After several unsuccessful procurement procedures, the renovation of Jókai Square in the 6th district can begin. The local council urgently had to achieve a result this year, as the availability of the HUF 200 million grant won during the previous Budapest city administration - in the 2016 TÉR_KÖZ tender - was endangered, according to terezvaros.hu.

One of the main aspects of the transformation was to maintain and expand the existing green values. The nature of the recreation park will remain, but it is promised to be much more transparent and tidy. Play elements will also be on site, which will be surrounded by a lockable fence. In the middle, they create a community space that smaller companies can use. An infinity pool with just a few inches of water is also being built. It will be spectacular, it will cool, refresh the air, but it will not bubble, you will not be able to bathe in it. There is also a reading corner with a green background wall around it.

The renewed Jókai Square will commemorate the famous figures of Hungarian literature (Photo: Facebook / voiiteratepitese)

The immediate surroundings of the Jókai statue are also changing, as we wrote earlier , here the statue of Alajos Strobl entitled Reading Girls, erected in 1929 in Városliget is moved to the area originally intended for him. 

After the renovation, the park area in the middle of Jókai Square will be in closer contact with its surroundings. This is due, among other things, to the fact that the area of the park will be larger, and the sidewalks surrounding the roadway and the space will be level. The square will be green not only in the middle, but also in the continuation of Jókai Street, where a new row of trees will be installed.

Uniform street furniture will fit into the past of the square. A green reading corner will be built, and a pergola with tables will be set up in the middle of the square (Photo: terezvaros.hu)

As a result of the investment, the number of parking spaces will decrease - from 79 to 45 - but the green space will increase by 260 square meters. This is not a negligible step forward in the district with one of the lowest per capita public park areas.

True to its namesake, Jókai Square will also be given a new function, as it will be reborn as a space of Hungarian literature: it will also make room for a 13 + 1 quote related to the figures of Hungarian literature. Many of the prominent figures of Hungarian literature lived in the district, and they would like to bring their ars poetica back to life and create a path to the arts and literature through remembrance.

The renovation is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.
 
Source: terezvaros.hu

Cover photo: There will be about 260 square meters more green space in Jókai Square, while the number of parking spaces will decrease (Photo: terezvaros.hu)