Gerson Javier Perez Valbuena (p), Bernardo Romero

Pál Szabó

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Sára Farkas (p)

Gerson Javier Perez Valbuena

The presentation aims to give a brief overview about the financial instruments’ role in development policy in the EU and, as a Central- European emerging country, to highlight the special features of the Hungarian delivery system (2007- 2013), and to identify the risks and challenges on local economic development.

Daniel Colares (p), Sergio Barréto, Gilberto Fernandes

Sára Farkas

The European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) are financial instruments to promote the European Union's strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. Since 2014, Portugal has received more than €29.4 billion in investment. Despite the large amount of funding, there has been an insufficient assessment of the impact this investment had on Portuguese development. The research presented here aims to assess the impact of ESIF on regional development in Portugal.
In the first step, the relevant development variables were identified, aligning the ESIF objectives with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The data collected presented a breakdown of Portugal's 308 municipalities (7 regions), and a time horizon of the last decade. From the collected data, development indicators were constructed.
The analysis methodology used algorithmic statistical techniques such as Data Mining. Specific analyses were carried out when the interconnections between the variables justified it. The efficiency of using ESIF to generate development was studied using optimization models and tools such as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA).
Research results make it possible to identify the real impact of the ESIF on the development of regions and on people's lives. Graphic elements were produced that allows each municipality (region) to monitor its positioning. Policy makers find in this methodology and its results relevant informational support that allows for more conscious decision-making. This facilitates the pursuit of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Pál Szabó (p)

Daniel Colares

For more than thirty years, the capitals and cities of post-socialist countries have been trying to catch up with the cities of Western Europe. Budapest is well on the way to becoming a developed European metropolis. It is modernising, becoming more open and increasingly integrated into the network of cities of Europe and the world, but this has not only advantages but also disadvantages. It can also be seen that, while the capital is becoming a social and economic hub at European level, it is distancing itself from the country's rural areas and absorbing and concentrating valuable domestic resources. The proportion of this becomes critical for some factors. The agglomeration surrounding Budapest, through its proximity to the capital, is growing, benefiting from the capital's weight, while the characteristics of the two areas and their relationship are changing. Overall, the system of functions of the triple role (habitat of the local population, capital city serving the country, European metropolis) does not seem to be fully coherent, as embodied in the debates between the different interest groups. The paper seeks to answer the question of which factors give Budapest and its region a meaningful role in the European urban hierarchy and what advantages and disadvantages this has for the city. On the other hand, how the central role of the capital city in the country is evolving, in which factors and how this is reflected. Thirdly, what are the main processes and relationships that characterise the capital and its agglomeration. Fourthly, which factors strengthen and weaken each other in this complex system. In this work, statistical data (Eurostat, Hungarian Central Statistical Office) will be processed and analysed to show the situation of the capital and its region in terms of society and economy, and the static and dynamic aspects of the processes.