Urban Sprawl and its Reasons in the Growth Process of Konya Urban Area

Abstract

Urban sprawl takes place in the literature as a form of growth seen in almost all cities in the world after 1950s. Urban sprawl, which is defined as a low density, leapfrog development towards the periphery of cities, causes ineffective use of urban space and environmental problems. Although increasing population is the most important reason of urban sprawl, other factors are as important as population growth. Generally accepted reasons intend to explain dynamics of sprawl. However, the political, legal, cultural structures, level of development and even urbanization dynamics of the countries have different effects on the urban sprawl process. Therefore, evaluating the factors causes of the sprawl for each country is vital for understanding the process and developing solutions. The aim of this study, in addition to addressing the factors in the literature related to urban sprawl, is to evaluate sprawling dynamics in Turkey and to reveal the factors that cause sprawling in the city of Konya. In the field research, the city of Konya was selected and the changes in the macroform of the city over the years were analyzed using satellite photographs. In addition, the effects of planning on the development of the city were tried to identify by examining city plans. Along with the factors affecting all cities globally, Turkey also has experienced major changes in cities due to its incorporation into the world economy after 1980s and liberal policies. Konya, as one of the cities that expands in a planned manner since the 1940s, has had important implementations in terms of housing/planning policies. In recent years, public and private capital investments have played important role and caused a type of sprawl specific to Konya which took place under the 'control of planning'.