The phenomenon of rural-urban migration and urbanization before the planned period in Turkey

The rural areas which used to be the basic living spaces of humankind throughout most of the history began to immigrate to cities due to the advantages of the latter with the transition from traditional society to industrial one. Along with the changes in balance between rural areas and cities and also the developments in industry, cities started to demand more and more labour force from rural areas, which paved the way from rural world to city world. However, although the migration from rural areas to cities takes place similarly in all countries at first glance, it is generally accepted that urbanization in developing countries has become different from the ones in developed countries contextually. The differentiation in these two categories is clarified by finding the answer to the question of whether the transformation in relations of agricultural production or development of industry shapes the process of migration from rural areas to cities. This study which was started to find an answer to this question in the context of Turkey tries to reveal the basic dynamics that led to both movements of migration from rural areas to cities before the planned period and also the urbanization phenomenon. While doing this, the focal point is the examination of the reasons for migration of rural population to cities between the late Ottoman period and 1950s. For this purpose, the dynamics of urbanization are discussed in a periodic way in historical continuity; how the developments in the last decade before 1950 led to migration is tried to be revealed; and the impacts of the agricultural structure, transportation and industrial politics in 1950s on the urbanization process are analyzed. Keywords: Rural-Urban Migration, Urbanization, Industrial Revolution, Before The Planned Period, The Continuity of Urbanization and Industrialization.