ANALYSIS OF INTRA-METROPOLITAN MOBILITY IN MARMARA REGION

Urban spaces are dynamic entities and to understand the socio-spatial processes of these entities is hard to analyze and evaluate. Residential mobility is one of the most important socio-spatial dynamics proceeding in an urban space through which socio-economic changes are produced consistently. This study aims to figure out the intra-metropolitan mobility in Marmara Region and to find out the interaction between the districts of Istanbul and the other districts in Marmara Region. Residential mobility of the individuals within Marmara Region has been analyzed and evaluated in order to map out the interaction between the districts of Istanbul and the other districts of Marmara Region. All quantitative data of the study is derived from the census of 1990 and 2000. Turkish Statistical Institute's (TURKSTAT) both censuses of 1990 and 2000 contain 5% sample of all population in Turkey. Two different methods have been consecutively used for the analysis of the data. First, Lebart's Procedure based on Combined Use of Cluster Analysis has been used to summarize and depict the qualitative contrast invisible to the naked eye. Second, Correspondence Analysis -a variant of factor analysis devised for reducing large data sets- has been deployed. By clustering the origin and destination units according to their distinctive and similar arrival and departure profiles, a chaotic picture of a huge original interaction matrix of 1985-1990 and 1995-2000 mobility flows can be perceptible. The results of the empirical study show that the mobility patterns in both periods are very similar to each other. From the south-west, people significantly moved to the south-west, and from the districts of Bursa, people significantly moved to the districts of Bursa. The mobility patterns in the north-east of Marmara and Thracian districts are different in two periods. In the 1985-1990 period, these districts are placed with the districts of Istanbul as origin units. However, in the 1995-2000 period, the interaction between these districts decreased and they generate different groups according to their arrival profiles. Key words: Intra-metropolitan mobility, residential mobility, Marmara Region, Istanbul, interaction, correspondence analysis, Lebart's procedure, data reduction

Gated communities from the perspective of developers

Gated housing areas have increasingly become a profitable segment in the real estate market as well as a new marketing angle for developers to meet the demand for security, status/prestige, and lifestyle. The development patterns of gated communities in many countries show that developers recognize the opportunity to sell safety and security to a niche market. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to investigate the development process of gated communities in a metropolitan city, Istanbul, from the perspective of developers. The data and information used for evaluation are based on the extensive survey questionnaires filled out by developers of gated communities. A “logistic regression method” is deployed to identify the most important factors on approaches and behaviors of developers. Therefore, the motivating factors both in the decision-making and production-marketing process of developers are evaluated. This evaluation enables us to highlight the characteristics of the real estate market.

Diversity in Entrepreneurship: Ethnic and Female Roles in Urban Economic Life

The aim of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of ethnic female entrepreneurship in urban economic life. The focus of the research is on the attitude and behaviour of Turkish female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam. The main fascinating question is: Are ethnic female entrepreneurs special ethnic entrepreneurs or special female entrepreneurs? This paper provides an answer to this question on the basis of field surveys. The results of the case study research on Turkish female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam show that the “ethnic female profile” is a “special female profile” and that Turkish female entrepreneurs are “special female entrepreneurs”, particularly in terms of personal and business characteristics, driving forces and motivations. They appear to combine their ethnic opportunities with their personal characteristics (and other opportunities) in the urban market, and to have a successful performance. This is also caused by the fact that they have become service providers not only for their own ethnic groups, but also for other groups in the city.Keywords: Ethnic female entrepreneurship, diversity in entrepreneurship, ethnic female profile, Turkish female entrepreneurs

Nonlinear Markov switching analysis of economic and stock market dynamics for emerging market economies

This dissertation presents a systematic and consistent analysis, for the first time, for a large and diverse group of emerging market economies to characterize the dynamics of their business and stock market cycles, the dynamic relationships between these cyclical interactions, and how different or similar the business cycles are among individual emerging market economies as well as between emerging markets and advanced economies. First, the study charecterizes and provides benchmark chronologies of business and stock market cycles for a diverse group of emerging market economies based on hidden Markov models that are robust to potential parameter instability. We identify three states of business cycles and provide estimates of turning points based on monthly industrial production data. Crises that are characterized by sharp drops in economic activity are preceded by slowdowns and are typically followed by strong recoveries during which the economies grow above long-run average rate. Second, the study explicitly models cyclical dynamics of the stock markets and relates it to the business cycles for a diverse group of emerging market economies. Stock markets go through three distinct regimes characterized by different risk-return dynamics. Findings present a consistent relationship between the real economies and the stock markets. The spikes in probabilities of the bear state of the stock market are highly correlated with the recessionary periods. Probabilities of stock market crashes increase before every recession and do not miss any of the business cycle peaks and correctly predict all recessions in the sample. The results suggest that bear markets characterized by negative returns precede every recession with a lead time between five to eleven months, implying that the stock market returns can be used as a forward looking indicator of emerging market economies. Third, we quantify the associations between business cycles across emerging markets and also with advanced G7 economies. The results identify distinct groups of emerging economies and stress the importance of using the information coming from other economies when constructing leading indicators and predicting turning points. Business cycles both for emerging markets and the advanced economies experience a high degree of commonality with the global recession of 2008

Entrepreneurial process and performance: the case of the Turkish female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam

Ethnic entrepreneurship has become a popular concept in the modern multi-cultural society; in a modern 'multi-color' city ethnic entrepreneurship tends to become an indigenous and significant part of the local economy. This concept refers to business activities undertaken by entrepreneurs with a distinct socio-cultural or ethnic background. Ethnic groups often have a backward position in society, because of difficulties with native behavior, language and diploma's attitudes. The participation rate of ethnic groups in the urban labor market stays often behind and, when they do participate, they are often situated within the secondary labor market segments. For ethnic groups who are unable to adapt to a new social system, their marginal social position is a driving force to become self-employed some special talents. One way for migrants to escape from their backward position is to become an entrepreneur. In this case, self-employment is not only a means for earning a living, it is also a way of obtaining recognition and social acceptance. On the other hand, in the last few decades the participation rate of women in the labour market has increased in most Western countries. An increase in the participation rate of women does not necessarily imply an increase in the number of female entrepreneurs. However, it does increase the likelihood of women to become self-employed. Moreover, women contribute to the diversity in the supply of entrepreneurship, because they may have a different approach towards entrepreneurship compared to men. Despite the scarcity of data, recent observations show the involvement of women in entrepreneurial activity and self-employment rates, which include women who own and operate their own businesses are increasing around the world. According to available data, between one-quarter and one-third of the formal sector businesses are owned and operated by women. The aim of this paper is to describe and understand the entrepreneurial processes of ethnic females. In which way and to which extent are these processes the result of: a) unemployment b) job level c) poor performance in terms of wages d) work experience e) educational level f) language g) discrimination h) socio-cultural and ethnic networks? Or in other words, what are the factors that stimulate females to find other income generating activities? What are the important factors for the motivation and performance of female entrepreneurship? Which factors contribute to the success or failure of ethnic female entrepreneurs? And how do these female entrepreneurs experience failure or survival? What is the satisfaction level of female entrepreneurs? This study aims to provide an answer to these questions on the basis of case study research on Turkish female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam.

Eurocities and Their "Sisters": How Are They Close to Each Other?

The globalization process has led to the emergence of network of cities in which the cities have become more integrated to the new world system. ‘Eurocities’ or ‘Sister Cities’ are among the well known examples of network of cities which provide interaction and cooperation of the cities at the regional and global level. The ‘sister city movement’ can be defined as a further step of international relationships of the cities at the municipality level which is based on understanding the cultures of each other and aims to create common values. Additionally, sister city relationship provides international trade and economic development between two countries at the local level. Empirical findings show that there are 3 phases of sister city movement: i) the associative phase, ii) the reciprocative phase, and iii) the commercial phase. In this process, municipalities or local authorities have become ‘entrepreneurs’ in order to contribute to the economic and social dynamisms of cities. The present study investigates the relationships of Eurocities with their sister cities from the perspective of the development level or the degree of the relationship. Which factors are important in improving the mutual relationship? Which factors determine the development phases of the relationship? Under which conditions the mutual relationship creates business opportunities and reaches to the level of economic cooperation? What are the success measures of city-to-city affiliation? The study aims to compare and evaluate the current sister cities relationships of Eurocities on the basis of the actual performance in cultural dialogue, benchmarking and commercial activities. The data and information used for comparison and evaluation are based on extensive survey questionnaires filled out by relevant departments or experts of municipalities in Eurocities. As a rather novel methodological contribution, a recently developed artificial intelligence method, i.e. rough set analysis, is deployed to assess and identify the most important factors that are responsible for successes and failures of the relationships between sister cities.

Turkey's Rurality: A Comparative Analysis At the EU Level

The future of Europe’s rural peripheries as well as the future of rural societies is one of the most important development and planning issues of the EU. Several typologies of rural areas and different rural development indicators have been developed by researchers and international organizations such as OECD and EU to better understand the dynamics of rural areas and to develop relevant policies for these areas. The typologies of rural areas are based on sub-national territories and administrative or statistical units (i.e. local, regional, NUTS3, NUTS5), whereas rural development indicators include a wide range of indicators from population and migration to economic structure and performance and from social well-being and equity to environment and sustainability. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to compare and evaluate Turkey’s rurality with the EU-25 countries on the basis of rural development indicators. The data and information used for comparison and evaluation are based on EUROSTAT data. A multicriteria analysis technique, factor analysis is deployed to define Turkey’s rurality in the European context. To map out the characteristics and dynamics of Turkey’s rurality may also help to develop relevant policies for rural development of the country.