Urbani izziv Volume 34, No. 2, December 2023
: 87-97
(Articles)
UDK: 502.131.1:711.433(439)
doi: 10.5379/urbani-izziv-en-2023-34-02-03
Author
Tamás Sikos Tomay
University of Miskolc, Faculty of Economics, Institute of Management, Miskolc, Hungary
tamas.sikos.t@uni-miskolc.hu
Dóra Szendi
University of Miskolc, Faculty of Economics, Institute of Management, Miskolc, Hungary
dora.szendi@uni-miskolc.hu
Title
Analysing economic and environmental
sustainability in Hungary: How cities with county
rights perform in SDGs
Abstract
Cities are the most important hubs of economic activity worldwide due to their concentration of population,
businesses, trade, and stock markets. Nowadays, rapidly changing conditions resulting from factors such as
globalization, industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, pandemics, and the Russian–Ukrainian war are raising new
challenges for cities, which require innovative and smart
solutions to maintain sustainability and competitiveness.
This study analyses the performance of Hungarian cities
with county rights in terms of their smartness level, with
a special focus on the pillars of environmental and economic sustainability. Our hypothesis is that economically
more developed cities (in terms of per capita income)
are likely to be more sustainable due to the financial and
professional resources available, but their ranking may not
necessarily reflect the more populous group of cities due
to, among other things, economies of scale and liveability.
We analysed three elements of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and selected a set of
indicators suggested by the Hungarian Central Statistical
Office and the UN, adapted to the specific features of the
Hungarian urban network, using min-max normalization
and average calculation to construct the SDG pillars and
a complex sustainability index. The cities were sorted into
Five cluster groups, which mainly differ in their development dynamics and liveability. The resulting clusters
reflect the spatial characteristics of the Hungarian urban
network, with the dynamic cities of the western and
northwestern parts of the country showing outstanding
sustainability performance.
Key Words
Hungarian cities, SDGs, sustainability, economic pillar, smart cities