Social Urban Rehabilitation Projects in South Transdanubian Region, Hungary

1. Social Urban Rehabilitation Projects in South Transdanubian Region, Hungary Gábor Béres project manager Murska Sobota, 20 September 2013

2. Topics discussed in the presentation • The objectives of thesocialurbanrehabilitation • Main crisisareasinthetownsin South TrasdanubianRegion • Action Areas of thesocialurbanrehabilitation • Callsannounced • Experiencesgainedduringthepreparation and implementation of theprojects

3. Fundamental objectives The basic objective of thesocial urban rehabilitation is to stop and reverse degradation processesinthesegregatedareas of thetowns. The disadvantagedareasusuallyhave • Run down builtenvironment, • Highlevel of poverty and unemployment, • Lack of communityplaces, limited connectionstotheintegrated part of thetown. • Poorpublicsecuritysituation.

4. Typical crisis areas in towns of the Region • Segregated areas extended to only one street or a single building (Pécs Hungária Street) • Former colonies built for miners and industrial workers (Pécs Györgytelep) • Colonies built for settling down Roma people in the 1960s. (Dankó Pista Streets in Mohács, Csurgó, Paks)

5. Typical crisis areas in towns of the Region • Segregated areas within the high rise residential areas built in the 1950s • Residential units established in former industrial or military buildings (Sportvölgy area in Komló) • Farm houses, residential units in the outskirts of the towns and villages linked to the neighbouring towns • Illegal residential areas built by homeless people (Pécs Fűzes)

6. Infrastructure and soft elements together It is not an effectivesolutionifweprepareprojectstargetingonlythebuiltenvironment. Wealsohavetoinsertsoftelementsintotheprojectsfocusingondifferentissueslike: • Improvement of employment rates, stabilize income levels of the disadvantaged group ofthe society, • promote access to education of disadvantaged children. • improve the opportunities of access to healthcare, and the support of transition to a healthier lifestyle;

7. Action Areas of the urban social rehabilitation projects financed by South Transdanubian Operational Programme Thereare 3 typicaltargetareasinvolvedinsocialurbanrehabilitationprojects: • Highrisehighdensityresidentialareaswithblock of flats and other house typesbuiltbyindustrializedhousingtechnologies. The main objective is topreventthatthearealaterbecomeghetto and deprived.

8. Action Areas of the urban social rehabilitation projects financed by South Transdanubian Operational Programme Thereare 3 typicaltargetareasinvolvedinsocialurbanrehabilitationprojects: • Traditionalresidentialareaswithinthe city thatbecamemarginalized and run-downarea. The main objective is toraisethe status of thearea and createtheconditionsinordertogenerate an integrationprocess.

9. Action Areas of the urban social rehabilitation projects financed by South Transdanubian Operational Programme There are 3 typical target areas involved in social urban rehabilitation projects: 3. Roma people usually live in the most degraded areas of the cities. The disadvantaged situation is caused by the location of the area within the city, the poor quality housing units and the high concentration of marginallized people. Between 2007 and 2012 theere were only rehabilitation actions in the project proposals, but from 2013 in a special situation the complete demolition of the slum is also possible not only the rehabilitation of it.

10. Calls for proposals announced in South Transdanubain Regional Operational Programme concerning social urban rehabilitation 4.1.1c Integratedurbandevelopmentincountycapitalcities 4.1.2a Integratedsocialurbanrehabilitationprojectsinsmall and mediumsizetowns 4.1.2.b The evaluation of residential integration within social urban rehabilitation pilot projects

11. 4.1.1c Integrated urban development in county capital cities Each county capital city has to implement an integrated urban rehabilitation project targeting the city centre and a social urban rehabilitation project in a segregated area of the city. Kaposvár: Initiated 2 social urban rehabilitation projects. One of them focuses on the enhancement of housing conditions of Roma people. They refurbish municipal housing units (bathroom, energy eficiency constructions). The function of the new community house was determined in a public participative cooperation (soft elements are organized here).

12. 4.1.2a Integrated social urban rehabilitation projects in small and medium size towns The call for proposal was announced There are 38 small and medium size towns in the Region but only 4 of them were intersted about the call. Finally only 2 projects were implemented!!! Reasons for the little interest: • Lack of own contribution • First of all, Municipalities wanted to concentrate their financial sources to the rehabilitation projects targeting the town center and not the peripheries or outskirts • Social urban rehabilitation is very sensitive area from political point of view • They require much more time for project preparation and need highly qualified staff (social workers, sociologists)

13. Experiences gained from social urban rehabilitation projects and recommendations for the future actions The social urban rehabilitation is getting more significant area in EU policies. The housing issues of the marginalized population appear in EU regulations. The improvemnet of the living conditions and the fight against segregation are the most important features of the social urban rehabilitation projects. The tools are strengthening of identity, education and employment programmes and community building. The improvement of housing conditions is an essential criteria of these actions, but the proportion of the houses involved in the project has to reach a critical level in order to generate positive changes, otherwise the positive results will disappear soon.

14. Experiencesgainedfromsocialurbanrehabilitationprojects and recommendationsforthefutureactions The introduction of the Integrated Urban Development Strategy forced Municipalities to think and plan strategically Reluctance of most municipalities to face or address the problems The social exclusion means high social risk Lack of well-prepared projects Partnership in most cases is weak

15. Experiencesgainedfromsocialurbanrehabilitationprojects and recommendationsforthefutureactions The call of social urban rehabilitation projects is less popular than other rehabilitation calls tocusing on the renewal of the city centres. In many cases the social urban rehabilitation projects were only public realm projects (renewal of the pedestrian zones, streetlights, seats and railings). The proportion of the obligatory soft elements was only near the minimum level. Municipalities always had a clear vision what to do with the built environment but they had no idea concerning the soft elements, trainings, community actions. Polititians do expect quick results, but positive change of the social interventions can only be experienced in a longer term (years later).

16. Experiencesgainedfromsocialurbanrehabilitationprojects and recommendationsforthefutureactions Municipalities usually initiate preliminary discussions with the Development Agency before submitting the project proposal. Many important issues can be clarified, so the quality of the project proposal can be much better. Architectural design competitions and competitive selection processes result better solutions to different technical and design issues, so call for proposals should prefer that type of selection process during the evaluation procedure. There is an oportunity to present the design proposals to a planning commitee led by the state chief architect. The approval of this commitee should be rewarded in the evaluation process of the calls.

17. URBAN RENEWAL – PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

18. BUILD SEE The project treats of the residential sector and mostly urban regeneration, new building and residential suburb. Aims to bridge the gap between EU policy and SEE country practices, mindful of newaspects like social issues (swift urbanization & its social problems, disadvantaged group inclusion, participation). Analyzes new green urban technologies in residential areas. Project duration 24 months South Transdanubian Regional Development Agency will prepare a case study about the criterias of the social housing units in a segregated area and also analyze the green public places and the new options how to use them for multi-purposes.

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