Our series of articles LXXVIII of 1997 on the shaping and protection of the built environment. law and the 2023 Act C on Hungarian architecture and deals with the comparative analysis and interpretation. In this week’s section, we highlight the changes regarding the protection of the settlement image.
Two important successive milestones in the history of Hungarian architectural regulation are the currently still valid Act LXXVIII of 1997 on the shaping and protection of the built environment. Act (hereafter Étv.), as well as the Act C of 2023 on Hungarian architecture that replaced it (hereafter the Architectural Act). Both sets of rules fundamentally influence the development of Hungarian architectural culture, the protection and shaping of the built environment, the planning and development of settlements, as well as official procedures and the course of administration. The comparison of the two laws according to topics and the presentation of the differences provide an opportunity to learn about the new rules coming into force this year and to prepare for the changes arising from them.
The subject of this article is a protection of the image of the settlement, as well as the evolution of related regulations. The issue of protecting the image of the settlement is a long-standing regulatory focus area as old as the regulation of the shaping of the built and natural environment. At the same time, it is clearly visible that the depth and quality of the regulation of the protection of the settlement image has changed between “philosophical extreme values” that are far apart from each other in recent decades and the new Act C of 2023 on Hungarian architecture is densely interwoven as a horizontal element.
From the point of view of our series of comparative analysis, the comparison of the changes in the regulation of the protection of the image of settlements deserves a separate discussion because, on the one hand, this topic is closely related to the topic of our previous article (chief architects and planning councils), further shading and strengthening what was described there, and on the other hand, because it is an area in which we can look at the fundamentally peculiar approach of the law on Hungarian architecture from a new angle.
Protection of the settlement image in the Etv
The effective Year manages the protection of the settlement image in an integrated way in the context of shaping and protecting the built environment, with some emphasis on aesthetic and heritage protection aspects. In the original Étv., which does not yet contain amendments, the protection of the settlement image is included in the settlement planning and construction requirements, as well as the findings regarding green areas. As an independent element, it appears primarily in the form of obligations related to the restoration of buildings in poor condition and unkempt green areas that spoil the image of the settlement. This authority-centered approach is typical of the Étv. and shows a particularly marked difference compared to the basic position and approach of the Architecture Act. Of course, let’s not forget that the authority of the building authority is Étv. at the start it was still delegated to the settlements (!).
2016
But before we analyze the Architecture Act, we must remember the LXXIV of 2016 on the protection of the settlement image in connection with the protection of the settlement image. Act (hereinafter: Urban Image Protection Act). This law did not replace the Étv., but in parallel regulated the issues of architecture, urban architecture and environmental design. This law specifically focuses on the protection of the image of the settlement, laying down detailed regulations for the preservation of the image of the settlement, including architectural, landscape and garden design elements. It regulates the role of local governments in shaping the image of the settlement and provides them with concrete tools, such as the manual for the image of the settlement, or the image of the settlement decree, which detail the protection measures. This law emphasizes that the protection of the image of the settlement does not only mean the preservation of the existing architectural image, but also includes the protection of characteristic green areas and landscape architecture values, in accordance with the protection of architectural heritage.
The Etv. from this point of view, the Urban Image Protection Act fills gaps and is of great importance, because the Etv. typically, its engineering-authority approach is replaced by community- and culture-centeredness (!). At this point, it should be noted that two laws of such importance, partially overlapping with each other, as Étv. and the harmonization of the Urban Image Protection Act was a task requiring huge and daring solutions from a codification point of view!
In relation to the Urban Image Protection Act, it is important to state that it is highly likely that the implementation of this law will also mark the start of the latest appreciation of the chief architect network in Hungary, since the construction authorities are no longer responsible for both the preparation of urban image manuals and local ordinances, as well as the implementation of their provisions in procedures. instead, the local chief architects and planning councils were given an exclusive and priority role.
Looking back at 2016, it can be said that the publication of the Urban Image Protection Act was anticipated by the Étv. the need for its complete rethinking, which was finally implemented by the Architecture Act.
Urban image protection in the Architecture Act
In our previous analyses, we have repeatedly pointed out that the Architecture Act, in accordance with modern principles and today’s public thinking, is also a “summarizing and clarifying” law – it affects all of the previous regulations affecting environmental design and organizes them into a unit. The Architecture Act, which protects the preservation, transmission and prioritizes development and sustainability, integrates the principles and practices introduced by the Étv strengthens the role of chief architects in the area of architectural quality and the protection of the settlement’s image.
As we mentioned in the introduction, the protection of the image of the settlement is a so-called horizontal area that weaves through the entire Architecture Act. The significant difference from the Étv clearly shows that, while in its original version the concept of the settlement image appears in 16 places, in the Architectural Act it appears in 188 places. (!) However, it is not only the number that counts, but also the context. The protection of the image of the settlement appears in the Architecture Act, among other things
- for the purpose of the law;
- within the scope of the law;
- in the system of architectural principles in several contexts;
- in the definitions of different responsibilities;
- when describing the chief architect’s organizational system;
- in the tasks of the national landscape architect and the chief landscape architect of Balaton;
- in the definition of settlement plans and specific legal institutions for settlement planning;
- in a separate chapter dedicated to national and local settlement image protection (!);
- in the preservation of historical values and memorial sites.
Studying the text of the law, it can be seen that the Architectural Law fulfills its value protection intentions set out in the basic principles in many ways through the protection of the image of the settlement, emphasizing and strengthening the role of chief architects and local communities.
Perhaps the most important of the many innovations related to the protection of townscapes is the fact that the Architecture Act leaves no doubt that the practice of parallel regulation of the current local building regulations and townscape ordinances will cease, and in the future the townscape requirements will also be part of the local building regulations. (!) In addition to the fact that both the architect and urban planning professions have been waiting for this for a long time, this change is expected to have significant effects in the official procedure as well.
Tags: Today Tomorrow Part protection image settlement architecture law
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