Social municipal practices in Turkey: Manisa example

As an important aspect of the public administration system, municipal local governments, in addition to being units of democratic participation, also function as an important means of providing public goods and services effectively and efficiently within the framework of the principle of subsidiarity. Following a period in which classical municipal services were at the forefront, municipalities that stood out with social municipalism since the 1970s have become increasingly important in the context of implementing social state practices at the local level and social municipalism. This rise of municipalities, which have become the dominant actors in the provision of social services for the disadvantaged segments of the society at the local level, continues to increase today, in parallel with the economic, social, cultural and political developments that have emerged within the framework of the globalization and localization dynamics that have become evident especially since the 1990s. In the context of the climate realized by the mentioned developments and especially the urbanization processes, social municipalism practices are increasingly becoming more and more widespread in a wide range of areas, from youth services to sports and elderly care services, from new social and economic problems that accelerate with national and international migration movements to eliminating the main externalities of urban poverty. appears to be becoming important. Within the framework underlined, the aim of this study is to examine the Manisa example in the context of social municipality practices. In this context, firstly, the theoretical and conceptual framework of municipal local governments was examined in relation to the social municipalism approach, and then the practice of social municipalism in Turkey was discussed in the context of its basic features, main qualities, problems and search for solutions. In the third part of the study, the Manisa example, Manisa Metropolitan Municipality, Şehzadeler and Yunusemre municipalities were examined in the context of social municipality practices. Key Words: Municipalities, Social Municipality, Manisa, Yunusemre, Şehzadeler