In this study you will see what factors affect the quality of our daily life in our living

environment. I will point out some questions, should the government responds to the individuals
needs. I have made a questionnaire in order to examine different opinions. The participants were all
female in the age group of 25 to 40 living and working in Budapest. They were obtained via
Facebook. My aim was to find connections in age, marital status and number of children. I could not
find any relations between the answers and factors. It is mainly because most likely these difficulties
affect everyone equally, regardless of their individual characteristics.

In the survey I have pointed out 15 advantageous steps that the government should take into
consideration, and the subjects should have created a logical order among them:
• Install more bike paths and lanes.
• Reduce air pollution and be more aware of it.
• Create more green areas in the city.
• Install, operate and maintain more public sport facilities
• Increase the standards of public education.
• Offer more and distribute better the social benefits
• Guard and keep in a reasonable level the cost of living and of accommodation.
• Solve the public health care issues and keep it in a good standard.
• Find solutions for ethnic/racial and cultural diversity problems.
• Create stability in economic and make survival plans for crisis
• Increase the governmental transparency and fight against corruption.
• Create good and equal job opportunities in the labor market.
 • Maintain sustainability (environmental, ecological, economical)
Subjects
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Age 35 37 37 41 27 28 33 35 35 36 36 39 40
relation relation relation
Marital status married married single married single single married ship ship married single married ship

number of children 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Av.

Solve the public health care issues and keep
1 it in a good standard. 14 14 14 15 7 12 9 15 14 14 15 8 14 12.7
Maintain sustainability (environmental,
2 ecological, economical) 10 12 15 4 14 5 6 3 3 13 14 15 15 9.9
Create stability in economic and make
3 survival plans for crisis 9 5 13 3 15 4 14 11 13 6 5 14 12 9.5

4 Increase the standards of public education. 12 15 9 13 9 13 7 14 11 9 7 9 9 10.5

Find solutions for ethnic/racial and cultural
5 diversity problems. 11 3 10 1 12 2 12 6 15 15 6 13 4 8.5
Reduce air pollution and be more aware of
6 it. 15 10 12 10 3 8 5 13 4 12 3 12 7 8.8
Create good and equal job opportunities in
7 the labor market. 8 7 3 6 11 11 10 2 6 7 11 10 13 8.1

8 Create more green areas in the city. 4 11 5 9 4 14 2 9 8 11 13 5 10 8.1

Develop and maintain the public transport
9 system 13 9 6 8 5 10 3 10 5 10 12 11 6 8.3
Increase the governmental transparency
10 and fight against corruption. 6 1 11 14 13 6 15 4 9 1 10 7 8 8.1

During the evaluation of the data I have collected I have realized that the most important fact
recently is the public health care problem. Whether the health care problem is a main concern
because of the coronavirus situation or would it be also on the top of the list when there was no
pandemic? Probably this is a question we can not answer in this essay, as we should have had data
before the pandemic. But even though, the coronavirus may change the way as we see our problems.
I believe that people can emphatize and focus on other issues as well.

As we can see the main concerned issue from most of my subjects is the public health care
issues. However, in the ten most important issues there are the whole palette of other problems like
public education, sustainability, ethnical/racial issues, the proportion of the green areas and equal
job opportunities as well.

On the other hand I have found it interesting that the issues of the city-planning got so less
attention even though Budapest have made major changes, especially in the downtown traffic and
bike lane networks. It is not a new thing to reconsider the view of the city during a pandemic
situation. In the 19th century, when the cholera took its victims, architects were trying to find
solutions for the pandemic by city-planing. They had the belief that one main cause of an epidemic
is the bad air quality in the city. According to this theory city-planners started to widen the streets
and established city parks to clear the air. The Central Park in New York begin to built after the
Subjects
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Age 35 37 37 41 27 28 33 35 35 36 36 39 40
relation relation relation
Marital status married married single married single single married ship ship married single married ship

Number of children 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Install, operate and maintain more public
1 sport facilities 2 4 1 2 1 1 1 8 1 3 1 3 1 2.2

2 Install more bike paths and lanes 3 8 4 11 2 9 4 7 7 8 4 4 3 5.7

Offer more and distribut better the social
3 benefits
Give help and create a better tax system for 1 2 8 12 10 15 8 5 10 4 2 1 2 6.2
the small entrepreneurs and small
4 bussineses 7 6 2 5 8 3 11 1 12 5 8 6 11 6.5
Guard and keep in a reasonable level the
5 cost of living and of accommodation. 5 13 7 7 6 7 13 12 2 2 9 2 5 6.9
cholera, which was so beloved by the citizens that new parks were started to bee established as well
all around the word.

There is a consensus among architects about green areas and bike paths in the city: there should
be more. As Scott Duncan, a design partner at SOM said: “Bicycle commuting is another one of
those things where if we can use, or respond to, the pandemic with a solution that actually works
really well, maybe it’ll stick.” The municipality of Budapest created new bike lanes and solved basic
issues in the bike lane network. These changes could have affected my subjects decision-making
because the related problems are appear to be solved for now.

The other interesting thing we can observe is a pretty hard consensus in the need of the new
public sport facilities. However, as I see in the days of the lock down these outdoor public sport
facilities become more popular, my subjects put them to the least important place. I am wondering if
their decision is being influenced by the mass stadium construction by the government. Could have
been these new, mostly football stadiums seen as public sport facilities even thought they are
actually belonged to professional or private associations?

age 35 37 37 41 27 28 33 35 35 36 36 39 40
relation relation relation
marital status married married single married single single married ship ship married single married ship

nimber of children 1 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Solve the public health care issues and keep
it in a good standard. 14 14 14 15 7 12 9 15 14 14 15 8 14 12.7

Increase the standards of public education. 12 15 9 13 9 13 7 14 11 9 7 9 9 10.5

Maintain sustainability (environmental,
ecological, economical) 10 12 15 4 14 5 6 3 3 13 14 15 15 9.9
Create stability in economic and make
survival plans for crisis 9 5 13 3 15 4 14 11 13 6 5 14 12 9.5
Reduce air pollution and be more aware of
it. 15 10 12 10 3 8 5 13 4 12 3 12 7 8.8
Find solutions for ethnic/racial and cultural
diversity problems. 11 3 10 1 12 2 12 6 15 15 6 13 4 8.5
Develop and maintain the public transport
system 13 9 6 8 5 10 3 10 5 10 12 11 6 8.3
Increase the governmental transparency
and fight against corruption. 6 1 11 14 13 6 15 4 9 1 10 7 8 8.1
Create good and equal job opportunities in
the labor market. 8 7 3 6 11 11 10 2 6 7 11 10 13 8.1

Create more green areas in the city. 4 11 5 9 4 14 2 9 8 11 13 5 10 8.1

Guard and keep in a reasonable level the
cost
Giveof living
help andand of accommodation.
create a better tax system for 5 13 7 7 6 7 13 12 2 2 9 2 5 6.9
the small entrepreneurs and small
bussineses 7 6 2 5 8 3 11 1 12 5 8 6 11 6.5
Offer more and distribut better the social
benefits 1 2 8 12 10 15 8 5 10 4 2 1 2 6.2

Install more bike paths and lanes 3 8 4 11 2 9 4 7 7 8 4 4 3 5.7

Install, operate and maintain more public
sport facilities 2 4 1 2 1 1 1 8 1 3 1 3 1 2.2

According to my results we can observe that the second important issue is the public education,
the following ones are the sustainability and economic stability. Meanwhile, in the issue of
sustainability and stability the answers are very diverse, opinions are rages from very important to
the less important, education and health care problems are the very important or middle important
for the subjects.

As a conclusion we can see that the most important issues are the public health care and the
public education. These two concern are unsolved problems in Hungary for decades and the
pandemic situation made them more vulnerable as before. The people can also see the issues, and
they need solutions immediately. Unfortunately due to the pandemic situation, these difficulties have
become even harder to solve. The resources have run out, these areas are overwhelmed, solutions
can be found most probably after the pandemic. Meanwhile, some other issues can be solved easier
in this situation. These are the changes like traffic reduction and the newly installed bike lanes which
reduces air pollution and could help the city to breathe.
References:

• Introduction to Sociology, Seagull 11E – R. P. Appelbaum, d. Carr, M. Duneier, A. Giddens

(2018)

• Budapest 2030 - Hosszu tavu varosfejlesztesi koncepcio (2013)

• Mult-kor (01.05.2020) https://mult-kor.hu/a-jarvanyok-nem-vart-mellekhatasa-az-esszeru-

varostervezes-20200501?pIdx=2

• From Garden Streets to Bike-Highways: Four Ideas to post-Covid Cities - C. Michael, L

McMullan, F. Hulley-Jones, The Guardian (25.09.2020)
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2020/sep/25/garden-streets-bike-
superhighways-cities-future-coronavirus