HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF HÓDMEZŐVÁSÁRHELY

Abstract

Hódmezővásárhely is one of our long-established rural market towns in the Great
Plain. Taking advantage of the water world of the River Tisza, the locals started to
build the settlement on the islands not affected by floods. The market town
expanded boundaries in the Turkish era. Ferenc Erdei and Tibor Mendöl
contemplated in a memorable scientific polemic whether it can be assessed as a
town or not.
Due to its one-sided agricultural functions, grain production meant a modest
increment for the people living there. Landlessness and the lack of industrial jobs
led to an agrarian socialist movement at the turn of the century. During the
decades of socialism, industrial areas emerged which were difficult to integrate
into the traditional settlement structure.