Approaches to regional development within the globalization process: An application for priority regions in development in Turkey (1975-2001)

Becuse the development differences between countries have got wider as a result of the fact that the semi-colonized countries have gained independence after the World War II, development economics and regional development disparities have gained importance in the world economy. The transition from industrial society to information society and the globaliziation process have brought the change of the concept of development. Also nation-states started to loose their power, regions and cities become important in globalization process. The changes in technological development, production of information and regional innovation in globalization process have brought some changes in regional development theory and policies. The objective of regional policy is not limited to only decreasing regional disparities of regions, different regional policies are applied for each region to ensure national development and increase in competitiveness.In the first chapter, the structural change in globalization process and the transition period of industry society to information society have been analyzed and the dinamics of regional development are explained. In the second chapter traditional and new approaches to regional development have been analyzed. In the final chapter, regional development policies and projects applied in Turkey have been explained and the role of regional development agencies; an effective instrument in regional development have been analyzed. One of the main policy instrument applied within the regional development process in Turkey is Priorty Regions in Development application consisting of relatively less developed provinces. In the application part of study, the disparities of regional development in Turkey are analyzed regarding provinces and priority regions in development depending on the convergence theory.