Assessing disadvantaged areas from the perspective of its residents

One of the main priorities of regional development policies is to catch up with disadvantaged areas. The disadvantages can be attributed to several reasons, but they pose the same economic and social challenges. The importance of supporting these regions for the development of the regions of Eastern Europe is unquestionable. Our study focuses on a disadvantaged settlement in Hungary. With our research, we sought the answer to how the people living here relate to their settlement. To answer this, we surveyed the opinions of the residents of the settlement with a questionnaire. Our results showed that the long-standing disadvantage created a depressive, passive, negative community. However, the lack of people actively involved in local development further hinders the movement of the settlement in a positive direction.