The Role of Hungaricums in the Development of Settlements

Civic Review· VOL 17. Special Issue, 2021, 415–430., DOI: 10.24307/psz.2021.0028

Summary

Due to the national strategic significance of the topic, the Research Institute for National Strategy aimed to examine the impact of Hungaricums in the development of the affected settlements. In the literature review, we examined the development of the concept of the Hungaricums, evaluated its national strategic significance, and discussed the impact of the Hungaricums on local and national identity. During the primary research, we conducted a questionnaire survey among those Hungaricums in the Hungaricum Collection, which are related to a settlement. We looked for the answer to the question, among other things, to what extent the Hungaricum determines the practice of settlement development, how the management of the settlement relates to it and how the population. We also asked the organizations concerned to what extent the Hungaricums have an impact on job creation and cooperation in the given settlement and region. The results showed that if, in the opinion of the respondents, a Hungaricum plays a more significant role in the development of the settlement, the inhabitants are also more proud of these values. It also turned out that in addition to the greater utilization of the Hungaricum in settlement development, the value can have an impact on job creation and community building at a higher territorial level (not only at the local level, but also at the regional, national or even international level).

Keywords: Hungaricum, national value, local identity, national identity, Carpathian Basin