National Inventory and Morphological Analysis of Urban Squares in Hungary

Anna Andrea Szövényi (), Anna Adorján and Szabolcs Bérczi
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Anna Andrea Szövényi: Department of Urban Planning and Urban Green Infrastructure, Institute of Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning and Garden Art, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Anna Adorján: Department of Urban Planning and Urban Green Infrastructure, Institute of Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning and Garden Art, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Szabolcs Bérczi: Department of Urban Planning and Urban Green Infrastructure, Institute of Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning and Garden Art, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2100 Gödöllő, Hungary

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-28

Abstract: This study examines the entire urban network of Hungary, excluding Budapest, with the primary goal of creating a nationwide cadastre that systematically documents the country’s stock of urban squares found in cities. As traditional elements of the urban fabric, squares typically serve as focal points within a city’s spatial structure, reflecting the maturity of its urban form and embodying its socio-cultural heritage. Yet, in many towns, especially in central areas of cities, squares have not reached their full potential. Their development poses challenges in structural terms (form and spatial relationship with surrounding buildings), compositional terms (continuity of building frontages and design coherence), and functional terms (hierarchical role among public spaces). The absence of literature systematically compiling and analyzing Hungary’s urban squares is notable, given their significance as principal public spaces and indicators of urban life quality. This research addresses that gap by (1) identifying whether the town has a central square, (2) compiling an inventory of their number, (3) grouping 94 representative examples by morphological typology, and (4) selecting a stratified sub-sample of 55 for detailed morphometric and contextual analysis. The resulting typology provides a foundation for further morphological research and offers a reference for spatial planning and development policy.

Keywords: urban squares; morphology; historical cities; spatial character; typology; spatial focus; cadastre (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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