Dunaújváros Residents Awaiting New Industrial Investment

Dunaújváros, located on the banks of the River Danube south of Budapest, is an industrial town and wants to remain so, according to a representative survey conducted among the local population. The vast majority of Dunaújváros residents believe that new industrial investment would help the town, which has fallen on hard times following the collapse of the local steel industry; they believe this should be the responsibility of the government or large companies.

93% of Dunaújváros residents consider their hometown to have been a significant industrial town in the past, and 86% believe it is important for the town to continue to be a major industrial center in the future – these are the clearest findings of a representative telephone survey conducted among locals by the Iránytű Institute. According to the overwhelming majority, the presence of the ironworks was an advantage in the past, with nearly three-quarters of respondents associating positive memories with it. The survey was conducted after the former Indian owner failed to restart the metallurgical plant in Dunaújváros, leaving the town of 40,000 on the Danube (the second largest town in Fejér County) without a major industrial employer.

More than four-fifths (82%) of the residents of Dunaújváros had a relative or close acquaintance who worked at the steelworks – this figure alone illustrates the magnitude of the change in the town's economic life following the closure of the factory. Nearly two-thirds (60%) feel that the mood in the town has become uncertain since then. Perhaps even more telling is that one in five residents of Dunaújváros (21%) are actually considering moving away; many of them also mentioned that they would be looking for a new place to live due to the lack of suitable job opportunities.

Opinions are more divided on what the solution might be, but the relative majority, i.e. the largest group of respondents (41%), see new industrial investment as the way forward, while 30% believe that reviving the smelting industry could be the way out.

According to those surveyed, it is not entirely clear whose responsibility it is to save Dunaújváros, but it seems that the majority of the town's residents are waiting for outside help. 57% believe that the government should intervene, while 15% believe that a market player, i.e., a large company bringing some kind of industrial activity to the town, should do so. 11% named the local government as a possible initiator of an industrial renaissance.

The prevailing mood in Dunaújváros is well illustrated by the fact that 87% of respondents believe that it would have a positive effect if the town became an industrial center again, and 76% would be particularly happy to see new industrial facilities move in. As one respondent put it: "We used to complain about the steelworks because it smoked. Now we would be happy to have the smoke." Even more characteristic is another opinion quoted in the survey about the possible effects of reindustrialization: "The town would develop, there would be job opportunities for young people, and Dunaújváros would be a happier town."