This inspired the designers and all of the DANU office to create a team building project with the help of the local government and build the missing pieces in Cifra park ourselves. The parametric design techniques of these wooden installations enabled the building team to avoid the use of temporary casting and any extra or redundant building materials.
This project aims to bridge over the past, present and future of Enying city, connecting local traditions to a resilient future community. The main design objective was to rehabilitate the central green public space system of this town, bringing back the functionality and aesthetics of the historical park and creek valley, by adding a new contemporary aesthetic that compliments the historical urban structure to make it more social and playful. The project follows a green axis perpendicular to the main street of the town, which once was the Cifra park of the mansion where Enying’s noble family lived. The main square is the starting point of this green system, leading the way to the former historic English-garden evoked by our design, thus more than half of the green area became accessible after 70 years. The community center connects Petőfi park with the valley of the Cinca creek, breaking through the rough barrier deployed during communism as a new line of private plots and family houses. One of these residential houses was converted into a public building bringing community spaces, a bar and a roof terrace directly connected to the park and visually connecting to the new lake. Thus aesthetically and functionally it became a counterpoint to the private houses emphasized by generous openings and the large roof terrace. A new lake was made in the valley of the creek to revitalize the former picturesque dykes forming natural lakes and islands as an extension of the park.
The ‘Panoramp’ completed and connected the terraces of a scenic part of Petőfi park, while the Firepit used inspiration from traditional Hungarian beehive ovens to make a protected space for visitors, while providing a recognizable landmark for those passing by the small meadow where it is placed. The wooden architecture created by the team complemented the historic park in a contemporary taste, giving positive community uses to Enying.
The center of Enying had a fragmented public and green public space system with very few places to meet. Cifra park had only two narrow access points, and only one third of its area was used frequently. The rest was blocked by a service area and a row of single family houses separating it from the streets and Cinca creek. The main square did not exist, as engineers of the 1970’s prioritized a seamless car traffic, tracing the line across the former granary building and main market square, leaving insufficient public spaces. The creek itself was converted into an artificially regulated channel, and the space between Enying and its vineyards became a no-man's-land. The “Enying Green Revival” project rehabilitated these spaces, transforming a family house into a community center and redesigning the water-works, integrating them with the park. As a result public green spaces grew by 52 000 m2. Thus we reached the scope to increase accessible quality green zones, adding the maximum area with the given budget available from EU funds.
Another important point was to give those functions to Enying that the local population really needed and wanted. To achieve this a series of participatory planning workshops and events were held during the design process. Residents were asked about their preferences using interactive maps, stickers and interviews. Key stakeholders were asked in dedicated design workshops. As a result the funds were used to maximize the leisure options for locals, to create spaces for school groups for various activities, and to add options to all age groups. Some of the features couldn’t be completed due to the budget restrictions after the high inflation of recent years. A fireplace, pic-nic functions, the proper accessibility of a terraced panorama hillside and playgrounds were missing. We used our team building event in 2022 to construct two installations by ourselves, involving locals in the building process, using our CSR budget.
The base of the “Enying Green Revival'' project initiated with a participatory design phase, concluded by the integral planning project of landscape architects, architects and engineers working together from the beginning of the process. The result is the rehabilitation of the historic Cifra park made accessible, while the main square has a strict grid of paved and green areas framed by a wooden shading pavilion, a similar structure that crowns the community house, emphasizing the panoramic view towards Cinca stream and the lake. Designers worked closely together not only with the commissioner municipality, but also with cultural stakeholders, people and institutions running the cultural life of this town. This involvement resulted in a new disposition of the open-air theater, the design of two mobile units hosting vending and changing functions in any parts of the park during festivals, and the disposition of the new community building, made suitable for outdoor classes, larger meetings to the clubs active in town, or a bar to be opened towards the lake. The disposition of meeting places and smaller functions of the park was the result of the participatory design phase where locals expressed their needs, demonstrating how they use different parts of the spaces. Urban walks led by the designers and local historians helped the public to process the structure of such a large area, enabling them to give relevant feedback on the design. The final act of involvement was the team-building week done by the design office pro-bono for the local community. Two installations emerged from the joint forces of our studios and the local government, a firepit and a panoramic ramp leading the way down the slopes of the northern part of the park. Local community and main stakeholders were successfully invited to help the building process, therefore designers and locals could finish this large scale project by giving small-scale community functions and identity to its spaces together.
The project was built from EU development funds, allocated to the development of green infrastructures of towns. The project fulfilled the EU development goals as it gave a green space with an area coverage and functional richness unusual for such size of funding (1 300 000 EURO in total). The main stakeholder was the municipality of Enying, holder of the project. The engagement of different professionals who had an attitude of inclusive design was the key to make a successful implementation: designers and the municipality worked together on a weekly basis for an almost constant 5 years! They involved all local key stakeholders, from the cultural institutions, schools, service providers, local entrepreneurs to the local civil society, especially the city beautification association and local clubs. Participatory design workshops were held for these stakeholders, involving them directly into key decisions, especially useful in the creation of new functions that had to be used and maintained by them later on, like the open air theater, the new converted community center, or the mobile festival trailer-pavilions to be placed wherever it is needed in Enying. Apart from these stakeholders many events were held for the general public. The design team was present in most town festivities with plans, an interactive map to vote for the preferred places, and questionnaires. Urban walks were held to the public, involving local historians, explaining the past and future of these historical spaces. The added value is real place attachment and the acceptance of the project: in the first years the facebook of Enying municipality was full of disbeliefs and complaints about the project, but at the end of the long construction period compliments and posts of joy replaced these. The pro-bono building of the two final wooden installations and their friendly architecture gave a last positive push for the community, and the whole project became the pride of the town.
Apart from the municipality and project management an integrated multidisciplinary team of designers from different disciplines worked together for years in this project. The responsible designer is an architect and urban designer, while the design team consists of the following disciplines:
Urban planning and design: involving also local historians, urban planning and design conceived the main axis with its historical and new elements, defined the functions, access routes, parking zones, strategic design decisions (buying out and converting of a single family house in order to convert it into a public access point to the park with a community center)
Landscape architecture: reflecting on the historical Cifra park, landscape design was based on the leading concept of urban planning, integrated with all other engineering disciplines. Paths, greenery, pavements, playgrounds were designed here.
Architecture: the wooden pavilions and structures as well as the conversion of the residential building to community center was the task of the architects, reflecting the wooden architecture that connects in material and spirit all of the additions of the development.
Road infrastructure planning: all of the new car access roads and parkings were designed by specialized planners, including bicycle access.
Water drainage and lake design: we designed the new lake feeded from Cinca creek and also the water drainage of the park.
MEP engineers: the mechanical, electric and plumbing systems of the community center and of the whole park was designed by specialized engineers. The public lighting of the park was also designed by electric engineers together with landscape architects.
Community engagement expert: The NGO named Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre (KÉK) was involved to create participatory design, this group worked together with designers and organized urban walks, design workshops and social media campaigns to successfully involve a very wide local audience.
Regaining a sense of belonging is the main impact of the “Enying Green Revival'' project, as the community of this small town of 6000 inhabitants could rediscover their historic green spaces, and relate to them in an inclusive and contemporary way. During communism the historic town structure of Enying was “punished” with pragmatic planning that aimed to cancel historic connections to former lifestyles and noble families, and create a new functional town where the main car road could pass through the former granary and marketplace, where industrial functions could be placed in the park, which could be divided from its river valley by a row of now housing. The traditional space system has been restored by this urban renewal project, giving bac the English-garden landscaped character to the Cifra park, giving back the water surface with an island to the valley, giving back the majesty of the main square and mansion by a geometric main square, and giving back the connection between these places and between the town and its vineyard hill. The classical landscape design was complemented with small contemporary interventions, wooden pergolas, terraces and exciting self-built leisure structures, showing to the local community how their heritage is one that can be used in contemporary life, and that the also deserve the design attention as large contemporary metropolitan hubs do. This project was realized with the maximum level of community involvement from participatory design workshops through urban walks to the final pro-bono building camp where designers themselves built the last missing attractions together with locals. As a result a green space system was restored, where people can connect to each other, and not only generations, but also different social groups, like the roma minorities now interconnected through beautiful spaces with the leisure spaces of the community.
The main innovation in the “Enying Green Revival'' project is the attitude used for the project with maximum impact on a maximized total green area. This project used the funding to grant the accessibility and usability of the maximum amount of public spaces in Enying. In order to define where, a strategic planning was started in 2016, where the historic structure and the green-blue structure of the settlement was mapped, and the areas of rehabilitation and intervention defined. Based on such strategic planning the project aimed to use inexpensive but durable materials for new public spaces, keeping as much of the existing- especially trees and greenery - as possible. Another task coming from this attitude was to reconnect the park with the surrounding urban and natural public spaces, giving back to the public fenced-out water-works areas and a family house with its garden, converted to community center. These were brave decisions, as private property had to be bought, and completely new access points established. It was also a brave decision to connect the Cinca valley with the center through the park, as in the valley a segregated roma community lives in some houses, and that space was retained by the public dangerous and unpleasant. The lake as a new landscape element reverted this image, and became so attractive as a place that general public uses it despite the fact that roma people use it as well, and the two social groups learned to live together in peace, keeping the public space neat all the time. The design attitude demonstrated its maximum commitment when the designer team - 40 people - went to Enying for a week to conclude the unfinished elements of the project by their own hands, connecting not only the design with the community, but also the designers themselves personally.
The design approach used in this project has the following main components:
From strategic planning to self-build structures: a strategic plan based on the mapping of the historical layout and green-blue system of Enying was first created, a long term development plan that ensures the sustainable use of the public spaces. The novelty of the methodology lies in the fact that the designer team developed the project from the strategic plan through all scales: landscape design, architectural design, infrastructure design, the construction plans of these and of the small elements like pavilions and benches, finishing with special wooden designs conceived and built as a pro-bono act towards the community in order to finish the design and construction process making it personal both to the community as to the designers.
Contemporary but historical rehabilitation of the historic spatial and green structure: the strategic plan was based on the historic built and green structure of Enying, aiming to reconstruct the historical functions, accesses and forms even if these had been largely destroyed in the second part of the XX. century. The main square, Cifra park and Cinca valley all became rehabilitated in this spirit and form, but the connective and functional elements have been all conceived in a contemporary form, showing to the world how Enying brings back its humanistic and green historical structures through contemporary interventions and functions.
Community and stakeholder engagement: the whole project is a story of involvement, and the self-built final wooden firepit and ponoramp proved that the design team was really involved personally in this until the end and more. Thanks to this personal engagement the community and stakeholder involvement doone following established methodologies came naturally to the designers, using tools such as interactive mapping, interviews, urban walks, and of course participatory design workshops and stakeholder involvement processes.
All 3 methodologies described in section 11 are transferable to other projects:
From strategic planning to self-build structures: all urban regeneration/development projects should start with a coherent strategic plan. Many strategic plans are well based, but many are not implemented by a comprehensive attitude until the last detail of the construction phase. The experience in Enying shows the usefulness of a comprehensive design and build process from strategy until the construction of small details. The involvement of designers with the context and local community is essential for this, and sometimes it is beneficial if the designers take part in the construction process as well.
Contemporary but historical rehabilitation of the historic spatial and green structure: communities are attached to their heritage, and would like to see these values to be revived and continued. However, contemporary design solutions have a wider toolkit for functional and aesthetic questions, therefore the mix of the two design attitudes are necessary. If the reconstruction of the historical structures are the main message of an urban project, the solutions to give life to singular elements should be of contemporary and sustainable design. The continuous structure from past to future is the important design attitude, not the style itself.
Community and stakeholder engagement: designers must learn to be involved not only with the site, but also with the local community. The help of professionals, like an NGO (KÉK) that has experience in community engagement is a valid option for design firms undertaking a larger and longer design process at the urban scale. Innovative new tools, like urban walks or pro-bono building camps can add to the inclusiveness of the project enormously. Designers must be personally engaged towards the community and should not be afraid to get the help of civil or other professional organizations for inclusive methods.
Alienation and detachment from one's own community: once thriving small-town societies face decline in all Europe, people get alienated from their communities, don’t meet with strangers, pass time closed with their own media, and get detached from the communities’ historic spaces. This project not only gave back privatized public spaces to the community, but through participatory events, urban walks, festivals and a team-building camp showed how the creative use of new and historic public spaces can lead to better quality of life through community and spaces of pride. Degradation of public spaces and diminishing green-blue systems: The threat to green spaces and inadequate public spaces is a widespread problem in towns, it is therefore essential to solidify the historic public space system and to extend the green areas in a town, especially in its center. This project showed how to make accessible 52 000 m2 of central green spaces with little financial resources, how to increase biodiversity (creating a new lake with an island inaccessible for humans for bird nesting), how to use the water systems and historic parks in a community building way.
Segregation of different social groups is one of the main challenges in Europe. This project made spaces where different age groups can meet, where young and old generations all can have leisure time together without disturbing each other, but also made an effective effort to diminish the segregation of roma minorities in town. The area down valley where roma inhabitants live were avoided by the rest of the community, but with the deployment of an attractive lake, extending with direct connections the main park of Enying until the gates of these people a fruitful coliving between different social groups became reality in less than a year. Finally the project dismantled the segregation between its designers and its local users with a successful building camp week, where designers lived and worked in Enying, for the community.
