ANALYSIS OF THE INTRA-URBAN SUBURBANIZATION WITH GIS METHODS The Case of Debrecen Since the 1980s

The issues of intra-urban suburbanization tend to be received increasing attention during the last decades. The rapidly growing possibilities through the GIS-based methods provide new ways to analyse the processes. In the current research, a new methodology of dataset building was implemented in order to cover different types of resources (topographic maps, orthophotos, satellite images) and to create basis for a longitudinal analysis by the example of Debrecen. The resulted parcel level point layers ensured detailed grid-based analyses to discover changes between the early 1980s and 2000 and after the millennium until nowadays. The investigation drew the attention to the different tendencies of intra-urban suburbanization in which some areas proved to be continuously dynamic (some parts of the urban fringe or the external part of the inner areas), some garden zones’ role changed and unambiguous decrease was represented by some agricultural territories. The most dynamic territories were characterised by quick densification and by extension of the built-up areas at the fringes. The rapid suburbanization process slowed down after the 1990s, but it has not stopped in Debrecen. These findings tend to be regarded as spatial concentration process within the frame of relative deconcentration of the population (as part of intra-urban suburbanization).