Multi-Dimensional Effect of Integrating Regulations on Rural Neighborhoods in Metropolitan Administrations

Abstract

Today, reforms regarding metropolitan governments are based on an integra-tive regulation of territories. The first phase of the process in Turkey started in 2005 with the retraction of the borders of the metropolitan areas to the provincial administrative borders in Istanbul and Kocaeli at a level to cover the rural area. As the integration with the rural area was seen as positive in Istanbul and Kocaeli, it has been put into practice in all metropolitan administrations since 2012. The fact that rural areas far from the city centers, with a low population and with a weak economic structure, are located under the roof of metropolitan governments has brought along many discussions. The study focuses on Gebze, which is assumed to face the least problems after the metropolitan regulation. The high probability of integrating with the countryside and the experience of this ar-rangement for a long time underlie the selection of the urban. The changes that the metropolitan arrangement brought to the service delivery, local democracy, socio-economic and cultural structure, as well as regional development in the rural neighborhoods of Gebze are discussed. The data are obtained through in-depth interviews with five mukhtar and two neighborhood members. As a result, the fact that the focus of the study on region-al development as well as the social and economic structure is parallel to the latest regu lations reveals the consistency of the study. © 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.