A study on project management approaches in local governments

This study was conducted to reveal the current state of project management processes in municipalities in Turkey, to understand the perceptions and experiences of employees working in project units, and to examine their interactions with the institutional structure. Although project-based activities have become increasingly important within local governments, the organizational, administrative, and financial limitations encountered in practice are observed to directly affect project implementation capacity.The findings demonstrate that project management practices in municipalities are largely shaped by managerial approaches, political influence, organizational culture, and personnel competencies. It was determined that project units in many municipalities lack adequate institutional capacity, decision-making processes are highly hierarchical, and the principle of merit is weakly implemented in practice. In conclusion, the study highlights the need to strengthen administrative capacity, adopt merit-based human resources policies, make stakeholder participation mechanisms functional, and develop a sustainability-oriented managerial approach in order to institutionalize project management within municipalities. In this respect, the research offers significant theoretical and practical contributions to the field of project management in local governments.