Geographical Circumstances Affecting Urban Development

Abstract

The aim of the chapter on the historical geography of the capital city of Hungary is the foundation—in space and time—of the building up of Budapest and the research findings analysing the functional structure of the capital city. The authors first summarised the geographical factors impacting urban development, dealing separately with local and positional energies. These factors were demonstrated both from the aspect of their origin and their impact. Three of the geographical and location advantages of Budapest were analysed in details: the interface of macro-regions with different character and orography; the role of roads built on paths created by nature; and the Danube River as a fluvial line connecting market cities. Positional energies were supplemented by several kinds of local energies, i.e. the topographical location of the city, the different orography of Pest and Buda, the easily extractable construction material, or the caves with their underground water assets. The geographical environment of Budapest allowed the development of the preceding settlements with the complex impact of the natural factors. The impacts of the local and positional energies were not the same in different times of history, resulting in different phenomena in the functions and structure of the capital city.