After 1989
The revolutions of 1989 brought with them the end of Soviet occupation of Hungary, which meant the end of Communism in Hungary. Budapest succeeded in taking advantage of new economic possibilities and pursuing development more efficiently than the other parts of the country. Upon the shutdown of Socialist industrial plants plenty of new workplaces were generated, especially on the fields of service and trade industries. In the Budapest area unemployment is the lowest and average income per capita is the highest.
The local government law legislated after the transition provided new rights or licenses for the districts of Budapest, like the right to own and finance the community public services should they want and decide the density and micro-layout of area types that are defined by the Metropolitan Government. Local minority governments had also sprang forth, active mainly on cultural fields.
The Metropolitan Government does not interfere with the emphases of cultural or civil life but has difficulties conducting an autonomous financial policy due to lack of funds. Gábor Demszky, a former member of the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ), was the mayor of Budapest between 1990 and 2010.
During the 2006 protests in Hungary, triggered by the release of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány's private speech, tens of thousands of people assembled in Budapest in September and October 2006. Politicians and radicals as organizations assembled and from podiums and loudings demanded the resignation of the PM before the Parliament all day, traditional symbol sellers, stands for reproduced political materials and flags, and moving restaurants settled there. Every night there was chaos in the inner city and on Great Bulevuard, smashed windows, burnt cars, traffic sign columns and glasses used as weapons, buses used as barricades, occupied water cannons and one time a memorial tank managing to roll 50 meters took part fighting the police fighting with rub sticks, tear gas, water and fences cutting the ravagers to smallers segments and gradually distancing them. Many protesters used the national colours and their organizations' symbol, the motto "Gyurcsány Go To Hell" (Gyurcsány Takarodj) could be heard skanded from groups on the streets, sometimes from thousands on the square.
Before dissolvings of the masses, multiple times official orders to everyone to leave the street calmly were given from the police by audiospeakers. No reporter was beaten who did not go to places in time when the police told in advance they cannot guarantee their security. Reporters and cameramen even with distincting glowing clothes were beaten in fights by both sides, willing to take the risks. For thwarting the initial unregulatory aggression of some policemen, individual number signs were placed onto them. This did not close out accidents like an eye shot out by tear gas bullet. Thousands of people were mobilized before every sunrise from emergency governmental and metropolitan funds to clear up the places and make tram and general travel available and safe.
A few days after the National Health Office forbade selling or making food on Kossuth square before the Parliament, during night special forces stormed the camps (that were reported to authorities before establishment as political rallies). Oiled carbon bricks, explosives, weapons classified as dangerous, and other undisclosed materials were found, which justified the action. At the arrival of winter, the phrase "In March we start again" was well known in Budapest, but the futility of trying to overthrow the government this way could be the reason of not starting it again.
By 2010 many major investment projects, some planned even before the system-change have gone over their point of no-return or have been finished.
Read more about this topic: History Of Budapest