The rescaling of the state and the general governance changes we have witnessed in Western Europe since the sixties occurred in Hungary in the last 25 years. In this paper I revisit the literature on phenomena relating to changes in urban planning governance brought about by neoliberal regimes, and highlight parallel issues in the after-transition Hungarian context. Challenges of local governance are discussed, focussing on the mechanisms that have fuelled segregation in the Hungarian urban context. The paper concludes that glocalisation has been the main outcome of the decentralisation of public administration also in Hungary, whereas more recently rolling out of the state through its development policies financed mainly from EU funds has attempted to address urban inequalities and segregation. In part, however, some of the urban rehabilitation attempts are based on 'diseconomies of conflict', which means that results may become unsustainable in the future.