capital accumulation, the state and the production of built environment

332 Pages·2008·3.92 MB·English

CAPITAL ACCUMULATION, THE STATE AND
THE PRODUCTION OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OF TURKEY

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

BY

OSMAN BALABAN

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR
THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN
CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING

FEBRUARY 2008
Approval of the thesis:

CAPITAL ACCUMULATION, THE STATE AND THE PRODUCTION OF
BUILT ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OF TURKEY

submitted by OSMAN BALABAN in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning
Department, Middle East Technical University by,

Prof. Dr. Canan Özgen ____________
Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences

Prof. Dr. Melih Ersoy ____________
Head of Department, City and Regional Planning

Assoc. Prof. Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok
Supervisor, City and Regional Planning Dept., METU ____________

Examining Committee Members:

Prof. Dr. Ali Türel ____________
City and Regional Planning Dept., METU

Assoc. Prof. Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok ____________
City and Regional Planning Dept., METU

Prof. Dr. Murat Balamir ____________
City and Regional Planning Dept., METU

Prof. Dr. Aziz Konukman ____________
Economics Dept., Gazi University

Assoc. Prof. Dr. H. Tarık Şengül ____________
Political Science and Public Administration Dept., METU

Date: 08.02.2008
I hereby declare that all information in this document has been
obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and
ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and
conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that
are not original to this work.

Name, Last Name : Osman Balaban

Signature :
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ABSTRACT

CAPITAL ACCUMULATION, THE STATE AND
THE PRODUCTION OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT: THE CASE OF TURKEY

Balaban, Osman
Ph.D., Department of City and Regional Planning
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok

February 2008, 312 pages

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
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economic actors. Hence the necessity of development of counter-strategies and
policies as parts of planning and urban development system verified.
Keywords: capital accumulation, capital switching, built environment, construction
sector and state intervention

v
ÖZ

SERMAYE BĐRĐKĐMĐ, DEVLET VE YAPILI ÇEVRE ÜRETĐMĐ: TÜRKĐYE ÖRNEĞĐ

Balaban, Osman
Doktora, Şehir ve Bölge Planlama Bölümü
Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok

Şubat 2008, 312 sayfa

Kapitalist üretim biçimi altında kentsel süreçler özgün nitelikler ve anlamlar
kazanırlar. Bunlar içinde temel nitelikli olan, sermaye birikim süreçleri ile yapılı
çevre üretimi arasındaki ilişkidir. Bu bağlamda, sermaye aktarımı yaklaşımı, kar
oranları azaldıkça yüksek oranda sermayenin gayrimenkul sektörüne yönelme
olasılığının artacağını iddia etmektedir. Đki aşamalı araştırmanın ilk aşamasında,
Türkiye’de yapım faaliyetleri üzerine 1980 sonrası ile sınırlı bir makro-analiz,
ekonominin üretken sektörleri ile yapım faaliyetleri arasında ters yönlü ya da
karşıt bir ilişkinin bulunmadığını göstermiştir.
Devletin yapılı çevrenin üretimi özelindeki müdahalesi ve destekleyici
politikalarının Türkiye örneğinde baskın belirleyici etmenler olduğu gözlenmiştir.
Bu tespitlere dayanarak, ikinci yönelimimiz devlet ve sermaye arasında kentsel
yapılı çevrenin üretimi özelinde gerçekleşen ilişkiler üzerine olmuştur. Bu
aşamada, pek çoğu planlama sistemi ve imar mevzuatında kuralsızlaştırma ve
serbestleştirme örneği olan çeşitli devlet müdahaleleri tespit edilmiştir. Temel
tespitler bizi, kentsel süreçlerin ekonomik aktörler yanında politik aktörlerin de kar
amaçlı ve spekülatif girişimlerine açık oldukları sonucuna götürmüştür. Böylece
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de, planlama ve imar sisteminin bir parçası olarak karşı stratejilerin ve politikaların
geliştirilmesi gerekliliği doğrulanmıştır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: sermaye birikimi, sermaye aktarımı, yapılı çevre, yapım
kesimi, devlet müdahalesi

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To my parents;
Kadriye and Ali Balaban

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express his deepest gratitude to his supervisor Assoc. Prof.
Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok for his guidance, criticism, encouragement and insight
throughout the research.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Prof. Dr. Melih Ersoy and
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tarık Şengül for their great efforts, contributions and support for
the completion of this study.
The examining committee members Prof. Dr. Murat Balamir, Prof. Dr. Ali Türel
and Prof. Dr. Aziz Konukman are also acknowledged for their valuable
suggestions and comments.
I would like to thank to Prof. Chris Pickvance who contributed to some parts of
this study during my staying as a visiting scholar at the University of Kent at
Canterbury.
I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Ruşen Keleş, from whom I have
learned a lot during my assistantship in METU.
M. Remzi Sönmez’s, support and encouragement especially during the last
stages of this study, is gratefully acknowledged.
I would like to thank to my colleagues in UPL. Cenap, Sezin, Gülçin, Ayşe, Defne,
Yasemin and Mahir provided essential support and assistance to me. Kind helps
and contributions of Nevzat Can and Yaser Gündüz are also acknowledged. I
offer sincere thanks to Ateş, Gürün and Tirkeş Families especially to their younger
members, who motivated me to complete this study.
I am fully indebted to my parents Ali and Kadriye Balaban, to my parents-in-law
Altay and Filiz Şenol, my sister Emine Özlem, my brothers Murat, Atagün and
Kaan, who supported me in many aspects throughout this study and in my life.
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My dear wife Meltem deserves very special thanks. This study would not have
been completed without her support and contributions. She continuously
encouraged me throughout this study and showed me a great patience by
listening to all my complaints. I am grateful to her peerless presence in my life.

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