Common complaints these days about new residential parks include that they are too crowded, the common green area is much smaller than would be desired, there is not even a hint of anything park-like in them, and, from a community standpoint, they do not offer a more pleasant living environment at all than their predecessors, the concrete panel housing projects.

Károly Hevesi, architect, the head of architectural office Hevesi & Partner:

The question with planning residential parks is always what the local regulations allow, which unfortunately are not updated to reflect today's requirements most of the time, and thus contain old, outdated floor area indicators which allow for more intensive building-in, and usually apply to the block as a whole. Local governments characteristically do not have the funds to update the regulations, and the new zoning plan formed with the participation of the developer strongly reflects the influence of the investor.
 
A comfortably spacious building-in, in line with residential park standards, only happens where local regulations are strict, containing rules on the placement of buildings as well, and where a detailed park plan is also a necessary part of the plan documentation submitted for permitting. It is ridiculous to talk of creating a residential park environment if, for example, the park plan for a built-in area of 50 thousand square metres is a drawing on an A3-size sheet, for which there is one expert per local government to evaluate it.
 
Until relevant regulation is lax toward obvious overbuilding, and there is no strategy for green areas, no progress is to be expected on the question of green surfaces in residential parks. Above a certain size, for example, the placement of some kind of aquatic object in the garden should be mandated. An aquatic object placed every 50-80 square metres, and maintained regularly, lures birds to the area and jump-starts an ecosystem, creating a special atmosphere which already gives meaning to the phrase "residential park." These are tasks for the authorities - although the designer can give his opinion, if he argues too much, he could be left without work. I think in cases of developments in unbroken rows in an urban environment, a 50-50 built-in ratio could still offer an acceptable environment, but in a suburban area the ideal ratio would be 20-80.

Attila Hunyady, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AL Holding:

Unfortunately, it is true that today's residential parks only meet the standards required of them on the level of marketing, with neither the size of the area remaining unbuilt, nor the design meeting expectations. Due to the lack of a precise definition, the plot's floor-area indicator determines the extent of building-in, but this is often more permissive than would be ideal, and can create a crowded living environment. At the same time, the investor cannot afford to forgo a part of the building-in potential, and there is often no money left to landscape the area remaining vacant, or build an EU-compliant playground, because landscaping costs can reach up to 5-6 percent of the total investment.

The rule of thumb is that a one-third-two-thirds ratio favouring buildings is still bearable in an urban environment, but a much more spacious building-in is desirable in suburban areas. Orientation and façade height, as well as the mass of the buildings and their distance from each other also affect how wide we feel the space to be. If this is less than 16-18 metres, then again, that can hurt general sentiment a lot.
 
According to our market research, buyers definitely require larger green spaces, and even with the sensitivity to price, the market is trending toward expectations of quality. In addition, the slump in sales might be able to force some changes in residential park projects in this respect. Nevertheless, the situation is contradictory, because it also must be told that residents do not really like to spend much on maintaining the green areas, and sometimes even the purchase of a lawnmower can stir up quite a storm in the community.