Capital Accumulation, the State and the Production of Built Environment: The Case of Turkey

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Tezin Türü: Doktora

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mimarlık Fakültesi, Şehir ve Bölge Planlama Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2008

Tezin Dili: İngilizce

Öğrenci: OSMAN BALABAN

Danışman: Hüseyin Çağatay Keskinok

Özet:

Under capitalist mode of production urban processes gain specific features and meanings. Fundamental is the relationship between processes of capital accumulation and the production of built environment. In this context, the capital switching theory claims that as profit levels are lowered, the probability that higher levels of capital tending to enter the property sector increases. In the first stage of a two-staged research, a macro-analysis on construction activities in Turkey limited to post-1980 period indicates that there no counter-cyclical relationship prevails between productive sectors of the economy and construction activities. It is observed that the state intervention and its supportive policies regarding the production of built environment are the dominant determinants in the Turkish case. Based on these findings, a second focus was on the relationships between the state and capital engaged in the production of urban built environment. Various forms of state intervention, mostly as examples of deregulation and liberalization of planning controls and urban development legislation are identified at this stage. The major findings lead to the conclusion that urban processes are open to the profit-oriented and speculative efforts of political actors as well as the economic actors. Hence the necessity of development of counter-strategies and policies as parts of planning and urban development system verified.