The affirmative effects of clustering strategy on city competitiveness and the perception of clusters about city competitiveness: City competitiveness and the case of marble cluster in Diyarbakır

In recent years, because of the narrowing of boundaries among countries exponentially and acceleration of the communication and transportation technologies, the concept of competition has begun to be one of the top subjects on the global agenda. At the same time, a lot of research underscore that the global economic growth is an inevitable fact and this growth is mostly the result of the spatial reflection of local processes. In other words, the creation of successful competitive clusters by agglomeration of certain industrial activities and in certain places forms the basis of competition in wider areas. Because of competitiveness and economic development, cities have increasingly become a key spatial unit. Cities compete with each other to gain competitive advantage and to raise their share of economic activity. Clustering of the economic activities is the most important element for cities to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. This study aims to unfold the effectiveness of the clustering strategy in city competitiveness and the city competitiveness perception of clusters within the context of marble sector in Diyarbakır.