The change in function of the zártkert (zárkert, meaning “enclosed gardens,” is a legal term in Hungary denoting real estates at the fringes of settlements assigned for small-scale agricultural production), and the settlement of these outlying plots, is a longstanding but as yet understudied socioeconomic phenomenon. Sociologist and ethnographer András Vigvári, a member of the Helyzet [Situation] Workshop research group, provides an analysis of the belt of garden plots on the outskirts of Budapest in his book Zártkert-Magyarország. Átmeneti terek a nagyvárosok peremén [Zártkert Hungary. Transitional spaces on the outskirts of big cities], drawing on his dissertation of the same title. The author begins his book with a film-like image: following an excerpt from an interview, we are taken for a stroll along the dusty streets of Kelemenszeg Gardens to observe the landscape and environmental features of this unique area. This approach is used on several occasions, demonstrating Vigvári's interest in aesthetics. The author's style contains the hallmarks of ethnographic and sociographic tradition, combined with aspects of contemporary critical urban studies. The volume itself is written in an accessible style, and although the underlying socioeconomic analysis is occasionally repetitive, rather than being redundant it is concise and to the point and serves to contextualize the researcher's experiences in the field in a thoroughgoing and fascinating way.

An important pillar of the volume's theoretical approach is the sociographic discourse and writing style typical of early twentieth century Hungary, as evidenced by the allusion to László Németh's 1940 sociopolitical concept of Kert-Magyaroszág, or “Garden Hungary.” Another important theoretical approach is the treatment of the housing on these outlying plots as marginal housing. This socio-spatial process has been gaining ground in recent decades — that is, peri-urban areas are playing an increasing role in metropolitan housing. This is interpreted in some international critical urban studies as a consequence of gentrification and commodification processes, and in others as the proliferation of suburbanization processes (17.).

In Hungarian research, the change in function of outlying plots is likewise seen as a specific form of exclusion from the city on the one hand, and of intra-urban suburbanization on the other (18.). Vigvári, however, defines outlying plots as transitional spaces, analyzing this transition at two levels. Drawing on this concept, he examines the settlement of outlying plots as processes of migration from the city and changes in housing conditions, as well as from the perspective of household mobility and reproduction strategies (19.).

The author then enlarges on his methodology, which comprises interviews, participant observation, and stationary fieldwork over three years, with a combination of sociological, sociographic, and ethnographic approaches.

The chapter “Transitional spaces on the margins of metropolitan areas” deals in greater depth with the theory of transitional spaces, the relationship between space and society, the differences between the transitional spaces of central and semi-peripheral areas, and the growing role of individual and informal housing strategies.

In the next section, the author presents this process “on the margins of Budapest” through historical, demographic, and economic data. According to Vigvári, in the last one hundred years three waves can be observed in the regeneration of the transitional spaces in this localized space: around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries; during the socialist era; and following the change of political regime. The last of these waves saw the settlement of outlying plots.

The author narrows his focus chapter by chapter. The next section is “The emergence of the transitional space: The Kelemenszeg Gardens.” Kelemenszeg (an anonymized name) is a small town on the outskirts of the Budapest agglomeration that lies on one of Hungary's first railway lines, and the Kelemenszeg Gardens (Kertek) are the settlement's belt of outlying plots. Vigvári defines this area as a transitional space on two levels: it lies on the edge of a metropolis, Budapest, as well as on the edge of a small town, Kelemenszeg. In this chapter, he gives a brief overview of the history of this space and the changes in its function right up to the present day. In my opinion, the strength of this book lies in the fact that, regardless of whether the author is addressing a particular phenomenon from a global, regional, or local perspective, he always sees it as a historical process, while that history is emphatically ongoing: this is not a documentary analysis that focuses on the present day, but rather a description of a process of change. This perhaps explains why the truly personal, intimate empiricism is somewhat relegated to the background in the service of elucidating the phenomenon itself.

The next chapter discusses housing- and employment-related population movements between Budapest and the “countryside,” drawing on the housing mobility trajectories of those coming from the rural peripheries, those coming from the inner ring of the agglomeration, and those coming from Budapest. In this chapter (“The settlement of the transitional space”), the author demonstrates how three waves of housing crises were locally manifested in the Gardens.

Vigvári then moves from his theoretical analyses of the overall processes to the sensitive and fascinating empiricism of ethnographic fieldwork. This allows him to offer an insight into the everyday life of the outlying plots; the regulations, operating mechanisms, and power interests in force; and how residents oscillate between feelings of abandonment and a sense of common destiny (“The maintenance of transitional space”).

The final chapter (“Homemaking and social reproduction in the transitional space”) discusses local forms of self-financed house construction, the independent production of housing, the flow of resources, and strategies for cooperation between households. Vigvári identifies the challenges inherent in creating informal, self-financed housing in a transitional space, importantly highlighting the gender-related aspects of those challenges. At the same time, he points to the ambivalence of the phenomenon by demonstrating that his interlocutors feel secure and proud of what they have produced for themselves, and value the independence and freedom that this informality allows. It is this ideal of agency and autonomy that motivates them to build slowly but surely. We therefore observe how a complex global and national process of shortage (i.e., the waves of housing crises) and the pressure of discrepancies between regional opportunities for employment reinforce the need for independence, as well as the kind of resources that individuals who move to outlying plots rely on to secure a stable, acceptable standard of living in their own homes. In both this chapter and the previous chapter, the sections on the circumventing of regulations and illegal operations in the grey zone, and the related response on the part of the local authorities — or the background strategies at play in cases where the authorities fail to respond — are particularly interesting. With respect to the above-mentioned gender aspects, it is interesting how, in this transitional space, traditional gender roles are typically recreated, as men tend to experience this lifestyle and situation as freedom, while women (who are homemakers and raise children) experience it as a burden, even a prison, isolating them from society.

The epilogue (“The land of freedom?”) reflects on the conclusion of the fieldwork, reinforcing that the phenomenon under discussion is a multilevel process that will assume new forms in the future, at the level of both space and society. Vigvári proposes that the indicated ambivalence between the spatial/social disadvantages of the outlying plots and the positive perception of a safe and free space can be resolved at the level of academic analysis through the institution of the household (165.). The informalization of housing and self-financed house and household construction in the examined localized space are not realized by means of collective political demands and the creation of movements but via the individual strategies of the residents of the outlying plots implemented at household and community level, by means of which they attempt to create secure housing for themselves (166.). A space is not transitional forever: the informal is slowly but surely being formalized, regulated, and integrated into the environment on the margins of which it is situated. There are already indications that the Gardens will become an integral part of Kelemenszeg in the future. “Zártkert Hungary is not disappearing but will continue to exist in a new location, on a new, more remote periphery” (166.).

In my opinion, the strength of this volume lies in its multilevel contextualization, its analysis of the examined process from an increasingly focused perspective and from multiple points of departure, and its sensitive empiricism, accumulated through four months of stationary fieldwork. It is particularly fascinating to read about the everyday strategies, struggles, and successes among the society of the Gardens based on life-story interviews with residents and field observations. Equally fascinating is the description of the local power mechanisms, ranging from the stigmatization of the population of the outlying plots, via the deliberate postponement of developments, to electoral strategies or the emergence of local advocacy. Nevertheless, in this volume Vigvári seems to be more interested in highlighting local ethnographic empiricism in the form of quotations and research observations, leading towards a general picture of the settlement of the outlying plots, and not necessarily in presenting and exploring that empiricism itself. I would have enjoyed reading more ethnographic material, although this does not detract from the value of the volume or from the author's approach.

A more pronounced sense of lack arises from the almost entire absence of self-reflection on the part of the author, in so far as the volume fails to provide details of his lengthy and intensive field visits, or any discussion of the ethical and experiential relationship between the researcher and his subjects. Questions of this kind were consistently on my mind as I read. Why is it that we are told nothing about the researcher's fieldwork experience; the kind of challenges, successes, and insights he encountered; or what the residents and the representatives of the local authority thought about the research and the researcher himself? What kind of value, benefit, or disadvantages did they see in it? Did the author perhaps wish to circumvent the local political mechanisms by writing less about them? I would also mention here that I would have enjoyed reading about his methodology in greater detail.

At the end of the volume, the author concludes that the settlement of the Gardens, despite the vulnerabilities and difficulties involved, can now be regarded as a success story. This evaluation reinforces Vigvári's need for interpretation, allowing an insight into the researcher's subjective and self-reflexive train of thought, which is a virtue of ethnographic research.

In my opinion, the volume can be usefully read by both social scientists and interested readers outside the field. The book explores the historical relationship between space and society, the housing crisis, the informalization of housing, labor migration, and the mutual influence of city and countryside through the change in function of outlying plots in Hungary — a long-lived but as yet understudied phenomenon. This is complemented by the ethnography of fascinating local fieldwork, which makes the global/national/regional processes familiar, immediate, and tangible. Furthermore, the unanswered questions encourage the reader to pose additional questions, explore new areas, and apply the interpretive framework to new situations.