QUAY

Since 2010, the City and River Association (Valyo) team has been working to bring Budapest's citizens closer to the Danube and the Danube closer to its citizens. Initially an informal group that organised small-scale art installations and actions on the Danube embankment, the association was registered in 2014: after 2015 it changed scale, developing a vision for the use of the embankment in Pest in the framework of a Budapest tender, which became a precursor for further developments. Between 2015 and 2019, their projects demonstrated temporary public space use, such as the social programming of the Liberty Bridge or the use of the riverside areas in the Rust Belt, like the Valyo Harbor. Valyo conducted important community work for six years on the Roman bank, one of the last natural banks in Budapest, and saved 1,000 floodplain trees from being cut down through demonstrations. After 2019, due to Covid and municipalities opening up to NGOs, they were able to create temporary waterfront spaces on a larger scale: the Pest and Buda quays in the city centre and an embankment in the outskirt, making them one of the pioneers of the local tactical urbanism movement. Utilisation of the Danube's water surface has long been on the agenda, but in recent years there was a focus on the Danube as a touchable and swimmable area. Since 1973, bathing in the city had been banned, Valyo opened the first Danube beach and is now working on the realisation of a downtown Danube bathing area.

QUAY is about community, about our river – about us. After the pilot ciclovia weekends in 2020 and the Place Making Days in 2022, in 2023 the Valyo has developed a spatial concept and social programming for the Jane Haining Quay, the area between the Chain Bridge and Elisabeth Bridge on Pest side in Budapest, resulting into an average of 10.000 visitors a day between April and October 2023. The quay was free of traffic during the weekends and the area was also open to the public on weekdays for 20 consecutive days during the summer. The QUAY project was born out of the urbanism movement called placemaking. Placemaking aims to promote the reinterpretation of areas unused by city dwellers, using temporary tools and leisure activities to show possible future uses. The transformative mindset is setting a precedent for a long-term reuse and development of the quay, reintroducing the citizens to their long forgotten common space, the quay and through that to the Danube. We have removed ribbon railings, dismantled cobblestones and planted plants, installed urban furniture, two public barbecues, a sandpit for children, a herb garden and potted plants. The resulting area with direct access to the Danube was used as a park and promenade during the week even when traffic was circulating. During the car-free periods additional areas were converted into terraces, public venues and the viaducts under tram number 2 were functioning as bar and community spaces. The QUAY hosted more than two hundred activities organised by the city’s residents, including yoga classes, acoustic concerts, performances, film screenings, sports, talks, boardgaming, hip-hop competition, coaching, twerking, massage sessions and much more. The Valyo Community Viaduct hosted programs and exhibitions by nearly thirty civic and cultural organizations, while the Viaduct Terrace, operated by Reketye Brewing Co., hosted exhibitions, workshops and sunset DJ sets along with refreshments. Eventhough consumption became possible, the whole quay area remained free of consumption constraints, meaning that even the tables of the bar were consequently allowed to be used by anyone. The QUAY became one of the most popular sites in Budapest. In 2024 we are further developing the area and continue our work towards an accessible and livable riverside in the heart of the city.