Regional Disparities and the Performance of Peripheral Regions in Turkey

The aim of this paper is to analyse interregional disparities and the performance of peripheral/less-developed regions in Turkey regarding the current tools of regional policies. During the planning period in Turkey, two main goals are defined as ‘maximizing national income' on the one hand, and ‘reducing interregional disparities' on the other. In 2002, in order to establish the statistical database harmonized with the regional statistical system of EU, classification of NUTS regions has been completed. After that, the State Planning Organization (SPO) prepared a “Regional Development Strategy, Objectives and Operational Programs†especially for the 10 Level-2 regions which are mostly less developed regions and located in the east, as a road map in order to direct regional development activities in Turkey. Later, Development Agencies in the center of NUTS regions were established to facilitate development objectives of the regions. The aim of this paper is to re-examine the regional disparities under the light of the new process. Mostly the studies on regional disparities considered economic dimension and the results indicate that the distribution of GDP per capita highlights the eastern-spatial peripherality of regional development pattern in Turkey. Previous study of author emphasizes two significant points for regional policies. First, there is evidence of a strengthening of a two-regime spatial division in the country; secondly, there would appear to be little evidence of positive spill-overs from the more-developed to the less-developed parts of the country. Therefore, in this paper, evolutions of regions in terms of their performances will be examined since 1980. The main questions of the paper are: “which regions can be defined as winners and losers?â€Â, “is there any differentiation among less developed regions?â€Â. Furthermore, we try to explore the factors which underlay the aggregate trends of the regions in Turkey, since we know the importance of region-specific policies. The findings of the analyses would be discussed with respect to new regional policies in Turkey.

Spatial Analysis of Regional Inequalities in Turkey

In this paper, we examine regional inequalities in Turkey not only at the inter-provincial level but for three different regional definitions as well. The motivation draws on the findings of Gezici and Hewings(2001) that raised questions about inequalities not only between regions (inter-regional) but inequalities within each region. Hence, one contribution of this paper is to test the effects of aggregation and scale on the identification of regional inequalities. Spatial data analysis is employed to examine the spatial dimension of inequality in Turkey and the relationship between spatial dependence and the dynamics of growth. The results indicate that overall inequalities are decreasing, however spatial dependence is becoming more dominant. The Theil index indicates that interregional inequalities are increasing while intra-regional inequalities are declining for all spatial partitions from 1980 to 1997. Most developed provinces are enhancing overall inequalities, although there is some evidence of a spread effect on their neighbors.

An evaluation of tourism activities in Turkey with reference to sustainable regional development

As tourism becomes one of the most significant tools in regional development processes in developing areas, increasing interest turns toward the impact of tourism on environmental concerns. The changing processes and the results of many researches show if natural, historical and cultural environment could not be protected, there would be no expectations for sustainability in tourist destination areas. In this way, relevant policies on sustainable regional development appear to keep an optimality between development and environment when maximization policies for value added rates in tourism activities take priority for development plans in this respect. The main objective in this paper will be to analyse the impact of tourism activities in Turkey in the framework of some case studies on special areas which are involved in the international cultural heritage. It is supposed that intensity of problems changes related to type of tourism and characteristics of the region. In this way, some analytical methods and techniques, e.g. semantic differential testing, factor analysis and cross-table will be used in order to evaluate the contribution of tourism activities on some sample areas in sustainable regional development in Turkey as a Mediterranean country.

The Interaction between Interregional Disparities and Immigration in Turkey

The changing economic processes in the world have been affected on both the regions within a country and regions as a group of countries. In the regional development literature, although it is emphasized that globalization will enhance the development of advantages-rich regions, there are some other approaches assuming that increasing economic interaction and technological improvements will help to develop relatively less developed-peripheral regions as well. Furthermore, the studies, which are analyzing interregional disparities, put forward the significant impact of factor movements. Interregional migration has been considered as a significant issue of metropolitan regions on the one hand and the loss of workforce in the less-developed regions on the other hand. Migration has been one of the significant factors in order to explain the spatial aspects of economic development. The aim of this paper is, to evaluate inter-provincial migration related to their development levels and their geographical locations in Turkey. In order to measure the interaction between interregional disparities and migration pattern, the findings of regression analysis, which are constituted by using several socio-economic indicators, will be displayed. Furthermore, it is examined the assumption that geographical locations of provinces have an effect and cause not only their levels of development, but migration trends as well. Therefore, locating in the western regions, being a coastal province and being close to the metropolitan cities are the main locational advantages for immigration.

Spatial Impact of New Housing Trends in the Periphery of Istanbul Metropolitan Area

Globalization had a significant effect on socio-economic and spatial changes in Istanbul as the largest city of Turkey following the trends in other cities of the world since the beginning of 1980. In this transformation process which the city center was dislocated and the land rapidly opened for new demands, while the construction sector flowed to business spaces like office blocks, department stores, and five-star hotels; construction companies that prospered ventured to major housing projects in the urban periphery. Therefore, high-income group left the city center due to low quality of life in inner-city areas caused by the drawbacks of rapid urbanization such as intensive residential areas, lack of open and green sites, traffic and parking problems, increasing crime rates. These high-income group housing areas which are brought a new sight as “gated communities”, mostly developed towards the north where the natural resources e.g. forest and water basin of Istanbul Metropolitan Area are located and became a new issue while squatter settlements are still concerned. However, they are planned as individual projects with their own security systems and modern comfortable components; they developed without integration to the metropolitan master plan. The aim of the paper is to examine locational preferences and planning process of high-income group housing projects and prove their effects on the transformation of urban periphery. Their effects on the land values and the role of the central and local governments on this process are examined. Furthermore, this paper attempts to make a contribution to the literature on gated communities by taking account of their spatial impacts. The main findings of paper put forward that existing high-income group housing projects became attraction points for new projects and affected on land use and transportation pattern, while becoming new threats for natural resources of metropolitan periphery.

Analyzing the Coastal Development Pattern of Tourism in Turkey

The coastal concentration of tourism activities has been the main characteristics of the Mediterranean Countries. However, they are working on new approaches and solutions for the problems of coastal areas since they have faced a decrease in their high shares of the world tourism market. Although Turkey, as one of the Mediterranean Countries, is endowed with a variety of tourist attractions, it still does not receive the expected revenue from the tourism industry. Since the beginning of tourism planning in Turkey, the coastal regions have taken priority for tourism investments and not only the spatial pattern but also the socio-economic life of these regions have been transformed. According to the studies of the State Planning Organization (SPO) on socio-economic development level, coastal provinces along the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas, which have concentrated on tourism activities, indicate positive socio-economic development index values. In this paper, coastal-led development pattern of tourism is analyzed in Turkey based on the main indicators (tourism and economic development indicators). However, it seems that coastal tourism development pattern is similar for all the provinces, it will be examined if there are some clusters and typologies among them in terms of tourism development. After putting forward a historical perspective and descriptive frame for the coastal provinces and districts, the principal component analysis will be conducted in order to see the main components. The relationship between the trends of supply and demand side of tourism and the development level will be put forward in order to realize the significance of economic sustainability of tourism areas. Furthermore, the results will be evaluated considering tourism policy of Turkey and experiences of other Mediterranean Countries.

Sürdürülebilir bölgesel kalkınma amacında turizm eylemlerinin etkisi : Türkiye üzerine karşılaştırmalı bir araştırma

Tez (Doktora) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 1998Thesis (Ph.D.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 1998Turizmin, dünyada artan önemi, yalnızca ekonomik gelişmeye olan etkisi ile sınırlı kalmamakta, gerek kültürlerarası ilişkilerdeki rolü, gerekse doğal, tarihi ve kültürel değerlere olan gereksinimi nedeniyle çok boyutlu olarak ele alınması zorunlu olmaktadır. Turizmin, bir yandan az gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan bölgelerin kalkınmasında öncü bir sektör olarak ele alınması, öte yandan "çevre"nin oluşturduğu bir aktivite olması nedeniyle, "sürdürülebilir kalkınma" amacında en uygun sektör olacağı görüşü, turizm sektörü üzerindeki çalışmaları arttırmıştır. Bu araştırmanın çerçevesi, sürdürülebilir kalkınma kavramının ortaya çıkması ile bu konuda geliştirilen kavramsal bir model ve bu modelle örtüşen "sürdürülebilir turizm modeli"ni temel alarak şekillendirilrniştir. Doktora tezinin amacı, önemli turizm varış ülkelerinin yaşadığı süreçleri ve sorunları Türkiye açısından irdelemek ve seçilen örnek alanlarda, turizm-çevre ve kalkınma ilişkisinin, daha önce ortaya konan kavramsal model çerçevesinde, turizm bileşenleri olarak kabul edilen gruplar tarafından değerlendirilmesi ile, sürdürülebilir turizm gelişme koşullarını sınamaktır. Öncelikle, dünyada turizmin mekansal yoğunlaşması, çevresel boyutu ve bölgesel kalkınmaya etkileri ele alınarak, araştırmanın kuramsal temeli oluşturulmuştur. Türkiye'nin benzer koşullara sahip olduğu, turizm gelişim süreci deneyimi olan Avrupa ve Akdeniz ülkeleri, daha çok benzerlik ve farklılıkların ortaya konması açısından incelenmiştir. Bir sonraki aşamada ise, turizmin ulusal ve bölgesel ekonomiye katkısı ve belirli bir dönemde Türkiye'deki turizm yatırım ve politikaları ile, bölgelerarasında farklılaşmalara etkisi incelenmiş, turizmin yoğunlaştığı bölgeler ile gelişmişlik düzeyi arasında nasıl bir ilişki olduğu sınanmıştır. Türkiye'nin özellikle dünya turizmi açısından önemli turizm alanlarında, kitle turizminin yarattığı sorunları saptamak ve bu alanlarda turizmin sürdürülebilirliği için gereken stratejileri belirleyebilmek için, alan araştırmaları gerekli görülmüş ve Türkiye'de planlı gelişimi öngörülen önemli turizm alanları olarak, Antalya bölgesinden Side ve Kapadokya bölgesinden Ürgüp karşılaştırmaya olanak verecek örnek alt bölgeler olarak seçilmiştir, örnek alanlarda, turizm bileşenlerini oluşturan gruplar, ayrı katmanlar halinde anket çalışması kapsamına alınmıştır. Bölgenin turizm potansiyelinin, gelişme yönündeki etkisi ve sürdürülebilir turizmin temelini oluşturan turizm-çevre-kalkınma ilişkisinin sınanması, araştırmanın çıkış noktasıdır. Turizmin sürdürülebilirliği, hem doğal ve kültürel çevrenin korunması, hem de turizmin yerel ekonomiye katkısının devamını içermektedir. Bu temel varsayımı sınamaya yönelik olarak, araştırmanın belli aşamalarında, çapraz tablo, korelasyon ve faktör analizi tekniklerinden, turizm potansiyeli ve çevresel kaynakların değerlendirilmesinde ise, Bölgesel Turizm Gelişimi İçin Çevresel Temelli Planlama Modeli'nden yararlanılmıştır.In the changing agenda of the world, the concept of "development" has new implications. Meanwhile, tourism which is considered as the most significant industry for the future, has been a leading sector. On the other hand, the concept of "sustainable development" has taken place on the world agenda with the necessity of conservation and development of natural and cultural resources for the future generations, because of interactions of environmental problems in the regions. The framework of this research is based on "sustainable tourism model" which is developed by World Tourism Organization, related to a conceptual model on sustainable development. One of the main hypotheses of the thesis is, "Tourism provides the most harmonious development with the characteristics of region and makes known the natural, historical and cultural values of region". This hypothesis shows also an important opportunity for the developing countries and regions. On the one hand, they have to be developed, and they have to protect their environment on the other. Accordingly, tourism is considered as a balance sector on this dilemma After realizing the importance of tourism and increasing mobilities with the objectives in tourism, tourism destination areas have appeared and begun to examine where tourism mobilities concentrate oa There are a number of interpretations about spatial and regional distribution of tourism. Firstly, it has been suggested that tourism by its nature tends to distribute development away from the industrial and metropolitan centers towards periphery and less developed regions of the country. Secondly, tourism is essentially an urban phenomenon rather than rural, and both primary and secondary attractiveness are mainly located in cities. The concentration of tourism on coastal areas especially in the Mediterranean Countries of Europe which have significant share in international tourism, has caused population increase, urbanization and also increase on regional differentiation's. Continuous urban sprawl along the Mediterranean coast is mostly as a result of tourism. The high concentration of developments also generates intense environmental problems and socio-economic integration problems especially in small and dependent economies. At the beginning of the planning period in Turkey in the early 1960s, it was assumed that tourism should take place in the national economy like industry, agriculture and external trade. Turkey is well situated geographically for all the main tourist generating countries of Europe. Since, the 1st Five Year Development Plan, tourism development policies have been focused on mass tourism, and investments have been orientated to the regions or centers which cause minimum cost of transportation and infrastructure facilities. "Priority Regions for Tourism", which are included physical planning, have been orientated to the coastal areas of Aegean and Mediterranean Regions. In the studies of tourism planning, "primary touristic attractions" have not been considered in an effective way. Moreover, "Priority Regions for Tourism" on the coast of Aegean and Mediterranean, have not only the richness of sea-sun-sand, but also the historical and archeological values. The concentration of tourists on the regions which have the historical and cultural richness, explains transformation of tourism demand in the world. Both the protection of natural and cultural environment and social dimension of tourism have been considered in the planning period, but economic profit of tourism and increasing number of beds have gone further in practice. The Law for Encouragement of Tourism (No.2634 of 1982) was a turning point for tourism development in Turkey. During this process, there were so many opportunities for private sector and foreign capital, after 1985, international tourism become more important. During the 6th. Five Year Development Plan, harmonious development with the policy of EC has become important. In the 7th Five Year Development Plan, tiie priority targets of tourism sector are defined to satisfy of local people and tourist aspects and provide natural and cultural sustainability. On the other hand, market share of Mediterranean Countries is decreasing, because of environmental problems are caused by the concentration of tourism on certain areas and seasons. Thus, they need to progress new and alternative tourism types and areas. It can be provided development by tourism in the inland areas which have touristic attractiveness, but can not be evaluated so far. In 1995, touristic supply and demand and also investments are still continued to be concentrated on especially three developed regions of Turkey as Mediterranean, Aegean, Marmara regions. It is examined, whether it is a relationship between distribution of tourism encouragement and credits to the regions, and development level of the regions, depending on fee share of "Development Priority Regions". 17 Touristic Provinces determined by Ministry of Tourism, are examined for evaluating the relationship between tourism development and population mobility with the indicators of socio-economic development The population increase and migration ratio show a relationship between tourism and concentration of population, and migration to the touristic provinces. Touristic Provinces take place in the group of "second and third development level" by the majority. Thus, we can say that tourism activities prefer relatively developed provinces which are especially on the coasts of Mediterranean and Aegean, because of their climate conditions and long tourism seasons, and accelerates development on these regions. XI International treaties and transformation of tourist demand in the world have influenced the concentration of studies on socio-cultural and environmental dimensions of tourism activities. During 1990s, Ministry of Tourism has begun to make project for diversification of tourism activities for providing more balanced distribution of tourism and evaluating the other potential regions. This transformation process and new tourism activities are important, because of attracting tourism activities to inland and being alternative to the seasonal concentration of tourism At this point, it is noticed that alternative tourism type and regions should consider as complementary tourism activities for all over the country. The contribution of tourism to the national economy, is an evidence that tourism is an effective sector. But it is important to be proved this foresight on regional and local level. On the other hand, socio-economic and environmental data and conditions can be defined easier and perceptible on local level. From the regional perspective, it is noticed that the cases represent different regions by relatively different development level of tourism parameters, Mediterranean and Middle Anatolian Region are chosen. Especially, in Ürgüp and Side touristic regions which are chosen as planning areas for tourism development and significant destination points for international tourism, tourism development process and its effect to regional/local development and environmental problems have been considered for strategies in the future. Using "tourism" as an instrument for regional development, and achieving to success depend on sustainability of tourism. Parallel to the conceptual framework of this research, the main hypotheses depend on components of sustainable tourism, are determined for the case studies as follows: a) Tourism should be adopted by cornmunity and it should be positive effects on the quality of life, b) The quality of service and infrastructure, natural and cultural attractiveness, safety are essential for the satisfaction of tourists, c) Transportation, infrastructure, diversity of attractiveness for the activities,employment and encouragement are essential for the investments and satisfaction of investors / managers, d) Common points of these aspects are on maintenance of environmental values and better quality of life. The method and approach for the case studies depend on these hypotheses. Examining these hypotheses and putting forward similarities and differences between the cases, will be a guide for potential tourism regions. The framework of questionnaires includes all groups for evaluation of tourism potential and environmental resources of regions. The questionnaire forms are constituted from different studies and especially "Sustainable Tourism Development: Guide for Local Planners" which is published as a guide for local planners by WTO, depending on local characteristics of the cases. The case studies cover two steps: First step is a face to face interview with the groups of tourism and regions like experts on tourism or planning, local authorities and tourism-travel agencies, for obtaining preliminaries about the regions in detail. Second step includes to test the hypotheses about local people, tourists and. tourism investors/ managers as the components of xu tourism. SPSS program is used to evaluate the data For testing hypotheses, Cross-Table and Chi-squared testing are used as instruments. Factor analysis is used to explain the relationship with multiple variables. Especially, the evaluation of resources of tourism and environment, is made use of the method of ''Environmentally Based Planning Model for Regional Tourism Development" (EBT Model) by Dowling. The main components of this model includes environmental protection, community welfare, tourist satisfaction and economic integration, parallel to the approach of sustainable development. The aim of the model is to achieve harmonious development between tourism and environment for sustainable regional development This model is required all groups to evaluate each criterion of tourism and environment, according to three significance levels as high, moderate and low. The main results are as follows: 1) Tourism activities depend on environmental resources in both cases. 2) In environmental attributes, urban and natural site, land forms are important factors in Ürgüp, while climate, aqua/sea and archeological site are important in Side. 3) Planning process of the two cases and the implications of the EBT model, put forward necessity of knowing regional potential and resources. The results of the EBT model for two cases, will be a guide for developing activities about the balance between environment and tourism, and for land-use allocation. In both of the cases, it is recognized that similar problems depend on tourism development, but intensity of problems changes related to tourism type and characteristics of regions: 1) Tourism is a dominant sector in Side and all characteristics and functions like shopping, arise depend on tourism. There is a different structure in Ürgüp and economic activities like agriculture, transportation and storing contribute regional economy, beside tourism. 2) Though the number of tourists is lower than Side, tourism also revives traditional productions in Ürgüp. 3) But in both of the cases, tourism is evaluated as an effective sector for local development and adopted by local people, though it is known that tourism has caused problems as well. 4) As parameters of basic requirements and quality of life for the community, the lack of infrastructure and environmental problems which are caused by tourism activities, are more emphasized in Side than Ürgüp, depend on tourist intensity. 5) Tourist profiles of the two cases put forward different characteristics. There is a bilateral phenomena: On the one hand the characteristics of the region as a supply orientate the demand, and the demand or characteristics of tourists shape tourism development and supply of the regions on the other. 6) The results of "Semantic Differential Testing" of environmental image on tourists put forward that tourists perceive both cases as "beautiful, safe, attractive, cheap and hospitable". Moreover, tourists perceive Ürgüp as "quiet and unpolluted". However they perceive both cases as "less-developed", transportation and accommodation facilities which are the main services for tourists satisfy them. But, they are not satisfied on diversity of tourism activities, infrastructure and environmental protection. xiu 7) There is a relationship between perception of environmental problems and duration of tourist stay. The shortness of duration of stay makes difficult to perceive of environmental problems in Ürgüp, while tourists stay at least two weeks and can not perceive environmental problems of Side, sufficiently. 8) Tourism investors/managers which determine the region is not suitable for investments further, evaluate the region weakness of environmental protection at the same time. Thus, they realize the importance of natural, historical and cultural environment for sustainability of tourism. 9) For continuity of tourism employment and contribution to the regional development, duration of annual usage of establishments should be longer. The ratio of the establishments which can be used during a year, is 60% in Ürgüp, while 33% in Side. 10) Among the establishments which are included in case studies, the ratio of local capital is 80% in Ürgüp, while the capital from outside the region is 60% in Side. When the capital comes from outside the region, 95% of tourism employment comes from outside also. For the cases mentioned above and similar touristic regions, there are a number of suggestions as follows:. Suggestions on natural, historical and cultural resources a) It is essential that a system is necessary from local to regional and national, and continuous feed-back about decisions on environment, b) For maintenance of diversity of ecosystem, the studies on conservation of natural environmental attributes as nature conservation areas should be enchanced, c) It is essential to make zoning according to the quality and intensity of environmental attributes in tourism regions and to define functions and land use.. Suggestions on planning, institutional structure and management a) It is essential to approach to tourism planning with its multi-dimensional and intersectoral impact of tourism, b) Regional planning is important with respect to balanced tourism development, to find alternative solutions for concentration on the coastal areas, and also avoid exploitation of environmental resources, c) Lack of trained employment is an obstacle on tourism development. The regions which have tourism potential, should have not only a trained staff on planning, but also on tourism in their local administration to get decisions easier.. Suggestions on tourism development and socio-economic development a) Regional approach is also important for evaluation of touristic attractiveness and their impact areas. Diversity of attractiveness is a factor for lengthening duration of stay. Duration of stay can be considered as a factor on contribution to regional economies, in addition to the type of tourism and structure of local economy, b) Tourism employment is another important factor for regional economy, but its seasonal characteristic is critical For this reason, touristic regions attempt to lengthen their seasoa In coastal areas of Mediterranean climate, season can be eight months and third age tourism is targeted. On the other hand, to progress winter tourism is an av opportunity for inland regions, c) Orientation of local people to tourism investments, reinforce the possibility of accumulation remains in the regioa For sustainable development in touristic regions, it is essential to achieve a balance between conservation and development. Turkey still has richness of natural, historical and cultural resources for tourism. Without any effort for conservation and progress environmental resources of tourism, to increase number of bed disclaims the future of tourism.DoktoraPh.D

Looking for Diversified Specialization in the Regions of Turkey

Different forces within the urban and regional dynamics made significant either localization economies or urbanization economies in different circumstances. Several researchers highlighted that diversity and specialization are not exact opposites; a region can be both diversified and specialized. Diversified cities might include several specialized clusters, as diversity might be having a healthy mix of sectoral employment. Studies mainly look at the relationship between the sectorial specialization/diversification and employment growth and productivity. From all that, the concept of diversified specialization has recently occurred related to the outcome of relationships between the sectors and against the economic shocks. Furthermore, decision makers generally prefer a diverse specialization rather than just one or a few. The aim of this paper is to explore the specialization, diversification due to the manufacturing activities and furthermore diversified-specialization pattern of the 26 NUTS 2 regions of Turkey between 2009 and 2014. How the regions specialize and indicate diversification of related industries, and if they point out different patterns regarding technology levels of the industries are the main research questions. Moreover, the performance of regions is explored by dynamic shift-share analysis whether there is a relationship between the specialization/diversification pattern of regions and their advantages