The urban development and spatial change in Çorum

Çorum which is established in its own plain is one of the ancient settelement of Anatolia. Çorum which entered various sovereignty such as Hittite, passed the Turkish sovereignty during the Great Seljuks. Çorum became settlement center many times during the Ottoman Empire and it also became provincial center during the Republican Era in 1924. At the begining of the Republican Era Çorum had a stagnant economy which was based on agriculture and livestock and later we saw that the first manufacturing activities started with workshops based on local raw material. At the present day, the most important steps which makes Çorum as the ındustry and trade center have been made after 1955. One of the first step was the opening of highway from Çorum to Ankara Samsun which never take place in the junction of transportation network in history was constructed in 1955. This highway provided to develop the city's geographical location development. Another important development providing the city development is the starting of industrial acitivities lasting at the present day. With the construction of cement factory the industrial period in Çorum started to continue. Çorum's economic development started to develop with the improvement of various industry branches. Apart from the economic development the industrial activities helped to develop the city's spatial development. Thanks to this development the new settelements have been constructed. In the variation of this spatial usage agriculture,trade and transportation activities played an important role apart from the industry. With the variation of economic structure, Çorum started to get migration from both it's rural areas and urban areas. Nowadays, Çorum that maintains its development as an agriculture,industry and trade city will be in the group of fast train line which is still under construction when the railway project finishes. This development will bring important changes in the advancement of the city's social and economic lives in the near future. Keywords: Turkey, Çorum, Geography, Cities, Urbanization