Evaluation of urbanization in policy development plan made in Turkey

Concepts of city and urbanization are important concepts that show the level of development of a country, and that also affect the development of people at the same time. When the urbanization process in Turkey is examined, it can be seen that there are no decisive steps taken towards urbanization before the Republic during the Ottoman and Seljuk periods. After the Republic, urbanization which coincided with the industrialization period was neglected due to insufficient capital of Turkey. Finally after 1980, necessary emphasis was given to urbanization gradually. There is a relationship in terms of purpose, between development plans, the main purpose of which is to contribute to the development of countries and urbanization policies. Therefore, evaluation of urbanization policies in the development plan, and identification of the shortcomings, if there are any, is aimed. Within this context, in the first part of our thesis study consisting of three parts, information on the concepts of city, urbanization, being an urbanite, urbanization process in Turkey, and development has been provided; and in the second and third parts, how and to what degree urbanization policies were represented in the ten development plans that have been established since the planned period until today is demonstrated by using historical, descriptive methods and literature searches. In the conclusion part, it is seen that especially in the first five development plans, there are not enough studies on urbanization. In the latter development plans, however, it was found that the principle of sustainability was neglected. Recommendations have been made to make these policies more effective. Key Terms: City, Urbanization, Urbanization in Turkey, Development Plans, Urbanization Policies