Non-planning and tourism consumption in Budapest's inner city

The relationship between urban planning and tourism consumption is presented through one of the most attractive and popular districts of Budapest (District VII). Budapest is the capital city of Hungary and has a population of 1.7 million inhabitants making it one of the largest metropolitan regions in Central Eastern Europe. Budapest is typical of many other post-socialist cities in that its urban development process has followed a somewhat different trajectory from many Western European cities until recently, for example the relatively slow rate of gentrification in the post-socialist years. The paper will focus in particular on one central district of the city (VII) which currently contains a high concentration of hospitality and entertainment facilities (especially ‘ruin pubs’) and attracts a large numbers of tourists. The planning and development history of the district will be explained, including many controversies and conflicts which have arisen over the years. In addition to analysing the significance of the areas’ heritage and the intensive growth of the creative industries, the paper will also provide a case study about the Budapest-specific ‘ruin bar’ phenomenon, as well as data on the global issue of Airbnb, which is becoming an extremely topical and controversial issue in many other cities in the world today. ‘Ruin bars’ and Airbnb represent local and global examples of tourism consumption which have flourished despite or even because of an unstructured, often unregulated urban planning system. Through this examination, two main questions are addressed: to what extent has planning (or a lack of it) influenced urban development and the new trends of international tourism in Budapest? and what role has tourism played in the transformation of a central district within the inner city?