Cracow, Brno, Košice, and Szeged are four medium-sized cities in the Visegrád countries that share a comparable urban identity. Although they are not national capitals, they nonetheless function as capitals in a broader sense: as leading regional centres whose identities parallel those of national capitals while simultaneously expressing a strong local character. The ring boulevards of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries provide a particularly illustrative example of this duality.
These ring boulevards constituted urban spaces in which inhabitants could experience metropolitan life—more specifically, the Central European metropolitan culture associated with Vienna and, in the cases of Szeged and Košice, with the emerging influence of Budapest. At the same time, the ring boulevards embodied locally specific histories of urban development, resulting in a high degree of diversity in concepts and spatial configurations. They do not always follow a strictly circular form; in some cases, green spaces play a more prominent role than built structures. As such, ring boulevards can be understood as urban spaces that offer first-hand experiences of Central European identity and architectural culture.
Within the framework of the project, these processes are presented through the four V4 cities of Cracow, Brno, Košice, and Szeged. The project’s central component is a travelling exhibition hosted in each of the cities. These exhibitions are complemented by university lectures and by publications in four languages in popular scientific journals. The project concludes with an international academic conference.