To this day, it is not clear what tasks Sándor Bardóczi should perform.
No one has held the position of chief landscape architect in Budapest for eighty years, but Gergely Karácsony resolved this pressing personnel problem in 2020 by appointing Sándor Bardóczi. When Bardóczi took office, he had been using the aforementioned title for almost a year, which he officially received from the capital only in October 2020.
However, it is not clear to this day exactly what obligations and tasks Budapest's chief landscape architect has.
Based on the experience of the past years and the actions of Sándor Bardóczi, the position began to look eerily similar to the job of head gardener, since Bardóczi has, since his appointment, carried out his blessed activities almost exclusively in the green areas maintained by the capital.
As a result of these few years of work, the bee pastures, which cause serious problems for allergy sufferers and dog walkers, appeared in Budapest, the fifty square meter park forest, the XVII. district afforestation project at risk of accidents, and the City Hall Pop Up park. Meanwhile, the condition of green spaces throughout the city is deteriorating, which in many cases have become homes for the homeless instead of recreation zones.
Bardóczi was the first to support the creation of bee pastures throughout the city. In a statement, the chief landscape architect said that native flowers will take the place of gorse and other weeds in the weedy areas renamed bee pastures in a few years. Until now, this has not been realized in most locations in Budapest, however, the Toklas continue to make the everyday life of those passing by miserable.
However, the chief landscape architect did not only go against the will of the locals with the bee pastures. The XVII. district, Bardóczi started an afforestation project in an area of the capital, despite the fact that the people living in the area did not support the plans and wanted to continue using the public space for dog walking and relaxation. However, the will of the chief landscape architect proved to be stronger than the wishes of the locals, so two years ago, the Főkert started planting trees in the XVII. district. The capital continued its afforestation, as part of which forest patches were created, and many plants and tree species were placed in them, thus ensuring biodiversity. However
after the planting and the completion of the chicken net surrounding the newly planted plants, the Main Garden left the area alone.
As a result, the vast majority of the trees planted in the area have now dried up, leaving only a forest of dried stumps and sticks supporting chicken nets and shrubs.
City Hall Pop Up park
The chief landscape architect is very similar to Gergelly Karácsony, the mayor who did not keep his promises made in 2019. That is why Sándor Bardóczi regularly defended his boss when he was called to account for his promise to create the City Hall park.
Later, Bardóczi himself claimed that it was perfectly fine that in almost five years he ran only a Pop Up park for the capital, which cannot be called a park in the least, with the plants displayed in containers and the abnormally sized sandbox made of pallets.
The chief landscape architect, whose interest extends almost exclusively to green areas, has thoroughly neglected the parks maintained by the capital together with the Főkert in recent years. In the capital, many district municipal representatives also reported that the green areas maintained by the Main Garden were extremely neglected. And the capital city assists with the inadequate performance of tasks and advertises the basic operation related to the maintenance of public areas, including the replacement of dead trees and plants.
Meanwhile, the green areas in the inner districts of the capital have become a permanent shelter for the homeless, which discourages the people living in the area from using public spaces.
Featured image: Ripost
