The transformation of commuting patterns in the functional urban region of Budapest

The relocation of jobs to suburban areas have changed commuting patterns thereby increasing the significance of reverse commuting from the central city to the suburbs and cross-commuting within suburban areas. While research on these processes has been widespread in the USA and Western Europe, we know relatively little about how commuting patterns changed in the metropolitan regions of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) where suburbanisation was delayed under state socialism. The objective of this paper is to explore how changes in urban structure affected commuting patterns in the functional urban region of Budapest with far-reaching consequences for transport planning. A longitudinal analysis of commuting data from the National Censuses of 1980, 1990, 2001, 2005 and 2011 suggests that a significant reconfiguration of commuting destinations has taken place. While traditional sub-centres lost their significance, the new economic poles around Budapest became the main destinations for cross- and reverse commuting potentially increasing the propensity to commute by car.