Change in Economic Policies and Nation Space in Turkey (1980-2012)

Abstract

Space has a continuously changing and dynamic structure, originating out of the factors that affect it. An examination of nation space reveals that economic policies are an important factor affecting that space. The change is visible in various structures, such as in the inner structure of settlement, in the organization of settlements, in the location of center, and at borders of sphere of influence. With this framework, and based on economic policies, this study looked at changing nation space through the concepts of center and sphere of influence. The time frames 1960-1980, 1980-2002 and 2002-2012 were evaluated, as they were periods of markedly different economic policies in Turkey. The general structure, and conditions at the start and end of each were compared, supported with different economic and demographic indicators. The result is a picture of the factors that differentiate these time frames from each other. Then follows an analysis of the reflection of these differentiations on nation space. This was done using maps with population and road transportation data in the context of the years 1980, 2000 and 2012. As a conclusion, it was found that the map of 1980, which reflects the 1960-1980 period, revealed a relatively balanced distribution of center and sphere of influences on the nation space, while in the maps of 2000 and 2012, reflecting the 1980-2002 and 2002-2012 period respectively, this balanced distribution had gradually disappeared.