This project examines residential patterns in Ghent between c. 1670 and 1850, focusing on the evolution of socioeconomic segregation. This period is especially fascinating because it covers the transition from the pre-modern to the modern era. Ghent offers an ideal case study: once a leading medieval textile center, the city declined economically and demographically until around 1750, before becoming one of the first industrial cities on the European continent. This history provides a unique lens to study how such shifts reshaped both the built and lived environment.

The research draws on exceptionally rich and detailed sources. A proto-cadastral survey from 1672 provides insight into the pre-modern city, while the detailed cadastre of 1828 makes it possible to study the impact of early industrialization. Combined with civil registers and censuses, these records allow for a reconstruction of households and their dwellings in remarkable detail.

The central hypothesis is that industrialization, through rising inequality, social polarization, and labor restructuring, transformed urban segregation: from the close-knit proximity of the pre-modern city to the neighborhood-based segregation characteristic of modern urban life. Using innovative GIS methods, the project visualizes these shifts beyond aggregation, uncovering the intricate residential patterns that shaped Ghent’s urban history.