Gyula – a small town in the border zone within a cross-border urban region

Abstract

The INNOTARS Varoster research programme (2009–2011), supported by the National Office for Research and Technology, was conducted by two Departments of the Centre for Regional Studies (Békéscsaba and Budapest) and focused on Functional Urban Regions (FUR) along the national borders in the Carpathian Basin. Seven field studies were carried out to investigate the forming and development of cross-border urban regions, the leading forces of the process, the periods of co-operations after the transition (1989–1990) and the phases of changing meanings of borders between Hungary and the surrounding countries.

In the case study area – Gyula (33,000 inhabitants) at the Hungarian–Romanian border – a questionnaire was used to ask the inner-city retailers and service providers about the importance of foreign customers, particularly Romanians, and the effects of tourism. We also tried to define the role of foreign customers of the out-of-city large-scale retail units, the local market and the thermal spa. In parallel, we conducted structured and semi-structured interviews with the key actors of the local society and economy about their activities across the Hungarian–Romanian border. To counter-check the opinions of local agents, we made 25 separate interviews on the Romanian side of the border, mainly in Oradea (205,000 inhabitants) and Arad (169,000 inhabitants) to understand the viewpoints of potential partners.

The pattern of interactions we were able to draw was unbalanced, particularly between Gyula and the smaller villages and towns that lay on the Romanian side of the border. The major part of Hungarian cross-border activities was concentrated on such centres as Arad and Oradea, and, to a lower degree, Salonta (10,000 inhabitants), as it is the terminal station of a railway that crosses the border. A certain part of activity of Hungarian actors was generated inside Transylvania, where the Hungarian minority is concentrated. Nevertheless, the primary target for Romanians crossing the border became Gyula (and, for some functions, Békéscsaba) after the transition. The reason could be found in the strengthening service functions of the town and the absence of other medium-sized Hungarian urban centres and the short distance from the large cities on the Romanian side of the border zone.

The existing differences in the level of economic development around 2000 were reduced owing to the dynamic growth of the western border zone of Romania, on the one hand, and the slow growth rate of Békés County and the whole Eastern border zone of Hungary, on the other hand. The fast economic restructuring process in Romania was concentrated in the large urban centres and their surroundings (urban regions), while in the rural areas the dominant economic process was demolishing the pre-transition structures. In this context, the relative distance in the level of economic development between Gyula and villages on the other side of the border became more pronounced, a process that was stabilised by the global economic crisis after 2008.

The key actors of Gyula understood the importance of cross-border connections. As a consequence, there is a wide range of activities to strengthen co-operations with Romanian partners in self governments, institutions, civic organisations and enterprises. The most interesting element of that situation is the role of cross-border issues in the strategic documents of the towns and this small region.

The specific feature of the co-operation between Gyula and its traditional urban region – laying on the Romanian side of the border – is that it works independently from national origins. We saw more often Hungarian–Romanian common interactions than Hungarian–Hungarian ones (there is a large Hungarian minority living in the target area), or even Romanian–Romanian ones (Gyula is the centre of the Romanian minority in Hungary). As a conclusion we can say, this phenomenon should be further utilised as a strong basis of cross-border co-operations, regardless of local and national political debates.