A study on urban network and its hierarchy: The case of Denizli province

The aim of this thesis is to systematically analyze rural and urban settlements within the administrative boundaries of Denizli Province by utilizing numerical and statistical data related to demographic, socio-economic, socio-cultural service, and transportation–accessibility indicators, in order to model the existence of the "urban network" and its "hierarchical order," focusing specifically on the "network of cities" and the "transportation network" in Denizli Province. Within this framework, the methodological process of this thesis is depended on four fundamental hypotheses: Firstly, it is that the demographic sizes of the districts of Denizli are a decisive factor to define their hierarchical ranking in urban network. Secondly, it is that the socio-economic development potentials of the districts of Denizli are an in effective factor their hierarchical positioning within the urban network; in other words, there is a relationship between sectoral identities and its hierarchical order of district. And thirdly, it is that the socio-technical service capacities of the districts of Denizli determine their hierarchical ranking within the urban network. Lastly, the geomorphological characteristics of the districts and their level of accessibility and connectivity with other provinces/districts are effective their hierarchical rankings within the urban network. The methodology of this thesis is depended on the research process composed of three stages. The first stage is involves compiling academic and institutional studies related to the urban network and their hierarchical order, and examining the conceptual contents and theoretical background aimed at explaining the urban network and its hierarchical order. The second stage is that the examination of studies to related with the urban network and their hierarchical order conducted by the European Statistical Office (EUROSTAT), the OECD, and Turkish. And the third stage includes designing of indicators data related to the urban network and its hierarchical order, followed by modeling the urban network and its hierarchical order. It is expected that this thesis is to contribute to strategic spatial planning efforts at the provincial and inter-provincial levels carried out by public mechanisms and organizations regarding the "urban network and hierarchy," both in terms of its perspective, approach, and methodology, and in terms of designing a database based on the planning approach and indicator sets. Another importance contribution should be seen as providing balance and efficiency in site selection decisions and the spatial distribution of social and technical infrastructure services.