City officials have been seeking ideas and possibilities for utilizing the former gas factory premises in District 3 for years. Their quest has recently resulted in the Podmaniczky Plan, a city refurbishment plan named after Earl Frigyes Podmaniczky, the builder of world famous Andrássy út in the heart of Budapest.

The plan aims to rejuvenate Budapest by turning the crumbling industrial premises such as the gas factory into new projects that could make the city more attractive and livable. The officials now facing a choice between demolishing the old buildings or refurbishing them by giving them new, non-industrial functions as they are now located within the city limits.

The latter option is voiced by a new movement called “I love Budapest”, which aims to “rethink the city”. “Bulldozers do not fit into the modern urban trends followed in Western Europe and North America aiming to preserve and recycle existing values,” said Iván András Bojár, editor in chief of architectural magazine Octogon and one of the founders of the movement.

In the beginning of June “I love Budapest” kicked off with a design contest seeking ideas to make the city more livable and refurbish former industrial areas. Bojár said Budapest’s industrial areas, often referred to as the “rust belt”, could be rejuvenated through theme concepts, which were successful in several Western European cities, such as London, Amsterdam and Vienna.