SURE

The city of Eger (approx. 60 000 inhabitants) is located in North Hungary, close to Bükk mountain range. Eger with its beautiful baroque city centre and famous castle, with its Turkish and medieval monuments, is one of the most visited Hungarian cities, the centre of one of the most famous Hungarian wine regions, and besides an important spiritual centre.

The city centre is the main tourist area. Just a few minutes north from the city centre, there are two characteristic deprived urban areas which are identified by the Integrated Urban Rehabilitation Strategy (by concrete figures) as territories of specific, urban rehabilitation, where the socio-economic aspects should be very important due to its social disadvantaged population.

The above mentioned target area of the SURE project in Eger is located on the north-western edge of the town centre and has substantial potential to create a new commercial focal point. It includes two distinct parts: One part contains a secondary school, student accommodation and a number of high rise panel buildings providing residential accommodation. The other part is characterised by low rise accommodation and a Roma settlement accommodating approximately 300–400 residents. In addition to the housing problems found in the Roma settlement, there is a substantial number housing units in the target are which have structural and maintenance problems.

The stimulation of a competitive market for housing would form part the strategy because there is little diversity in the type of accommodation available and the target area might offer opportunities to diversify the range of properties that are available.  Prejudice and segregation between Roma and Hungarian communities is likely to present the biggest challenge for the development and implementation of an effective integrated regeneration strategy. Breaking the cycle of unemployment and lack of basic educational qualifications among the Roma community will require skill, investment and a long term strategy.

Dr Hans Schlappa is an experienced regeneration practitioner and academic. He has worked for 15 years in municipalities and third sector organisations, developing and leading socio-economic regeneration programmes in the some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the UK. Since 2004 Dr Schlappa is working as a researcher and teacher at universities in Birmingham and Coventry. His publications include a wide range of conference papers and research reports, focusing on the provision of government funded services in deprived neighbourhoods, co-production and partnership working in regeneration contexts, and the impact of EU funding on third sector organisations.