Time period
School streets and school squares of Józsefváros (8th district of Budapest)
- Hungary Budapest
Summary
The Safer, Greener School Spaces project in Budapest aims to transform surrounding areas of two schools into safer, more accessible, and environmentally improved public spaces. Led by the Józsefváros Municipality in partnership with RÉV8, the initiative is part of a broader traffic calming strategy, including the introduction of 30 km/h zones and street redesign measures to enhance pedestrian safety.
Using a tactical urbanism approach, the project implements low cost, flexible interventions such as planters, movable elements, and redesigned layouts that can be tested and adapted over time. The process is strongly informed by community participation, with nearly 300 respondents contributing to the design and over 90% expressing support for the intervention.
The project will be further developed in collaboration with students from nearby schools, reinforcing local ownership. By combining traffic calming, greening, and participatory design, the initiative promotes safer and more child prone public environments.
Key aspects
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Tactical urbanism as a testing ground
Uses low cost, flexible interventions to experiment and adapt school space designs over time. -
Strong community acceptance and participation
Builds on high public support and engagement, with residents and school users co-designing the intervention. -
Traffic calming for safer school environments
Integrates speed reduction and street reconfiguration to prioritise pedestrian safety. -
Greening and public space activation
Introduces planting and street furniture to create more livable and welcoming child friendly public spaces.