An Assessment of the Southeastern Anatolia Region in Turkey in terms of the Sustainable Development Tatgets

This study aims to examine the Southeastern Anatolia Project in Turkey, which contains irrigation, energy and drinking water development schemes. The project is the biggest regional development effort ever undertaken by Turkish Government and has influenced the sustainable economic and human development targets. With the completion of each step of the project, it has been expected that there have been many important economic and social changes in Turkish regions, especially the southeast part of Turkey (called as "Southeastern Anatolia Region") and its surrounding areas. The project also interests in both Turkey and its related regions and sustainability is a major issue of concern. Following a brief introduction of the project, the paper examines the type of recent social-economic changes in the region and Turkey in terms of sustainable development components. Under the light of our investigations from different perspectives, it is observed that GAP region with its development project is very far from expectations in the point of sustainability

Regional Inequalities among NUTS Level-1 Regions and Solution Efforts of Turkey

Regional development and regional planning subjects are very closely linked with the development projects in Turkey as much as in the world. The main applications and studies are usually based on the elimination of disparities among regions. Within this framework, this study has firstly aimed to set out the regional development objectives in Turkey. Secondly, we tried to find out the effect of new regional approaches on Turkish regional structure. Hence, as an approach different from other studies, we focused on NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) regions instead of geographical units (regions) studies. In the following parts of the study, thirdly, the efforts of Turkey about the regional development have been discussed and assessed by using Neoclassic Growth Model in terms of per capita income distributions for new region groups. To compare the results of analysis among regional units, the most important development projects for Turkey were also taken as a different approach unlike other sudies. Previous studies based on geographic regions showed that the basic tendency of per capita income distribution is 'Divergence' unlike expected 'Convergence' in Turkey, but in our study, we found more optimistic results for Turkey, in which per capita income distributions have a tendency to converge after 1997

The Management of Arable Land in Japan - An Analysis on Transition of Non-cultivated Arable Land -

In Japan, the number of full-time farm households had continued to decrease since the latter half of 20th century. The number of part-time households has been also decreasing remarkably in the last twenty years. Cultivated acreage also aligned with these tendencies and it has decreased. As a result, the farmland which is not cultivated increased and it may also grow into a social problem. Therefore, the present condition and future view of Japanese agriculture was elaborately examined in the study by analyzing the transition of non-cultivated arable lands from a historical perspective

Structural problems of regional development practices in terms of sectoral GDP per capita in Turkey

In integration of Turkey to the EU,the scope of regional programs has been transformed to reach the basic regional socio-economic standards of the Union. In this way, new cooperative regional programs have been applied in Turkey by the EU and Turkey. Therefore, some regional programs in Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics（NUTS）level-2 regions have been examined in this study. In this point, the data of regional GDP per capita by sectors has been used to analyse sectoral disparities in terms of Gini index. To discuss and evaluate the future of the programs on regional disparities, related sector parameters of GDP per capita have been calculated by regression analysis through（balanced）panel data. The findings showed that there is a remarkable sectoral disparity among program regions, and the sector priorities of the programs are not sufficient to bring any long-term solution for the regional disparities. Finally, Turkey from regional and/or multiregional perspectives needs to reconsider the regional programs for decreasing the disparities as much as development ofthe regions

Regional Inequalities among NUTS Level-l Regions and Solution Efforts of Turkey

Regional development and regional planning subjects are very closely linked with the development projects in Turkey as much as in the world. The main applications and studies are usually based on the elimination of disparities among regions. Within this framework, this study has firstly aimed to set out the regional development objectives in Turkey. Secondly, we tried to find out the effect of new regional approaches on Turkish regional structure. Hence, as an approach different from other studies, we focused on NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) regions instead ofgeographical units Previous studies based on geographic regions showed that the basic tendency of per capita income distribution is 'Divergence' unlike expected 'Convergence' in Turkey, but in our study, we found more optimistic results for Turkey, in which per capita income distributions have a tendency to converge after 1997

Tourism Inventory of Okayama Prefecture: An Analysis on Main Sightseeing Spots in terms of the Number of Tourists

At the early stage of this paper, Okayama prefecture was analyzed by the author focusing on the tendency of main sightseeing-areas based on the number of tourists for three decades (Ichiminami, 2002). In this study, the main sightseeing spots in Okayama pref. are also examined and the developments are explained in a more detailed and updated perspective by extending over current features and the number of tourists. One of the important reasons in a significant increase in tourists in Okayama is the opening of the highways, the bullet train and cross-linking of the Seto Ohashi Bridge. At the same time, there are some waves in the increase or decrease of the tourist trends appearing from several vital developments such as environmental, climatic, social, economic and spatial. In this regard, research objectives of the study are mainly based on investigating and making a comprehensive study on main sightseeing spots in Okayama pref. to find new tourism values and to provide a tourism inventory of Okayama pref. by means of information, data and clues from the field in/between the tourist destinations such as hotel guests, gardens and castles. Therefore, Okayama pref. has a rich potential of historical and cultural heritage in terms of spatial planning and growth. The important point is that the structural adaptation between historical and cultural assets and the city life should be provided and protected for domestic and foreign tourism as much as creating better futures in health tourism, gastronomy tourism, cultural tourism, belief tourism, congress tourism, thematic tourism and local tourism

An Assessment of the Southeastern Anatolia Region in Turkey in terms of the Sustainable Development Targets

This study aims to examine the Southeastern Anatolia Project in Turkey, which contains irrigation, energy and drinking water development schemes. The project is the biggest regional development effort ever undertaken by Turkish Government and has influenced the sustainable economic and human development targets. With the completion of each step of the project, it has been expected that there have been many important economic and social changes in Turkish regions, especially the southeast part of Turkey (called as "Southeastern Anatolia Region") and its surrounding areas. The project also interests in both Turkey and its related regions and sustainability is a major issue of concern. Following a brief introduction of the project, the paper examines the type of recent social-economic changes in the region and Turkey in terms of sustainable development components. Under the light of our investigations from different perspectives, it is observed that GAP region with its development project is very far from expectations in the point of sustainability