Győr: How to compete with capital cities (Volume 7) by Éva Gerőházi and Iván Tosics

Located between three European capital cities, Győr has to work 
hard to attract investment and jobs. The Hungarian city has set 
itself up to attract innovative companies, creating new urban 
values such as education-based innovation, a high-quality urban 
environment and a lively cultural sphere. Here’s how  
a “secondary city” builds on its industrial past even  
as it breaks away from its dependence on it.
 Győr is a Hungarian “secondary city” close to Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest. These three capital cities attract 
most of the development potential in the area, making it difficult for smaller cities such as Győr to attract the 
headquarters of international companies or to develop large-scale new urban areas. Győr’s response has been to 
focus on “smart specialisation” in line with its broader innovation-based development concept.
 With 125,000 residents, Győr is located in north-west Hungary, 40 km east of the Austrian border and exactly 
halfway between Budapest and Vienna. The city boasts a special geographical position within the triangle of 
three European capital cities (Bratislava being the third).  

From a domestic perspective, Győr has an outstanding economic position. It currently is — and has been for a 
long time — a flagship of Hungarian heavy industry, having made a very successful transition from socialist 
machine industries to modern car manufacturing. Győr was the only city in Hungary barely affected by major 
economic crises (the economic and social transition of the early 1990s and the global financial crisis at the end of 
the 2000s). It experienced continued growth when all other Hungarian cities faced a downturn. On the other hand, 
the local economy has always relied on a single dominant industry. Before the economic transition of the 1990s, 
the Hungarian Waggon and Machine Factory RÁBA was the largest employer, dominating the local economy. Audi 
Hungaria took over this role after 1994, with nearly as many employees as RÁBA previously. 
The following figure displays key milestones in Győr’s urban development, grouped into three categories: economic, 
spatial, and social.

Győr: How to compete with capital cities (Volume 7) by Éva Gerőházi  and Iván Tosics