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Urban development that never happened – a fairy tale written by Karácsony Gergely.

Karácsony Gergely didn’t just receive an award this time for his enthusiasm for rainbow causes, but for something he simply did not accomplish.

Reclaiming public spaces – does the mayor mean that today you can’t even sit down in a square because of the homelessness situation?

Digital development of transport – maybe it worked virtually, but certainly not in reality. Traffic jams, potholes, air pollution, and such dirt that tourists have voted Budapest the dirtiest city in Europe.

Instead of boasting about fake awards, it would be time for the mayor to finally start working for the people of Budapest!

Now let’s read a fairy tale together, titled “The development that never was.”

Once upon a time, according to the jury’s evaluation, one of Budapest’s greatest strengths was its ability to think in systems: the integration of physical and digital transport networks, the reclaiming of public spaces, and the restoration of the natural environment all appearing simultaneously in its developments. So wrote Karácsony Gergely.

But this time, Karácsony Gergely didn’t receive an award for a “gender parade,” but for something he quite simply did not do at all.

Reclaiming public spaces – what does the mayor mean by that? Perhaps that nowadays you can’t sit down in a square because they are full of homeless people?

Digital development of transport – maybe it has improved digitally, but in reality, it certainly hasn’t. The roads are full of potholes, people spend hours stuck in traffic while breathing in exhaust fumes.

The city is so dirty that, shamefully, tourists have voted Budapest the dirtiest city in Europe.

I don’t know what Karácsony Gergely deserves for this—but it’s certainly not an award.

🧠 Quick overview

👉 Main narrative:

“Karácsony Gergely = incompetent + lying + has done nothing”
“Award = fake + ridiculous”
“Budapest = deteriorating, unlivable city”

👉 Hidden formula:
delegitimization + mockery + fear + exaggeration → rejection

🔍 Influence techniques

1️⃣ Mockery and ridicule (framing)

👉 “a fairy tale written by Karácsony Gergely”
👉 “bragging about fake awards”

Technique: discrediting through humor / cynicism
Goal: don’t take it seriously → undermine credibility from the start
Effect: the reader doesn’t analyze, but laughs

➡️ Very powerful because it doesn’t argue → it labels

2️⃣ Total denial of performance (nullification)

👉 “something he simply did not do”
👉 “did not do at all”

Technique: denial of any achievement (black-and-white framing)
Goal: remove nuance → everything = failure
Effect: distorted reality (no partial successes allowed)

➡️ Classic: what matters is not what happened, but that “nothing happened”

3️⃣ Rhetorical questions → implied answers

👉 “does he mean…?”
👉 “what does the mayor mean?”

Technique: leading questions
Goal: make it seem like the reader reaches the conclusion themselves
Effect: internal reinforcement → “I think the same”

➡️ In reality, it doesn’t ask → it asserts

4️⃣ Bundling negative phenomena

👉 “homelessness”
👉 “traffic jams, potholes”
👉 “air pollution”
👉 “dirt”

Technique: stacking problems
Goal: tie all negatives to one person
Effect: overload → “everything is bad at once”

➡️ This is not analysis, but emotional pressure

5️⃣ Unproven claims presented as facts

👉 “the dirtiest city in Europe”
👉 “tourists voted it so”

Technique: imitation of certainty
Goal: prevent questioning
Effect: illusion of credibility

➡️ No source → still sounds like a fact

6️⃣ Strawman (distortion)

👉 “maybe digitally it worked, but in reality it didn’t”

Technique: simplification + distortion
Goal: make complex developments look ridiculous
Effect: original claims become caricatures

7️⃣ Indirect construction of an enemy

👉 “you can’t sit down because of homeless people”

Technique: projecting social tension onto a politician
Goal: channel frustration → attach it to a person
Effect: scapegoating

8️⃣ Repetition (reinforcement)

Same patterns repeated:

  • “did nothing”
  • “dirt”
  • “chaos”

Technique: repetition = increased sense of truth
Goal: fixation
Effect: familiar → more believable

9️⃣ Moral judgment at the end

👉 “he certainly does not deserve an award”

Technique: closed judgment
Goal: leave no room for doubt
Effect: no debate → final conclusion

⚠️ Why it feels like propaganda

Because the text:

  • does not weigh
  • does not prove
  • does not nuance
  • but aims to trigger an emotional reaction

👉 main tools:

  • mockery
  • exaggeration
  • repetition
  • negative imagery
  • “everything is bad” narrative

🧩 Short summary

This text does not analyze urban development, but:

👉 destroys character
👉 simplifies reality
👉 generates emotion (anger, disgust)

➡️ Classic political formula:
ridicule + problem stacking + certainty → rejection