Geography of Private Planning Offices in Turkey: Spatial and Sectoral Analysis

Construction-oriented growth policies accelerated the urbanization process in the 2000s in Turkey. A series of new legal and administrative arrangements destabilized Turkey’s urban planning system, which was one of the most important tools in creating and distributing urban rents. For the first time, planning became a prominent political and market issue. However, the influence of the dominant economic policy on the spatial planning sector has seen little debate. This study focuses on private planning offices, their geographies, the impact of regulations on them and the variety of projects they serve. The data were obtained from analysis of all planning projects completed between 2003 and 2018 in Turkey by these private planning offices and approved by the relevant Chamber of City Planners, questionaries with planning offices in different cities of the country and structured interviews with planning office representatives in Istanbul and Ankara. The findings show that the number of private planning offices has increased because there are now more planning schools and that these planning offices have spread throughout Turkey. However, planning offices in Ankara still dominate the national planning sector country while planning offices in more developed cities have built their regional hegemony. The planning sector has grown after plan amendments became a prominent planning service. While upper scale spatial plans and sectoral plans are prepared by A-level private planning offices, plan amendments have become the main work of all planning offices. Private planning offices, especially newer ones, remain trapped between regulations and capital pressure.

Türkiye’deki Serbest Planlama Bürolarýnýn Coðrafyasý: Mekansal ve Sektörel Analiz

Türkiye’de 2000’lerde hýzlanan inþaat odaklý büyüme politikalarý kentlerin hýzlý yeniden yapýlanmayý getirmiþtir. Bu süreçte kentsel rantýn yaratýlmasý ve daðýtýlmasýnda en önemli araçlardan birisi olan planlama kurumu, yasal ve yönetsel düzenlemeler ile kaotik ve daðýnýk bir hale gelmiþtir. Planlama, siyaset ve piyasa ile iliþkileri baðlamýnda ülke gündeminde her zamankinden daha fazla yer alýr iken, bu ekonomi politik altýnda planlama pratiðinin nasýl dönüþtüðü ise çok az tartýþýlmýþtýr. Bu makale Türkiye’de mekânsal planlarýn büyük bir çoðunluðunu yapan serbest planlama bürolarýna, bu bürolarýn coðrafyasýna, karne yönetmeliðinin planlama bürolarýnýn sektördeki faaliyetlerine etkilerine ve bürolarýn yaptýklarý iþlere odaklanmaktadýr. Bu kapsamda Þehir Plancýlarý Odasýndan temin edilen MDU verileri, anket ve derinlemesine görüþmelerden oluþan saha çalýþmasý gerçekleþtirilmiþtir. Araþtýrmada planlama okullarý ile birlikte bürolarýn sayýsýnýn arttýðý, bürolarýn coðrafi olarak tüm Türkiye’ye yayýldýðý tespit edilmiþtir. Ankara’daki A grubu karneli bürolar piyasada hakimiyetlerini korur iken, ülkenin geliþmiþ kentlerinde bölgesel hakimiyet kuran bürolar oluþtuðu bulunmuþtur. 2000 sonrasýnda sektör geniþlemiþ ve çeþitlenmiþ, sektörün büyümesinde plan deðiþiklikleri en belirgin þehircilik hizmeti olarak ön plana çýkmýþtýr. Üst ölçekli planlar yada uzmanlýk gerektiren planlarý daha çok A grubu planlama bürolarý yapar iken, plan deðiþiklikleri tüm karne gruplarý tarafýndan en yoðun yapýlan iþtir. Sektörde yeni iþ alanlarý ortaya çýkmýþ olmasýna raðmen farklý karne gruplarý arasýndaki eþitsizlikler derinleþmiþ, bürolar, özellikle genç bürolar, karne sýnýrlamalarý, daralan piyasa ve siyaset-sermaye baskýsý arasýnda sýkýþmýþtýr.