Time travel in Budapest: what happened in the last 6 years?

Those who live in Budapest might have used to the fact that nothing changes really. And if you do your daily commute every time on the same route it might really look the same. In reality, Budapest has changed a lot in the last six years. Thanks to the timescale function of Google Street View we can follow that in a pretty easy way. The following sets if images  show how certain parts of the cityscape have changed dramatically. Alas, real metamorphoses. Here we go:

Space for people instead of cars. It's a pity not one person is visible.

A new bike lane instead of the unused tram rails here.

Pedestrianization and new apartments in the city's poorest neighboorhood, 8th district.

Car-free environment around the Parliament of Hungary.

Squeezing space for cars on Kálvin tér, too.

Less parking, more shared bikes.

Tough choice: a community garden with happy gardeners - on the site of a former residential building.

Drop-off side of the Keleti railway station, upgraded.

No more through traffic here.

8th district developments again.

 

Large-scale development along the "North office corridor".

Symbolic: shared bikes and bike path instead of taxis in front of an infamous tourist trap restaurant whose fans made a protest against the bike station.

Pedestrians (and cyclists) finally rose to street level for crossing.

Extreme greening.

City planners of the 70s were obsessed with creating useless oceans of tarmac. Thank God it's over.

The previous layout could also be mistaken for a car dealership.

No comment.