Budapest Pocket Guide Winter 1997 [antikvár]

Dear Readers, Let me welcome you to Budapest in the year of the 125th anniversary of the unification of our capital, As Mayor of the city 1 am proud to say that over the past seven years we have managed to create lasting things that even leaders of the city of the past century would be proud of, in the 90s it has been our special endeavor to recreate the glamour Budapest boasted at the turn of the century. Our goal is to re-establish Budapest as a cultural centre of Central Europe and simultaneously help it develop into an economic centre of the region. To achieve this, hard work and cooperation have been vital so far, as will be in the future. in past years we have done our best to make Budapest a cit>' where citizens are happy to live and, no less importantly, visitors find it a pleasure to spend their time. In the framework of this programme large investments have been implemented in the fields of infrastructure, social care and welfare. The new, and reconstruaed roads, bridges, areas with public utilities, and telephone netvt'ork all serve the interests of both those living here and those visiting. At the same time these are important tools of building our future. Up until now foreign operating capital has been flowing to Budapest in unique proportions, if we intend to remain an attractive target for foreign investors in the future as well, improving the infrastmcture is the only way we can take, Besides improving the economy introducing and improving the traditional values of Hungarian culture is also a priority concern for us, These two goals are intertwined as we spent more than HUF 1 5 billion per year on cultural projects. We consider saving and reconstaicting our statues, monuments, theatres and museums an excellent "investment". Foreigners come here not only for business purposes but also to pay tribute to our music, theatre performances, exhibits and beautiful buildings. For the occasion of the anniversaiy of the city's unification we have prepared with a series of solemn and entertaining events, Looking down at the citv' from the Castle or taking a walk on the Danube Corso or on the boulevard you may also come to the conclusion that despite the accelerated rate of modernization, Budapest has lost nothing of its old time charm. I wish you a great time in our capital. Best regards. Gábor Demszky Mayor of Budapest