“Diminishing, although…” Lessons from a survey of the outskirts in Békés county

Abstract

Within the framework of a large-scale “tanya” (scattered farmstead settlement) programme launched by the Ministry of Rural Development in 2013, a research group – led by the Békéscsaba Group of CERSHAS – made an almost complete survey of the population and the houses of the outlying areas in Békés county, Hungary. A large scale and spatially sorted data base was built. However, as the basic structure of data tables was pre-defined by the ministry, we had to use additional questions and interviews with local residents to enlarge our information basis and understand the longer-term processes of development. In this paper the authors concentrate on the survey findings to show the different development paths on LAU1 and LAU2 levels 25 years after the transition period (1989–1990).

After a four-decade period of “tanya” destruction (1950–1986), there was not a new “resettlement wave” from the centre of villages/towns into the vicinity after the re-privatisation of arable lands in the early 1990s. There was not a widespread process of further destruction, either. The survival of certain “tanyas” was owed only partially to agribusiness (the traditional function of scattered farmstead settlements), but much more and increasingly to their use as second homes and for recreational purposes.

The pre-conception of residents in “tanyas” being mostly elderly or socially marginalised groups seems to be a very simplified point of view. In reality, there is a fragmented, highly mixed population living in “tanyas” with different characteristics even in smaller parts of a certain settlement. The demographic profile of them is quite similar to the bigger settlements’ overall average. Meanwhile, there is a continuous change of population which is sometimes caused by a change of function of a “tanya”.

A further contraction of the “tanya” network seems almost inevitable in the next decade, as we counted a high number of ruined or abandoned non-residential buildings. This process may also be caused by such factors as the absence of a basic infrastructure (roads, electricity, telecommunications). The most dangerous challenge to the survival of homes in those outlying settlements is losing residential and/or economic functions.

We saw different spatial types of “tanyas” in the area of Békés county, rooted in the specific historic patterns of micro-regions. In the North, North-Eastern, and Southern parts of the county, the traditional “tanya” network is almost non-existent. In contrast, there is a lively, multi-functional and morphologically differentiated “tanya” system along the East-West axis of the county, even around major centres.