Over the last two decades, there has been an increasing interest in the creative and cultural value of cities in Europe. As a new developmental element, cities are activating elements of the creative and cultural sector as well as local cultural values in cities.

This autumn, Széchenyi István University and the Bethlen István Research Centre collaborated to organize an international conference on the topic, attended by Russian researchers and presenters representing several Hungarian cities.

The conference was chaired by Dr Eszter Lukács, Vice-Rector and associate professor at Széchenyi István University, and Dr Dávid Fekete, Deputy Mayor of Győr.

The series of lectures was launched by Dr Gábor Lux, senior research fellow, CERS Institute for Regional, Hungarian Academy of Sciences Studies in Pécs, the title of whose presentation was “Culture-based Urban Development: Ideal and Practice Beyond Core Regions. He was followed by Dr Gábor Nagy, a senior research fellow at the CERS Institute for Regional Studies at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Pécs, whose stimulating presentation was entitled The Scope of the State of Production of Urban Space - A Relational Approach. Bálint Dóra, also from Pécs, gave a high-quality presentation about creative spaces under the title Digital Transformation in Cities: Co-working Spaces in Hungary. Réka Horeczki, a junior research fellow, came from the ELKH Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Institute for Regional Studies. Her presentation was State Support of the Company Towns in Russia and Kazakhstan: a comparative analysis.

Two Russian guest researchers from Ural Federal University, Professor Tatiana Bystrova and Viola Larionova, associate professor, raised the quality of the event with the following lectures: Design of Public Buildings and Spaces in European Towns as a Significant Part of the Territory’s Tourist Image and Socio-cultural Potential of Minority and Medium-sized Cities in the Eyes of Young People.

Subsequently, colleagues and doctoral students of Széchenyi István University represented our institution with their presentations. Dr Dávid Fekete and Szabolcs Morvay gave a presentation about the Creative City Concept, entitled Creative City Concept and the Creative Pyramid Model – Example of Győr. Following their presentation, András Lévai spoke on the topic of The Operationalization of the Creative Node Model and finally, Petra Kezai, a PhD student at Széchenyi István University, gave an exciting presentation entitled Győr as a Creative City - An Overview of the Local Creative Industry.
The conference was successful with stimulating scientific debates and participants returned home with rich experiences and scientific advancement.