Local economic development and its application in Turkey

Bc. Hüseyin Akkurt

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Local economic development (LED) is progressively being implemented by developing countries and has shifted from being a development approach pursued only by industrialised nations. Academic interpretation of LED prioritises strategies based on ideas of grassroots and bottom-up development. These ideas are centred on the self-reliance of communities as well as on highlighting the benefits of creating partnerships with different actors for local development. In most developed countries, nationally based developmental models are based on, in Turkey we usually do not care about local differences, a structure that tries to reveal local residents by determining the center. However, one of their great importances to the development process of the Republic, the government policies are towards the improvement of inter-regional income distribution. In fact, such policies increase the importance of regional development models in parallel with the increasing globalization of competition. In particular, since the distribution of natural and social resources of country on the country's geography is not identical in absolute terms, local and national development also requires policies and plans that are absolutely planned and balanced. So that, in this thesis we will focus on briefly Local Economic Development (LED) concept and then we will evaluate Turkey's various Local Economic Development applications. We will also give an example of one of local development actor, municipalities, as Eskişehir Municipality that we could compare if municipality's development strategy matches with country's development strategies. Various books, articles, theses, statistical data and electronic sources were used to create the content of this thesis and to confirm its validity.

Abstract:

Local economic development (LED) is progressively being implemented by developing countries and has shifted from being a development approach pursued only by industrialised nations. Academic interpretation of LED prioritises strategies based on ideas of grassroots and bottom-up development. These ideas are centred on the self-reliance of communities as well as on highlighting the benefits of creating partnerships with different actors for local development. In most developed countries, nationally based developmental models are based on, in Turkey we usually do not care about local differences, a structure that tries to reveal local residents by determining the center. However, one of their great importances to the development process of the Republic, the government policies are towards the improvement of inter-regional income distribution. In fact, such policies increase the importance of regional development models in parallel with the increasing globalization of competition. In particular, since the distribution of natural and social resources of country on the country's geography is not identical in absolute terms, local and national development also requires policies and plans that are absolutely planned and balanced. So that, in this thesis we will focus on briefly Local Economic Development (LED) concept and then we will evaluate Turkey's various Local Economic Development applications. We will also give an example of one of local development actor, municipalities, as Eskişehir Municipality that we could compare if municipality's development strategy matches with country's development strategies. Various books, articles, theses, statistical data and electronic sources were used to create the content of this thesis and to confirm its validity.

Keywords

Local Economic Development Concept, Local Economic Development, Turkey, Eskisehir Municipality

Language used: English

Date on which the thesis was submitted / produced: 30. 4. 2018

Accessible from:: 31. 12. 2999

Thesis defence

• Supervisor: Ing. Martin Sobotka, Ph.D.

University of Pardubice

Faculty of Economics and Administration

Master programme / field:
Economic Policy and Administration / Regional Development and Governance