Migration from urban to rural structure in reverse: Case of Samsun, Tekkeköy and 19 Mayıs districts

The migrations that gained momentum after the 1950s in Turkey revealed important social changes along with the urbanization process. In the context of the social changes experienced with the effect of urbanization, the rural-urban divide has also changed spatially and socially over time. In the thesis, it is based on the assumption that there is a reversed mobility from urban living areas to rural areas on the urban periphery and that it has shown an increasing trend in recent years. In the research, it is aimed to reveal the rural-urban perceptions, interactions, social and spatial effects of individuals within this scope by determining if there is an orientation to rural areas due to the effect of rural-urban change. In this context, it has been investigated what are the reasons for the orientation from urban areas to rural areas through the city of Samsun. In the study, the purposeful sampling model was preferred among the qualitative research methods. Descriptive and systematic analysis methods were used in the analysis of the data and the obtained data were interpreted. As a result of the study, it reveals that the orientation to rural life increases with the differentiation of the expectations of individuals living in cities. It was concluded that the reasons for retirement, homesickness, achieving better socio-economic conditions, livelihood difficulties, moving away from the density of cities, the desire for rural life, the COVID-19 pandemic, health problems, the use of agricultural land and agricultural support are effective in the returns. After the returns, various changes have occurred in the social lives of individuals and the spatial dimension of the countryside. With the policy proposals put forward in the conclusion section of the study, contributions to urbanization policies and, conversely, to the solution of problems that migration may cause were presented.