A team led by French architecture firm Coldefy, comprising CITYFÖRSTER, Sporaarchitects, TREIBHAUS.LAND and Marko & Placemakers, won the competition to design the masterplan for Budapest’s Lakošländes. This project was developed for the Budapest Capital Asset Management Center on behalf of the City of Budapest. The design outlines a 15-year plan to transform a brownfield site on the east side of the Hungarian capital, long considered the city’s “rust zone”. The regeneration plan includes over 10,000 apartments, new transport links, commercial and civic spaces, and forms a comprehensive urban redevelopment strategy in line with 15-minute city principles.
The design prioritizes landscape and ecological continuity, combining blue infrastructure (water-based networks), green infrastructure (natural spaces) and a 15-hectare forest park connected to the larger site via a linear park. It also proposes rewilding the Lakos River as a meandering waterway and creating public spaces with accessible terraces, paths and resting areas along the reshaped riverbank. Beyond rewilding, these parks aim to revitalize public life across six new sub-districts, each with its own unique character and linked through a continuous loop of public spaces. Each district is conceived around its own city center and reflects the district structure of Budapest’s historic inner city.
The Central Forest Park will be connected to the new railway park over the existing railway line. This second park incorporates meadows, event space, and a central lake. The existing Lacoxléndes railway station is being reimagined as a mixed-use hub that supports the master-planned central city district and connects to a metro extension, new tram lines and a network of active mobility routes. The redesigned station connects the eastern and western sides of the site and positions the area within Budapest’s regional and long-distance transport network. The focus on public transport is expected to counter car-dependent development patterns and encourage the creation of mostly car-free residential streets and plazas.
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The proposal also includes the adaptive reuse of former railway buildings and depots as a cultural center incorporating a municipal library and railway museum. The new plaza in front of Lacoxléndes station will serve as a year-round civic space for markets, cultural events and public gatherings, and will feature new trees, water elements and shaded areas. This urban center is intended to transition into a medium- and low-rise residential area structured around a network of green spaces on both sides of the railway. The area is surrounded by a dense mix of offices, hotels, retail stores and services. Beyond the Lakos River, the fragmented landscape will be reconfigured into an accessible sports area with outdoor fields, recreational facilities and an additional metro station. The project was highlighted by the competition jury for its “livable residential environment” and “outstanding quality of the public space system”.
Other recent master plan and urban design announcements include a new master plan for Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, titled ‘CityWalk’, designed by Benoy as a mixed-use district integrating hotels, offices, residential, retail, cultural, educational and healthcare facilities. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) also released images of its landmark project in Alatau, a new city along the Almaty-Konaev highway that is being planned as an international investment hub in Kazakhstan. Earlier this year, Battersea Power Station appointed strategic urban design practice Studio Egret West to develop its original masterplan for the remaining 16 acres of its 42-acre riverside precinct in south-west London, and Foster + Partners announced masterplans for a major development planned around Angola’s recently completed Dr Antonio Agostinho Neto International Airport.
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