Scholars engaged in research into the history of Debrecen have long been eager to get an
answer – beyond their specific research inquiries – to the question whether the development of
the city had had unique features and if they had what would hallmark the unique character of
development? Was there or is there a kind of “Debrecenness”?
My study examines – with the help of a GIS relational database (DTTTA1870) – what
peculiarities can be grasped in the transformation of the traditional spatial and social structure
of Debrecen enforced by the political change and industrial modernization processes two
decades after the change of feudal regime (1848/49).
The analysis focuses on whether the alteration process of the factors determining the social
status (residential segregation, neighborhood, spatial segregation and coexistence, other spatial
and social hierarchical characteristics) in the cases of the “deep-rooted Debrecen residents”
(cívis) and of the settlers showed specific types described in the literature or showed specific
features.