The Népliget Railway Station will be built in the near future at the south-eastern end of Népliget, between the Ecseri Road and Népliget stations of metro line 3, as one of the most important stop of the Southern Circular Railway. The extension will create a key intermodal hub at this point on the east-west railway line, which also attracts significant conurbation traffic, as people arriving in Budapest by train from the conurbation will transfer here to the busiest metro line running through the city, to reach their workplace or other urban activities, but also to reach the tram line 3, which connects Budapest's transit and outlying areas, and one of the capital's most important bus stations, the Népliget bus station, from where they can reach Pest region and many parts of the country. The currently under-used, commercial and logistical area to the south of the future railway station could potentially become a new mixed-use sub-centre of the city, providing housing, jobs and green space.
In addition to serving and complementing the new intermodal hub with a range of retail and hospitality functions and creating local jobs, our concept for Népliget Centre will aim to create a higher-density, socially heterogeneous, compact, yet green and liveable residential area with a wide range of housing options to address the current severe housing crisis.
The railway station and the new Népliget bus station will be the main focus of the Népliget district, the latter being created to relieve the load on the Népliget bus station and to accommodate alternative bus services (Flixbus, organised ski tour buses). This new rail and bus station will include a number of functions such as restaurants, cafés and possibly a supermarket, due to its role as a hub. Adequate parking facilities will be provided around the station, with a P+R car park and a bicycle storage area on the surface. The station will be surrounded by a coherent public space system, including the area around the metro and tram stops on Ecseri Road and the area above the MVM dome, with high quality green spaces for the expected pedestrian traffic and for waiting and stopping for both pedestrians and vehicles. The pedestrian connection between the Népliget bus station and the Népliget city centre will be provided by a covered-open longitudinal corridor with a moving walkway.
Closely linked to the railway station, a certain number of office buildings will be built along the public spaces of the station as a location easily accessible by public transport for the population of the capital and the district, while these office buildings will also include coworking offices in addition to the companies that will be built to create home office or hybrid workspace for the locals.
Most of the district will be made up of residential buildings. Basically, a dense quarter will be created, with 4-5 storey apartment blocks, to provide housing for as many people as possible and to create a more compact quarter, while at the same time creating a large amount of green space within and across the quarter. We aim to create apartments and housing of different sizes and financing, including private market housing and social rented housing subsidised by the municipality, but also to provide space for co-housing. At the same time, an important element of the emerging heterogeneous neighbourhood, with a healthy and sustainable social composition, will be exit-type housing or apartment blocks, which could provide a way out of poverty for the homeless in the neighbourhood, with mentoring by local social workers. The housing will have large communal spaces and a range of shared functions.
The district will essentially be a compact, 15-minute urban concept district, meaning that the basic functions of life will be within 15 minutes walking distance: Basic grocery and convenience stores, but also the possibility to buy quality, healthy fruit and vegetables, public green space, a park with recreation, exercise and play facilities for all ages, basic health services such as a doctor's office and a pharmacy, shared functions and second-hand shops to make the district more sustainable and circular, community and cohesive functions that create cohesive residential communities. In addition to the quarter itself, the functional system of the quarter will also provide the basic services and infrastructure for the functionally deficient MÁV residential area.
The Népliget district will be a sustainable district adapted to climate change, with public spaces designed according to the principles of the sponge city, with as few paved surfaces as possible, significant green areas, and drainage facilities, rainwater reservoirs and rain gardens. Buildings will be designed with a lower ecological footprint in terms of materials and climate-conscious, ecological design (green roofs, green facades, wood, shading), but with sufficient flexibility to adapt to changing needs and uncertain climatic conditions.
Part of our concept is to humanise the routes bordering the future district and make them more accessible, partly as part of the strategies and plans of the capital. This includes the greening, traffic calming and the provision of a bike lane along Üllői street as an avenue to the city centre, the greening and pedestrianisation of the Ecseri street axis, while at the same time adding new functions and thus new life, and the improved pedestrian and cycle accessibility of the Gyáli street flyover and the circular railway line. The surrounding large green spaces and public parks will also be renewed and made more accessible, and will become one of the main recreational areas of the future Népliget city centre and the surrounding neighbourhoods. These include Népliget, the green belt along the Epreskert and the green spaces surrounding the Gyáli úti railway depot.
The Népliget Centre will be a new, exemplary green urban sub-centre of Budapest, which will significantly improve the efficiency of public transport in Budapest and the surrounding agglomeration as an intermodal hub, becoming a key element of it, creating new jobs locally in the new business district, while providing quality and affordable urban housing for thousands of people from all levels of society, in a compact, sustainable, resilient and people-centered district.