Overview
Türkiye is a country with a unique geographical position, located on the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace of southeast Europe. While the Black Sea surrounds it to the north; the Mediterranean Sea to the south; and the Aegean Sea to the west, it borders eight countries, namely Greece, Bulgaria in Thrace and Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq and Syria in the Anatolian peninsula.
Turkish people account for around 77% of the total population, followed by Kurds (19%), Arabs (2%), and other smaller ethnic groups (2%), according to 2021 figures (KONDA 2022). There are also local ethnicities of different origins, such as Circassians, Bosniaks, Georgians, Albanians, and Pomaks. The official language is Turkish, although some 36 other languages are spoken by different groups, including Kurdish, Arabic, Zazaki, Laz, Armenian and Greek, as well as several other Turkic and Balkan languages.
Türkiye is a unitary centralised state that became an independent republic following the War of Independence on 29 October 1923. While the First Constitution was enacted in 1921, the Second Constitution[1] entered into force on 20 April 1924, identifying Islam as the state religion. This clause was removed in April 1928 when Türkiye was identified as a secular state. The early years of the Republic operated under a one-party system that lasted until 12 July 1947 when a multiparty system was adopted by the National Assembly (Zürcher 2023). This multiparty system would be interrupted twice by military interventions in the following decades, first in 1960 and then again in 1980, resulting in the drawing up of new constitutions that were subsequently approved by referendums held in 1961 and 1982. The constitution adopted in 1961 established a two-chamber parliament, comprising a Senate and a National Assembly, while the 1982 Constitution replaced the bicameral system brought in by the 1961 Constitution with a unicameral parliament (Özbudun 2011).
In 2017, Türkiye transitioned from the parliamentary system to a new system of government, known as a Presidential Government System, following a Constitutional Amendment that was voted in on 16 April 2017 by a referendum. The constitutional changes entered into effect in July 2018 with the inauguration of the new government after the presidential and parliamentary elections held on 24 June 2018. The new system of government expanded the powers of the presidency, and the president became the head of government, while the post of prime minister was abolished (Kartal/ Ataseven 2018).
Today, Türkiye’s accession negotiations with the European Union are continuing, although its involvement with Europe dates back to 1959 and the Ankara Association Agreement (1963) related to the establishment of a Customs Union (ultimately set up in 1995). In 1987, Türkiye applied to join what was then the European Economic Community but had to wait more than a decade to be accepted as eligible for EU membership. At a meeting of the Helsinki European Council held on 10-11 December 1999, Türkiye was officially recognised as a candidate state and accession negotiations were launched in 2005 (Alpan, 2021). Progress, however, has been slow, as of the 35 chapters necessary to complete the accession process, only 16 had been opened and one closed by May 2016. The accession process has since stalled, and on 18 July 2023, the EU decided not to restart accession negotiations with Türkiye.
The membership accession process, however, has been influential in the ratification of new legislation to comply with EU regulations on different issues, including changes related to regional policies and planning, but more importantly, regulations addressing trade and financial issues (Nas 2023).
[1] Not all scholars consider the 1921 Constitution to be the first one: many regard the 1924 Constitution as the first one since
- The 1921 Constitution was adopted before the proclamation of the Turkish Republic.
- The 1921 Constitution contained 23 articles and an individual article, which addressed urgent regulations related to issues of power, local governments, and their jurisdiction. It was prepared under extraordinary conditions, and did not enact regulations connected to basic human rights and freedoms.
- When the 1921 Constitution was enacted, the constitution of the Ottoman Empire of 1876 (Kanun-i Esasi) was still in effect. The 1924 Constitution repealed this Ottoman Constitution.
General information
| Capital | Ankara |
| Population of the capital (2020) | 83,154,997 (EUROSTAT) |
| Surface area (km2) (2020) | 785,350 (World Bank) |
| Total population (2020) | 83,384,680(World Bank) |
| Total population (2010) | 73,142,150 (World Bank) |
| Population density (2020) (inh./km2) | 108.34 (World Bank) |
| Degree of urbanisation (2015) | 59,15% (European Commission) |
| Human development index (2021) | 0,841 (HDI) |
| GDP | Current data can be found here:World Bank |
| Unemployment rate (2019) | 13,7% (World Bank) |
| Land use | Current data can be found here: European Environment Agency |
| Sectoral structure | Current data can be found here: CIA The World Factbook |
To ensure comparability between all Country Profiles, the tables were prepared by the ARL.
Administrative structure and system of governance
Türkiye’s administrative structure is ‘based on the principles of centralisation and decentralisation’ according to the 1982 Constitution (Article 123), thus creating a two-tier structure involving central and local administrations. The central administration is organised at national, provincial, and sub-provincial levels, and local administration at provincial, metropolitan, urban, and village levels (Gözler 2018) (Figure 1: Administrative Structure).
Central government administration
In Türkiye, the president, parliament, and judiciary share the powers allocated to the national government. Until 2018, the political party that won the majority of seats in parliament during general elections would form the government, and the leader of the ruling party would become Prime Minister, exercising the executive power together with the Council of Ministers. This system changed, however, with the adoption of the new presidential system in which the president is the official head of state and wields executive power, and is responsible for the appointment of ministers (Kirişçi/Toygür 2019). The Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM: Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi), which is made up of 600 deputies who are appointed during elections held every five years, has a level of legislative power, passing laws that are either approved by the President or sent back to the TBMM for reconsideration. The President can also issue presidential decrees (decrees having the effect of law), although laws introduced by the TBMM supersede presidential decrees on the same subject in the hierarchy of norms (Bacanak/Mizrahi/Paksoy 2022), as when the TBMM passes a law on a matter regulated by a presidential decree, the decree becomes obsolete. Judicial power, on the other hand, is exercised by independent courts (Article 9 of the Constitution).
The system of government in Türkiye is defined by the Turkish Grand National Assembly (2018: 16) as ‘a management system in which the President is directly elected by the people and has all executive duties and powers, which uses authority on behalf of the nation and is based on the rigid separation of powers. In this system, the executive is completely separated from the legislature.’
There are currently 16 ministries[2] whose heads are appointed directly by the President, all of which have General Directorates based in Ankara, and most of which have offices in the provinces. There are also four presidential offices, namely the Digital Transformation Office, Finance Office, Human Resources Office and Investment Office, as well as nine Policy Councils[3] and 11 Directorates that report directly to the President.
Territorial administration of the central government
Türkiye has no regional administrative level, although some ministries have departments or agencies at a regional level. The area of jurisdiction of the regional departments of each ministry varies substantially, and their boundaries rarely coincide due to the differences in their service functions. Although the differences in the division of regional departments have been identified as a problem affecting the coordination of public services, attempts to define regional administration levels have been unsuccessful.
Provinces are the largest administrative units in the administration of the central state, and the main geographical subdivisions in the country. The county currently has 81 provinces that are administered by provincial governors, who are considered both officials of the Ministry of the Interior and representatives of the central state in the province. As the representative of all the ministries, the provincial governor is the administrative superior of the officials of all ministries who are employed in the province. In this capacity, the provincial governor is responsible for directing and coordinating the activities of the provincial ministerial departments (other than those of the Ministries of Justice and National Defence) and other central agencies in the province.
At the provincial level, besides the institutions of devolved central state administrations, there are Special Provincial Administrations (SPA) (İl Özel İdaresi) in 51 provinces (aside from in the provinces where metropolitan municipalities[4] exist). Special Provincial Administrations have an elected assembly known as the General Provincial Council (İl Genel Meclisi), although (interestingly) its executive body is headed by the provincial governor rather than being directly subordinate to the central government. The governor of the province is further responsible for coordinating the provision of services among the other local administrations and public institutions; thus, the governor, as an agent of the central state, has two simultaneous functions: to represent the province as a central government appointee, and to chair the executive of the Special Provincial Administration.
Sub-provinces[5] (ilçe) are administrative subdivisions of the provinces and have been the smallest administrative unit of the central government since the abolition of the district (bucak) level, which held the accolade from 1949 until 2014. Currently, there are 922 sub-provinces in Türkiye, each headed by an administrator (kaymakam) who has similar responsibilities in matters related to the sub-provinces as those held by the provincial governors over the provinces. The administrator is considered an assistant to the governor and answers directly to him/her, and is head of the Sub-province Administrative Board (İlçe İdare Kurulu), made up of a clerical assistant, finance officer, government expert, and the heads of the education, agriculture, and veterinary services. The Board’s major function is to advise the administrator on problems and possible solutions within the sub-province.
Local government administration
There are three types of local government in Türkiye: Special Provincial Administrations, Municipalities, and Villages, all of which have legal public identities. Article 127 of the Turkish Constitution defines these local administrative bodies as ‘public corporate entities established to meet the common local needs of the inhabitants of provinces, municipal districts, and villages, whose decision-making organs are elected by the electorate described in law’.
Special Provincial Administration (İl Özel İdaresi)
The Special Provincial Administration is an important body within the local administration since it has an elected assembly, although as defined in the previous section its executive body is headed by the governor of the province, as evidenced by the tutelage of the central government over the local administration (Ersoy 2015). The General Provincial Council (İl Genel Meclisi) is the legislative-type assembly of the province and is elected by the eligible residents of the province for a five-year term. The Council is chaired by an elected member of the Council and is authorised to approve the provincial government’s administrative decisions on certain issues. The Provincial Standing Committee (İl Daimi Encümeni) is the executive committee of the legislative assembly and functions as an advisory body to the governor.
Municipalities
Municipalities are public legal entities with administrative and financial autonomy. There are currently 1,393[6] municipalities, having reduced in number from 2,400 following the 2013 local reforms that saw many town municipalities merged with district centres.
There are different types of municipality, depending on their catchment area (Ertaş 2016). Metropolitan/Greater City Municipalities (Büyükşehir Belediyesi) are formed in provinces with populations of 750,000 or more, according to Law No. 6360 (2012). Their decision-making organs are the Metropolitan Council, the Mayor, and the Metropolitan Executive Committee (Büyükşehir Belediye Encümeni). The Mayor and the members of the Metropolitan Council are elected through local elections, and the Metropolitan Executive Committee is elected by the members of the Metropolitan Council. There are 30 metropolitan municipalities in the country hosting 76% of the population within their boundaries. Within their borders, there are also district municipalities (ilçe belediyesi), totalling 519 at present, that is coordinated by the Metropolitan/Greater City Municipality. Metropolitan municipalities, in other words, have a two-tiered municipal structure.
Settlements with a minimum of 5,000 inhabitants are also governed by municipalities, and in cases where the settlement is the provincial centre, it is referred to as a province-centre municipality. Similar to metropolitan municipalities, these also have provincial district municipalities. There are currently 51 province-centre municipalities and 403 district municipalities within them. In cases where a municipality is not a province centre it is referred to as a town municipality (there are 390 town municipalities in total according to 2024 figures).
Villages
Villages act as local government units in rural areas with populations of less than 5,000 (Ersoy 2015). There are 18,263 villages in Türkiye that have a legal personality. They are administered by three organs, namely the Village Association, the Council of Elders, and the Village Headman (muhtar), all of which are responsible for addressing problems at a village level and petitioning the provincial governments to provide services to the villages. Some villages are defined as ‘forest villages’: these are located within or near forest areas designated as ‘unproductive forests’. They are eligible for several support schemes according to Law 6831 (of 31.08.1956) Article 32.
Concerning the status of villages, a fundamental change was brought about by Law 6360 (The Establishment of 14 Metropolitan Municipalities and 27 Districts and Amendments of Certain Laws and Decree Laws), which abolished Special Provincial Administrations and villages within the borders of the metropolitan municipalities (Savaş-Yavuzçehre 2016). These villages have become neighbourhoods and lost their legal public entity status.
System of governance and planning powers
The Turkish administrative system has undergone several administrative reforms since 2003. In the first period (2003-2005), the incoming government increased the financial and administrative autonomy of local governments, transferred several responsibilities from the central government to local authorities, and introduced new management practices. In the second period, 2006-2014, a fresh round of legislation[7] increased the rights and responsibilities of local governments and attempted to address some of the conflicts in the responsibilities of the central and local governments and the different tiers of local government. The new legislation also reduced the number of municipalities and abolished the local administrations that had become redundant, such as the SPAs in metropolitan municipalities.
At the end of the decade of reforms, public administration in Türkiye has now taken on a more decentralised form. As such, local governments have gained powers in the provision of different types of service, and the provincial departments of many ministries have devolved their functions to local administrations. In recent years, however, there seems to have been efforts towards recentralising town and country planning.
At present, the tasks, functions, and authorities of central and local government administrations and their powers concerning spatial policies and planning can be summarised as follows (see Figure 2: System of Powers):
Central Government: Ministries and Semi-Autonomous Organisations
The central authorities provide many essential urban services directly, either through the regional and provincial departments of the relevant ministries, or via semi-autonomous central government bodies, while the ministerial directorates play a role in defining the strategies and principles of planning and in the necessary allocation of resources. Among the existing 16 ministries, the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change[8] is responsible for the preparation of higher-level spatial plans, its duties having been expanded by the Spatial Planning Ordinance (Mekansal Planlar Yapım Yönetmeliği) approved in 2014.
Provincial Administration
The Special Provincial Administration Act No. 5302 (2005) defines the responsibilities and duties of the SPAs under five main headings, namely: (1) the administration of provincial programmes, (2) the inspection and auditing of the field offices of the central government, (3) the coordination and planning of the operations of the central government agencies in the provinces, (4) the maintenance of public order and safety, and (5) the representation of the state and the central government.
The funds allocated to SPAs are frequently diverted to support the work of central government ministries in the province. A significant proportion of the services provided by the central state are carried out under the direction of the governor, including many of the public services deemed necessary in rural areas that are not under the jurisdiction of municipalities.
The Provincial Administrative Council, on the other hand, establishes the policies under which public services are rendered by the province, including public works, agriculture, education and sport, health and social assistance, culture and tourism, and communication. The Council was formerly authorised to prepare Provincial Territorial Plans (İl Çevre Düzeni Planı)[9] and land development plans outside the municipal borders, however, in 2011, Article 7 of Decree-Law No. 644 (Kanun Hükmünde Kararname) shifted the authority for the preparation of Provincial Territorial Plans to the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. Today, SPAs are only authorised to prepare land development plans for areas not under the jurisdiction of municipalities and their adjacent areas (mücavir alan) – primarily the rural areas of the province.
Metropolitan municipalities
Metropolitan municipalities have various powers and responsibilities related to strategic planning, spatial planning, infrastructure, water and sewage, transport, housing, urban transformation, cultural and natural assets, social services, licensing, etc. Their responsibilities include preparing the annual budget and strategic plans for the municipality in coordination with other municipalities, drawing up Territorial Plans and Master Plans, the construction and maintenance of infrastructure and public spaces, environmental protection tasks (regarding food, health, cultural heritage, etc.), and the provision of various services.
Metropolitan municipalities have the authority to prepare the Territorial Plan and Metropolitan Master Plan, while the Metropolitan Municipality Councils are empowered to approve these plans. The powers of District Municipalities under the Metropolitan Municipality are limited to the preparation of lower-level plans, such as implementation plans at a district level, although 1:1000 scale Implementation Plans prepared by District Municipalities must first be approved by the District Municipality Council and then by the Metropolitan Municipality Council before entering into force. Moreover, the Metropolitan Municipality Council has the power to reject an Implementation Plan prepared by the District Municipality if it does not comply with the Master Plan.
Municipalities
The decision-making organs of municipalities are the Mayor, Municipal Council (Belediye Meclisi), and Municipal Board (Belediye Encümeni). The mayor is elected by the residents of each municipality for a term of five years, and implements the decisions of the Municipal Council and the Municipal Board, including budgets, municipal staff appointments, etc. The Municipal Council is the general decision-making organ of the municipality; its members, the number of which depends on the municipality’s population, are directly elected by local people. The Municipal Council is responsible for approving strategic plans, investments, and work programmes, as well as land development plans and subsequent revisions; adopting the budget and final accounts; enacting regulations issued by the municipalities; and making decisions related to loans, purchases, etc. The Municipal Board functions as the executive organ of the municipality and is comprised of elected and appointed members, and headed by the Mayor.
Municipalities are responsible for the preparation of Master Plans (1:25,000 and/or 1:5000 scales) and Implementation Plans (1:1000 scale), which are approved by the Municipal Council.
Village Administration
The Village Administration is responsible for making the necessary arrangements for various issues within the village, such as the provision of drinking water, the elimination of threats to human health within the village boundaries, and the construction of public facilities (village guest house, mosque) within the villages. It has no planning authority, as the village plans are prepared by the Special Provincial Administration upon the request of the village administration.
[2] Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Family and Social Services; Ministry of Labour and Social Security; Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources; Ministry of Youth and Sports; Ministry of Treasury and Finance; Ministry of the Interior; Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Ministry of National Education; Ministry of National Defence; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Industry and Technology; Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; Ministry of Trade; Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.
[3] The Council on Local Government Policies, the Social Policies Council, the Healthcare and Food Policies Council, the Council on Culture and Art Policy, the Council on Legal Policy, the Security and Foreign Policy Council, the Council on Economic Policy, the Education Policy Council, and the Council on Science, Technology and Innovation Policy.
[4] In Turkish Büyükşehir Belediyeleri. The direct translation is Greater City Municipalities.
[5] In some official documents, they are called ‘districts’.
[6] https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx
[7] Establishment, Coordination and Duties of Development Agencies Act No. 5449 (2006), Allocation of Intergovernmental Transfer Shares Across Special Provincial Administrations and Municipalities Act (2008), Establishment of District Municipalities within the Metropolitan Municipal Borders Act (2008), Employment of Contracted Personnel in Permanent Positions Act (2013) and New Metropolitan Municipalities Act (2014)
[8] The Ministry defines its mission as being: ‘To carry out all the services related to planning, transformation, safe development, land management, the housing industry and the environment, grounded on the principles of horizontal architecture and refreshing the identities of our cities from a regulatory and supervisory perspective, to protect the natural environment and to create sustainable cities and settlements.’
[9] The English term is not a direct translation from Turkish, since the direct translation of the Turkish term suggests a different context. In English documents, such plans are known as Provincial Environment Order Plans, Provincial Environmental Plans, etc. The name used by the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change on its website is ‘territorial plan’.
Figure 1: Administrative structure of Turkey
Figure 2: System of Powers of Turkey
Spatial planning system
History
Any study of the history of the spatial planning system must break down the spatial planning system into regional planning and urban planning, since the dynamics behind their evolution are somewhat different. While the history of regional planning is closely connected to economic development policies, the evolution and transformation of the urban planning system have occurred in line with the characteristics and pace of urban development (Eraydin 2023).
Regional planning
Regional planning in Türkiye has undergone significant changes in different periods to suit the regime adopted in each period (Eraydin 2022). In the first period, in the first years of the Turkish Republic, regional planning attracted increasing interest and was an influential factor in policy-building. Significant planning efforts were attempted based on the regional distribution of infrastructure and production activities,[10] though these were not considered official acts of regional planning at the time.
Following the Second World War, from 1946 to 1957, Türkiye experienced an influx of the rural population into urban areas,[11] elevating concerns for regional development for which the Ministry of Resettlement and Reconstruction, founded in 1958, was charged with the preparation of higher-level spatial plans. Soon after being established, the Ministry first prepared the Eastern Marmara Development Plan – the country’s first official regional plan – to address the escalating problems being witnessed in Istanbul and the surrounding region and the concentration of various activities in the region (Tekeli 2008).
The second period of interest in regional planning lasted from 1960 to 1969, coinciding with the planned economic development period. In 1960, the State Planning Organisation was founded and given the responsibility for economic planning. Regional planning responsibility, on the other hand, was divided among two central state institutions, namely the State Planning Organisation (economic development of regions) and the Ministry of Reconstruction and Resettlement (spatial organisation of regions), which would collaborate in the preparation of several regional plans (Akkahve 2023). A financial crisis at the end of the 1960s, however, led to a loss of interest in regional planning, and beginning in 1971, a shift in focus occurred, from planning to the enactment of policies to support regions through financial incentives, and this would come to define the field of regional planning/policymaking.
The 1980 coup d’état in Türkiye led to a change in the economic regime. In the third period, beginning in the 1980s, regional measures focused on those with export and tourism potential. Southern Anatolia was an exception in this regard based on its status as the least developed region and its high agricultural potential, which warranted the establishment of a new institution in 1989, the Administration for the Southern Anatolia Project (Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi Bölge Kalkınma İdaresi). Other regional planning projects were initiated following the 1994 financial crisis in Türkiye aimed at eradicating the negative impacts of the crisis on some regions.
Amid the ups and downs in regional planning under the influence of internal economic dynamics, the Helsinki Summit in 1999 saw Türkiye being accepted as an accession country to the EU, leading the government to introduce a number of new instruments related to regional planning in response to the requirements for admission (Özdemir 2019). In 2002, Türkiye’s NUTS regions were identified (Türkiye İBBS), with 12 regions defined as NUTS 1 level, 26 as NUTS 2 level, and 81 as NUTS 3 level. In 2006, Regional Development Agencies were established and given the responsibility for the preparation of regional economic plans, and a National Strategy for Regional Development (Bölgesel Gelişme Ulusal Stratejisi) was announced in 2016 to serve as a general guideline for the creation of regional development plans (Yavan/ Yılmaz/Andıç 2023).
Regional Development Agencies were identified as the territorial units of the State Planning Organisation in the initial years of its foundation, but after numerous changes in Türkiye’s administrative system they would later be brought under the wing of the Ministry of Development. The subsequent shift to the presidential system led to the abolition of the Ministry of Development, upon which the Regional Development Agencies were added to the responsibilities of the Directorate General for Development Agencies of the Ministry of Industry and Technology (Presidential Decree No. 1, Article 387).
Regional development plans are today prepared by Regional Planning Agencies and are defined as the guiding documents for drawing up policies and measures targeting regional development (NUTS 2 level). While these documents mostly address economic and social issues and have less concern for spatial issues, they define the growth poles and growth axes of regions (Eraydin 2010). The first plan announced by the Regional Development Agencies covered the 2010-2013 period and was followed by a second plan for 2014-2023.
Presidential Decree 2022/7 of 6 June 2022 mentioned the need for a National Strategy for Regional Development to be drafted by the Ministry of Industry and Technology for 2023 and beyond, but this has not happened yet, while the third regional plans to be prepared by each Regional Development Agency for the years 2024-2028 period are on their way.
Urban planning
Spatial/urban planning has evolved through four distinct periods, shaped by different characteristics and rates of urban growth (Tekeli 2011). The first period, from 1923 to the 1950s, was characterised by efforts to introduce a new planning system and a new urban governance approach in line with the aspirations of the newly founded Turkish Republic to build a modern country. With the proclamation of the Turkish Republic in October 1923, Ankara, the new capital, became the showcase of the nation-building project and an experimental field of urban planning. Building on the experience of Ankara, three important pieces of legislation were put in place defining the new rules and standards of urban development and reflecting the modernising ideology of the state: the Municipalities Act No. 1580, the General Public Hygiene Act No. 1593, and the Municipal Building and Roads Act No. 2290. Among these, the Municipal Buildings and Roads Act No. 2290 (1933) (Belediye Yapı ve Yollar Kanunu) was the first piece of legislation aimed at regulating urban development, laying down detailed rules regarding buildings and roads within the municipalities and obliging all municipalities within the national borders to prepare city plans (1:2,000 and 1:500 scales) within five years.
The second period (1945/50-1980) was characterised by rapid urban growth and pressure on urban areas due to accelerated rural-to-urban migration. Earlier legislation had failed to respond to the increasing demand for urban land and housing, and so a new Land Development Act No. 6785 (İmar Kanunu) was issued in 1957, while the Ministry of Reconstruction and Settlement was handed the authority to deal with spatial planning and other urban issues the following year.
It soon became apparent that the Land Development Act No. 6785 was also insufficient for the new conditions. The inadequate provision of urban land and housing led to a dualistic structure in urban development in which formal urban development was shaped by the existing legislation, while vast areas of informal housing – known as gecekondu – sprang up on public land, constructed without permission from the authorities. Several development amnesties (imar afları) were announced for the squatter housing areas after 1948, and although the provision of infrastructure or other basic amenities to squatter housing areas was forbidden under the existing legislation, authorities succumbed, though involuntarily. The term ‘squatter housing’ was first used in a legal document in the Squatter Act No. 775 of 1966, which defined a framework for the upgrading, clearance and prevention of squatter areas.
The period from 1980 to 2000 saw an increased concentration of the population in the nation’s metropolitan and coastal areas, as well as the introduction of new economic development policies shaped by the neoliberal agenda aimed at reducing the responsibilities of the central government. This was achieved through the transfer of certain rights and responsibilities to the municipalities, including spatial planning, although there were some exceptions, such as the special planning rights provided to the Ministry of Tourism in areas designated ‘Tourism Centres or Cultural and Tourism Protection and Development Zones’.
The new Land Development Act No. 3194 (1985) gave planning rights to municipalities, while the Ministry of Construction and Resettlement (Bayındırlık ve İskan Bakanlığı – formerly the Ministry of Land Development and Resettlement) was relieved of any planning responsibilities at a local level and given the roles of providing guidance and controlling technical issues in relation to local plans. The Metropolitan Municipalities Act No. 3030 (1984) identified metropolitan municipalities as new administrative units and gave them the responsibility for the preparation of Master Plans for the whole area, and for the approval of lower-level plans prepared by each district or first-level municipality. These lower-level plans, or Implementation Plans, were obliged to conform with the master plan. To address the squatter issue, a new approach was defined, and a new building amnesty was announced in 1983, followed by several others up until 1989. The Amnesty Act No. 2981/3290 cleared the way for the upgrading of existing illegal housing areas through the provision of special building rights and put forward an Improvement Development Plan for the regularisation of these areas.
Reacting to this decentralisation of planning rights, different central government departments sought to regain planning power at a local level from the 1990s onwards, resulting in a tendency in the central government to influence planning through the use of special purpose plans (Ünsal/Türk 2014). The concerns of the central government are apparent in the amendments to planning legislation that provided planning rights to different organisations during the 2000s,[12] in particular to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Privatisation Agency (Özelleştirme İdaresi) and the Housing Development Administration (Toplu Konut İdaresi-TOKI), all of which were granted exceptional planning rights in specific areas (Duyguluer 2006; Babacan-Tekinbaş 2008).
Among these, the Transformation of Areas at Risk of Disaster Act No. 6306 and the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Immovable Assets by Regeneration Act No. 5366 (2005) are the most important.
The Transformation of Areas at Risk of Disaster Act No. 6306, which entered into force in 2012, defines the procedures and principles for the regeneration, clearance, and renovation of areas and buildings at risk of disaster to create a healthy and safe living environment (Demirdağ/Erçetin/Durmaz 2023). It gives the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, the Housing Development Administration and local authorities (both metropolitan municipalities, municipalities, and special provincial administrations) the authority to initiate urban transformation projects for areas identified as at risk of disaster by the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. According to the legislation, the plans are approved by the Ministry, while the Housing Development Administration has the authority to define and plan ‘reserved areas’ (locations designated as new settlement areas during the transformation process), which are then returned to the Ministry for approval.
According to the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Immovable Assets by Regeneration Act No. 5366 (2005), a municipality is at liberty to designate sites within the municipal boundary, and in Special Provincial Administrations outside the municipal boundary, as regeneration areas if there is a potential risk from natural disasters, and to protect deteriorated historical or cultural heritage assets through preservation or regeneration. It provides local authorities with comprehensive rights for the compulsory purchase of buildings located within the boundaries of the regeneration areas and for interventions by the Housing Development Administration.[13]
As these two pieces of legislation concerning special-purpose plans demonstrate, since 2004 the Housing Development Administration has grown to become one of the most important stakeholders in spatial planning. After being given the authority for the planning of squatter transformation zones in 2004 (Law No. 5162), it gained the right in 2007 to obtain land from the Treasury for use in the transformation of unregistered/squatter housing areas, while the TransformationofAreas at Risk of Disaster Act provided it with further rights in the preparation of plans at a suburban level.
The special purpose plans applied at different scales under the jurisdiction of different central government institutions led to segmentation in the spatial planning system (Özdemir-Sarı/Özdemir/Uzun 2019) and a fuzzy planning system that downgraded the power of existing urban planning legislation, and spurred further conflicts between local and central government administrations.
Legislation, planning authorities, and spatial planning instruments
As explained above, institutional planning in Türkiye currently has an over-fragmented structure. The present spatial planning instruments were defined in 2011 in Decree Law No. 644 on the Organisation and Responsibilities of the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change,[14] while the Spatial Planning Ordinance issued in 2014 provided a detailed description of each spatial planning instrument (see Figure 3: Planning System). Based on this ordinance, spatial plans can be categorised into Strategic Spatial Plans, Territorial Plans (Çevre Düzeni Planları), and Land Development Plans (Master Plans and Implementation Plans), and each of these planning levels must comply with the upper-level plans and guide the lower-level plans.
While the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change has the authority to prepare upper-level plans, namely the National Strategic Spatial Plan at a national level, as well as Regional Strategic Spatial Plans (at the regional and watershed area level) and Territorial Plans (regional, watershed areas, etc.), metropolitan municipalities and municipalities have responsibilities for the preparation of Land Development Plans (Master Plans and Implementation Plans) (see Table 1: Important Stakeholders). Aside from these, several public organisations currently hold the authority to prepare spatial plans at different levels – according to an earlier study, the existing planning system currently features 56 spatial plan types and 18 authorised planning institutions (Duyguluer 2006: 28).
At present,[15] the primary spatial planning instrument at national level is the National Strategic Spatial Plan, as defined in the Land Development Act No. 3194 (Article 5), and its place in the planning hierarchy is defined in Article 8/b of the same act. The National Strategic Spatial Plan is drafted by the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change.
National Strategic Spatial Plan (Ülke Mekansal Strateji Planı)
The Spatial Planning Ordinance promulgated by the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change in 2014 provided details concerning the National Strategic Spatial Plan, defining it as ‘a plan that aims to integrate national development policies and regional development strategies at the spatial level, determine spatial strategies that will make resources useful for the economy, protect and develop natural, historical and cultural assets, orient the transport system and urban, social and technical infrastructure and establish the relation between spatial policies and sectoral strategies’. The plan includes figures and is on a scale of 1:250,000, 1:500,000 or higher, and is supported by sectoral and thematic maps and reports. The thematic maps detail decisions on new settlement and transport systems, infrastructure facilities, areas earmarked for specialised activities, environmentally sensitive areas, and zones at risk of disaster, as well as any other factors deemed necessary. The plan report, on the other hand, details the vision, principles, objectives, strategies, sectoral, and thematic decisions, as well as any provisions and implementation issues. According to the legislation, multi-disciplinary participation is essential for the preparation of the plan to ensure a comprehensive framework that takes into account any national, regional, local, and sectoral priorities defined in different state documents.
The first National Strategic Spatial Plan preparation studies were launched on 3 August 2018, and in 2021, the strategic targets of the plan were identified and shared with the different stakeholders through seven workshops organised in different regions to garner the reactions of different public institutions. Studies concerning the plan are continuing and the finalisation date has not yet been announced at the time of writing.
The two types of plan that operate at a regional level are Regional Development Plans, which are prepared by Regional Development Agencies and focus mostly on economic and social issues, and Territorial Plans, which are upper-level spatial/zoning plans prepared by the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change. As defined above, the Ministry prepares Regional Strategic Spatial Plans only when it is deemed necessary.
Regional Plans (Bölge Planı)
Regional Plans are currently prepared by Regional Development Agencies and detail policies, measures and projects aimed at enhancing regions and promoting the efficient use of existing resources. Regional Plans are defined as ‘strategy, coordination, and guidance papers designed to determine the relations between nationwide policy-making, plans, and strategies and local activities’, and seek to increase cooperation and coordination between local organisations and institutions; to encourage collaborations between the public sector, private sector and NGOs; to increase the pace of regional development; and to ensure sustainability and the effective, local use of resources (GMKA 2023). As the above definition shows, regional planning has undergone fundamental changes since 2006, with a clear shift from offering guidance in support of economic development to spatial development to coordinating sectoral policies for economic development.
Territorial Plans[16] (Çevre Düzeni Planı)
As a further plan type at a regional level, Territorial Plans are prepared for a region, river basin, or provinces with similar geographic, social, economic, and spatial characteristics. They are prepared at 1:100,000, 1:50,000, or 1:25,000 scales and are compiled following an analysis of local demographic, economic, social, ecological, and environmental factors and data sets, and taking into account urban and rural land use, infrastructure, transport networks, natural resources, and existing large-scale projects. The main aim is to adopt a macro-level development perspective giving special attention to ecological and environmental protection and reducing future risks. The plans must also comply with the strategic spatial plans and address both ecological and economic issues with due consideration of sustainable development.
The authority for producing Territorial Plans was held by the Ministry of Reconstruction and Settlement before 2003, when it passed to the Ministry of the Environment following its foundation (Ersoy 2006). In 2011, following the establishment of the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, it was given the authority to prepare and approve this type of plan by Decree Law No. 644. Since then, the General Directorate of Spatial Planning within this Ministry has been responsible for preparing, approving, and implementing Territorial Plans at a regional level (Article 7c) and for ensuring these plans comply with the National Strategic Spatial Plan prepared at the national level (Article 7c).
Provincial Territorial Plans underwent a similar change in planning authority. The Special Provincial Administration had been authorised to prepare plans (at a scale of 1:100,000) within the provincial boundaries in line with the Special Provincial Administration Act No. 5302 (2005), which was changed in 2011 by Article 7 of Decree Law No. 644 (Kanun Hükmünde Kararname). Consequently, the power to prepare and approve Provincial Strategic Spatial Plans was passed to the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, aside from in provinces where metropolitan municipalities exist.
At a local level, Land Development Act No. 3194 defines the Master Plan and the Implementation Plan as the main spatial plan types pertaining to the future development of the city.
Master Plans (Nazım İmar Planı)
Master plans take the form of a strategic layout in which the various land uses are defined within the planning area. They are based on future population density predictions and land use patterns and serve as the basis for local zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations, and other local land use regulations, and are supported by a detailed explanatory report. They are prepared in compliance with the physical layout decisions defined in upper-level plans and form the basis of implementation plans. Article 5 of the Land Development Act defines a Master Plan as a plan drawn on cadastral maps that defines future land-use patterns and types, population and building densities, the orientation and size of new development areas, transport systems, and solutions to existing transport problems. Master plans are expected to be prepared at a scale of 1:5,000, although in metropolitan areas this may go as high as 1:25,000.
Implementation Plans (Uygulama İmar Planı)
Implementation Plans provide details of any implementation rules and guidelines for construction. Article 5 of the Land Development Act defines an Implementation Plan as a plan drawn on base maps with cadastral drawings that conforms with the principles laid out in the Master Plan. This type of plan specifies the building types, building densities, the total built-up area on a building parcel, building heights, and the minimum distance between the buildings.
The existing Land Development Act grants municipalities or metropolitan municipalities the authority to prepare Implementation Plans within their borders and in annexed areas but must seek approval for such plans from their councils, while governorates are authorised to prepare and approve implementation plans for areas outside the municipality borders. In exceptional cases, as detailed in items 4 and 9 of the Land Development Act, the planning rights of local governments may be used by the relevant institutions of the central government in cases relating to unregistered or illegally developed areas (gecekondu), those designated for new housing estates, and those traversed by major transport routes.
There are also various types of plan prepared for different purposes, for areas defined by different institutions, most of which are prepared based on necessity, such as Regional Strategic Spatial Plans, Integrated Coastal Zone Plans, and Conservation Master Plans. In addition, several public administrations hold the right to prepare land development plans including the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Privatisation Agency (Özelleştirme İdaresi) and the Housing Development Administration (Toplu Konut İdaresi-TOKI). The main features of some specific plans are given below.
Regional Strategic Spatial Plan
The Spatial Planning Ordinance (dated 14.06.2014) also gives the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change the power to prepare strategic spatial plans for regional and watershed areas, whenever the Ministry deems it necessary. The plans are prepared by taking into consideration metropolitan regions, growth nodes, new cities and development corridors, production, distribution and consumption flows, urban and regional networks, the density of urban areas, the transport network, and physical barriers. No regional spatial plans have been prepared as yet.
Integrated Coastal Zone Plans (Bütünleşik Kıyı Alanları Planı)
Integrated Coastal Zone Plans are strategic plans prepared with an integrated approach, and serve as a guide for all development plan decisions, while also providing input for strategic spatial plans and territorial plans. Such plans are not listed in the spatial planning hierarchy since they are prepared only for coastal areas. They are schematic plans prepared by the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change at 1:25,000 and/or 1:50,000 scales and are supported by planning reports. The Spatial Planning Ordinance (2014) describes in detail the procedures to be followed for the preparation of Integrated Coastal Zone Plans.
Conservation Master Plans (Koruma Amaçlı İmar Planı)
Conservation Master Plans are defined by the 2863 Law on the Conservation of Cultural and Natural Property (of 21.07.1983). They are prepared by the administrations (idare) that have the right to prepare master and implementation plans for areas that have been declared conservation sites by the Regional Conservation Council. Conservation plans negotiated and deemed appropriate by the Regional Conservation Council shall be submitted to the relevant administrations for approval (Ünsal/Türk 2014).
In addition to the above-mentioned plans, Village Settlement Plans (Köy Yerleşme Planı) are prepared for villages. While the legislation on spatial plans (Land Development Law No. 3194 of 1985) does not refer to village settlement plans, Village Law No. 3367 and the Village Settlement Areas Implementation Ordinance (1987) define planning for villages. However, recently, the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change has argued that rural settlements need specific attention, and thus financed a pilot project ‘Conservation-Oriented Rural Area Planning: A Model Proposal’ in 2015 (known as KOKAP) and initiated another project in 2017 (KODAKAP)[17] to define the principles of implementation of Conservation-Oriented Rural Area Planning.
[10] Examples include Ankara being chosen as the capital of the Turkish Republic, the distribution of State Economic Enterprises across the entire country, and development plans for the railway system. Moreover, the First (1934-38) and Second Industrial Plans (1938-1942) aimed to develop the manufacturing sectors of different regions and to achieve balanced economic development.
[11] This was largely due to the mechanisation of agriculture, which reduced the need for rural workers, as well as the new highway transport system built with Marshall Funding.
[12] These included the Ministry of Construction (now the Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change), the Ministry of Industry and Technology, the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Ministry of the Environment, the Administration for Privatisation, the State Railways Authority, and the Housing Development Administration, as well as many other public bodies.
[13] The local authorities can ask the Housing Development Administration to carry out the project.
[14] https://mpgm.csb.gov.tr/en
[15] There have been various attempts to prepare spatial plans at a national level since the 1960s, especially following the First National Physical Plan Seminar in 1968, although none resulted in agreement on a spatial development strategy/plan at the national level.
[16] The English term is not a direct translation from Turkish, as a direct translation would be Environmental Order Plans, which suggests a different context. In English documents, these types of plans are known as Environmental Order Plans, Environmental Plans, Territorial Plans, etc.
[17] https://mpgm.csb.gov.tr/kirsal-alan-planlama-projesi-kodakap-i-87459
Figure 3: Planning System of Turkey
Important stakeholders
| Institution/ Stakeholder/ Authorities | Research field/ Competencies/ Administrative area |
|---|---|
| Directorate of Spatial Planning: The Ministry of the Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change | National Strategic Spatial Plan (for the whole country) Regional Strategic Spatial and Territorial Plans (regions, watershed areas, provinces) Integrated Coastal Area Plans (specified coastal areas) Other plans for different purposes at different scales (large-scale public investments, military areas, mass housing, urban transformation projects, etc.) |
| Regional Development Agency: The Ministry of Industry and Technology | Regional Plans (NUTS 2 regions) |
| Metropolitan municipalities | Territorial Plans (province) Land Development Plans: Master Plans (for metropolitan municipalities and districts of metropolitan municipalities) Implementation Plans (districts of metropolitan municipalities) |
| Municipalities | Land Development Plans: Master Plans (for metropolitan municipalities and districts of metropolitan municipalities) Implementation Plans (districts of metropolitan municipalities) |
| Special Provincial Administrations | Plans for areas not within the borders of municipalities and their adjacent areas (mücavir alanlar) in the province |
| Housing Development Administration | The Housing Development Administration has the authority to prepare plans on different scales for areas designated as ‘mass housing areas’ and ‘urban transformation areas’ within municipal and non-municipal areas. |
| Chamber of City Planners | Takes the necessary initiatives and organises activities aiming to protect the interests of the public, including bringing suits against plans which are against public interests. |
Fact sheets
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Fact Sheet 2 Territorial Plan.pdf (492.6 KB)
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Fact Sheet 3 Regional level Turkey İzmir.pdf (439.52 KB)
Attachments
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Attachment 1: Türkiye, external borders and provinces
List of references
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GMKA (2023): What is regional plan and its scope? Available at: https://www.gmka.gov.tr/en/what-is-regional-plan-and-its-scope (29 12 2023).
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Tekeli, İ. (2008): Türkiye'de Bölgesel Eşitsizlik ve Bölge Planlama Yazıları, Istanbul:Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları.
Tekeli, İ. (2011): Türkiye'nin Kent Planlama ve Kent Araştırmaları Tarihi Yazıları, Istanbul:Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları.
Ünsal F.; Türk, Ş. Ş. (2014): Legal and institutional context of urban planning and urban renewal in Turkey: Thinking on Istanbul. In: Erkut, G.; Shirazi, R. (eds.): Dimensions of urban re-development, 15-30, Technische Universität Berlin, Fakultät VI, Planen Bauen Umwelt.
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Zürcher, E. J. (2023). Three turning points in the political development of modern Turkey. Turkish Studies, 24(3–4), 435–450.
Further Reading
https://mpgm.csb.gov.tr/en (Directorate General of Spatial Planning)
https://mpgm.csb.gov.tr/kirsal-alan-planlama-projesi-kodakap-i-87459 (Planning of rural areas, project)
https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx (The inventory of Turkish administrative units)
