In Hungary, the National Settlement Network Development Plan determines, to a great extent, the long-range organizational framework of public education and cultural affairs. In the capital, the educational center might easily become the pedagogical, cultural, communal, and sports center of the residential district. In the provinces, the basic public institutions could be concentrated in a single village center that is not only an educational, pedagogical, cultural, communal, and sports center, but an administrative and commercial center as well. The pedagogical center, generally designed for 1,500 to 2,000 children, should be organized as a single unit with central management. The fundamental principles of these centers are as follows: (1) teaching continues all day from the age of 3 to 18; (2) the center is suitable for adult education and postgraduate education; and (3) teaching takes place with a variety of personnel using modernized content, methods, and organization. The design and construction features of the pedagogical centers are modular coordination and prefabrication with lightweight steel or reinforced concrete structures. Economic efficiency of the pedagogical centers is achieved by the contraction of the different public institutions and by reduced building maintenance and operation costs. (MLF)