National Athletic Center in Budapest was completed just in time for the 2023 World Athletics Championships, and it redefines athletic centers entirely. Constructed on the eastern bank of the Danube River, south of the city center, the modern stadium welcomed 36,000 spectators for its first major event.

© Jozsef Molnar

In addition to NAC, a new cable bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists now connects the North-Csepel district to the new Athletic Training Center. Along with a large outdoor sports park nearby, development projects in the area are the result of a collective urban vision of the future of the area.

On the bank of the Danube, on the border of an ecological project by the European Union and Hungary, an attractive grove of sports venues emerged to be enjoyed by residents, professional sports teams and international visitors attending major sporting events.

© Jozsef Molnar

The National Athletics Center building will now be the site for many European and international sporting events, and will serve as an open recreational sports park for the sporting and cultural life in this district of Budapest.

“This urban sports ring was created as a space for year-round recreational,” said Dr. Ferencz Marcel, head architect, Budapest-based NAPUR Architectical firm. “The stadium offers a magnificent panorama of the Danube and is surrounded by a 25-acre sports park, where anyone can come to play sports, to relax, or even to study or simply to recharge their batteries, as students do from the surrounding universities.”

© Jozsef Molnar

“Within the public park there are various strength-building elements, and persons can also run and roller-skate here,” added Dr. Marcel. “There is a café and a snack bar for visitors, and events and weddings can be organized on site. The area is open 24 hours a day, guarded and secure, and the stadium roof has made this venue a completely sheltered environment. The facility will coexist with the entire Sports Park area.”

The cost of building the National Athletics Center and its infrastructure, including its 551-foot-long steel bridge, construction of a public building, growing grass on 656,000 square acres, planting a minimum of 359 deciduous trees, construction of 1,246-foot railway platform, construction of a pedestrian bridge, and construction of a 3,280-foot flood protection line, was about $561 million.