GENERAL PRESENTATION
The capital city of Hungary with its 1 740 000 inhabitants – 20% of the population, plays a central role in terms of governance, economy and services. It gathers a wide range of public services, including public lighting. Budapest is a major tourist attraction in Hungary as well as in Central Europe.
PUBLIC LIGHTING MANAGEMENT
The municipality is responsible for
- street lighting
- decorative and architectural lighting
- festive lighting
The maintenance of the public lighting is managed through a joint venture company owned half by the Municipality and half by the company that provides electricity. The active and passive assets of lighting are owned by the company. The operation is financed by the City and operation, maintenance and renovation are implemented by the company.
The renovation of the passive assets is done by subcontractors through public procurement.
LIGHTING STRATEGY
Lighting master plan
A lighting master plan for Budapest is currently under elaboration and will be presented to the Municipal Council in November 2014. The basic concept is to identify zones with specific requirements for lighting based on the EU Directive.
Some recently implemented lighting projects
- Margaret Bridge
- Houses of the Parliament
- The main street of the inner city
- The waterfall in Margaret Island
- Hotel Gellért
- Kossuth Square
- First LED projects on a main street and a park
- Saint Peter Pál Church
- Christmas decoration.
Perspectives for the future
New LED projects are planned as well as tests for dimming and tele-management. The Rákóczi Bridge will be reconstructed and LED sources will be installed in order to save energy. The lighting of the Castel Hill Tunnel will be renewed and new festive lighting will be designed for 40 monuments in the City. Finally, the City of Budapest also plans to renew the lighting of the running circle on Margareth Island.
LIGHTING FACTS AND FIGURES
- Number of lighting points: 198 731
- Total power used for public lighting (kW): 21 179
EVENT LIGHTING
At the occasion of the World Autism Awareness Day, 2nd of April 2014, the Hungarian Parliament and the Palace of Arts were lit up in blue.
More information: www.budapest.hu
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