The role of development poles in regional development: Evaluation of public participation in the Filyos valley project

The theory of development poles, one of the unbalanced development models, is one of the important studies added to the literature by Francois Perroux, one of the famous economists and intellectuals of the 20th century. With the development pole theory, F. Perroux argues that economic development will not take place at the same time and equally throughout the country and that some regions will create a pole effect in development. This situation is related to the lack of similarity in the sociocultural and geographical patterns of the regions, unfavorable economic conditions and differences in production factors. Due to limited resources, industrialization, which provides development in the economy, is not concentrated in the region as a whole, but only in certain development centers. F. Perroux is of the opinion that in this industrial concentration, the driving (motor) unit will mobilize other industries, and thanks to the locomotive feature of the driving industry, industrial complexes will emerge over time and development will be achieved. In this respect, the main pole effect is realized through the positive externalities and interactions generated by accelerated growth. Emerging growth poles create a multiplier effect on other industrial centers and the local economyA review of development pole experiments around the world shows that in the Mezzogiorno region of Italy, where efforts were made to reduce the development gap between the north and south of the country, the views of the people of the region were ignored and local initiatives were not taken into account during the project, which ended in failure. In 1986,a similar Agenzia study was successful because it emphasized public participation as a more strategic approach. One of the most important factors for the success of projects with development pole potential is the participation and support of local people. The Filyos Valley Project is a project that has the potential to be a development pole for the region when public and private investments, infrastructure and transportation works and employment opportunities are examined. Public participation in the project is critical to the fate of the project and regional development, and it is obvious that if the public is given the opportunity, they will take an active role in the project and accelerate the pole effect that ensures development in regional activities. In our study, the Filyos Valley Project was handled in the context of F. Perroux's 'development pole theory', and the opinions and expectations of the people of the region about the project were evaluated in line with the factor of public participation in development, and the n:239 (68.3%) of the people were satisfied with the realization of the project), the public wants to work within the scope of the project n:160 (45.7%), the public considers public participation necessary for the success of the project n:224 (64.0%), the public wants to attend meetings related to the project n:214 (61.1%), the project It was determined that n:163 (46.6%) wanted to be involved in the decisions about the project and n:157 (44.9%) that the public wanted to be in the post-project implementation phase. No intervention or opinion of the people regarding Filyos being the center of development and blocking the development towards the polar effect has been encountered. In this direction, when the data obtained as a result of the research are evaluated, it is thought that the activities and promotion activities related to the project should be increased, the employment within the scope of the project should be primarily provided from the region in order to meet the expectations of the local people, the inputs should be obtained from the commercial tradesmen in the region and the local initiatives in the region should be supported. It is considered to make legislative arrangements in order to increase the role of the public in the project, to create new mechanisms in institutional and administrative practices, and to develop striking suggestions for policy makers in this direction.