Technology 2 min read

Hungary to Build €1 Billion Smart City From Scratch

Image courtesy of Geralt/Pixabay

Image courtesy of Geralt/Pixabay

What is a smart city?

While the approaches may vary, the concept of a smart city is the same: an urban area that incorporates the latest technological solutions to allow for a sustainable high quality of life.

Saudi Arabia is building a futuristic mega-city, 33 times the size of New York. Called NEOM, its newly-built Bay Airport has already garnered IATA’s formal classification.

In 2017, Bill Gates proposed a smart city to be built in the Arizona desert. Gates has committed $80 million to the project, which was expected to benefit from the low-cost lands and solar energy provided by the area. However, there were no updates about the project’s progress since then.

Trikala in Greece could be qualified as the accidental smart city because it’s metamorphosing out of practicality and necessity rather than ahead planning.

Now, another example of sustainable socio-economic development will come from Hungary as the country plans to take on smart cities.

Hungary’s €1bn Carbon-Neutral Smart City

Hegyeshalom and Bezenye are two villages in north-west Hungary. There, on the barren land between them will rise a smart city that will stand apart, not only in the country but in all Europe.

Hungary has announced the Hegyeshalom-Bezenye project that will see a new town erected from scratch. And, if the $500 million Saudi NEOM is much larger, the Hungarian green town will cost more than twice as much.

German developer Fakt AG will spend $1.13 billion (€1 billion) on the project that, in addition to the Hungarian government, will also benefit from the contribution of two other companies: German energy supplier E.ON., and Hungarian construction company KESZ Group.

“How a scrap of land and vision can create a green business and community venture of scale,” said Nikolai Ulrich, FAKT board member.

The town will occupy an area of 1.27 square miles (330 hectares) and will provide housing and jobs to thousands of people.

When complete, this carbon-neutral town will have 1,000 homes and create 5,000 permanent jobs in the greenhouse sector.

Aside from schools, shopping facilities, rail station, a conference hall, and other amenities, the project will also include processing and logistics units, the largest inland fishery in Europe, greenhouses, and cooling containers.

The Hegyeshalom-Bezenye project will also implement sustainable water management practices to avoid lowering the region’s water table, and geothermal plants will be used for cooling purposes.

Read More: Why 100% Renewable Energy and Zero-Carbon Aren’t the Same Thing

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Zayan Guedim

Trilingual poet, investigative journalist, and novelist. Zed loves tackling the big existential questions and all-things quantum.

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    Barney Stinson June 17 at 12:31 pm GMT

    You idiot …..😂😂 NEOM is 500 BILLION DOLLAR PROJECT

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