Dunaújváros and Paks: Socialist Science and Technology Cities of Hungary?

This paper discusses the changing relationship and interconnectedness between cities, technology and knowledge in Hungary using a comparative case study analysis of Dunaújváros and Paks. Dunaújváros is a well-known so-called socialist “new city,” and was the center of Hungarian steelworks. Meanwhile, Paks is still known today as the “atomic city,” as it is home to the country’s sole nuclear plant. The transformation in the propagandistic representation of knowledge production can be tracked by comparing the urban structures and school buildings in Dunaújváros and Paks during the state socialist political period towards a welfare-oriented practice (1945(1947) – 1989(1990)). The research challenges, whether the notion of socialist science and technology cities is utilizable for these case studies and especially for the design of two school buildings located in these cities. The research identifies the role of technological innovations, Soviet urban design and local traditions in the formation of the two aforementioned cities in socialist Hungary. The article concludes by identifying the similarities and differences between the two cities, which represent a possible continuation or adaptation of the socialist science and technology city notion conceived within but also outside the influence of the USSR.