Polycentric intra-urban development of hotels: Evidence from Budapest

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to understand evolutionary changes of hotel intra-urban location policy during the period of the economic transition. Thus, the theoretical model of polycentric intra-urban development of hotel facilities is introduced in this research. Polycentric development is defined as the result of two ongoing and contrary tendencies: (1) spatial sprawl of hotel facilities resulting from new hotel investments, and (2) concentration of hotel enterprises, which is the effect of demand-based and production-based agglomeration processes of hotel facilities in particular locations. To examine this theoretical concept, the changes of spatial distribution of hotel entities in Budapest since 1982 were investigated. Kernel density estimation was applied to identify the number, location, and area of clusters of hotel services. Empirical evidence confirms the proposed theoretical model of polycentric intra-urban development of hotels, although significant hotel clusters are only formed in the central districts of Budapest.