Tropentag, September 17 - 19, 2013 in Stuttgart-Hohenheim "Agricultural development within the rural-urban continuum"

The Effects of Village Renewal on Quality of Rural Life: Evidence from Eskikaraagac, Bursa, Turkey

Uludag University, Biosystem Engineering, Turkey

Abstract

Developing technologies and industry based on using of modern agricultural instruments and techniques have led to structural changes in agrarian economy. Due to the emerging developments, the employment that based upon conventional agriculture, has decreased its efficiency in economy. Local people who lost business opportunity, has begun to migrate from rural to urban in the hope of finding employment.Farm lands operating has became infertile because of the migration. As a result of these negative conditions, Villages that have been individual settlement unit of rural area have grown to lose their specifically social, cultural and physical structure. Turkey has need village renewal studies in order to prevent the migration to maintain specifically structure of rural and to provide improvement of rural.

The village renewal is a comprehensive process that determines potential in rural area, as well as providing proper use of the resources. Land fragmentation is major problem due to reducing to operate effective farm land in rural areas, so this condition can be solved by land consolidation. Land consolidation is a part of the village renewal studies. Natural and cultural properties preserve, thus making an environment planning and alternative living spaces can be created near the cities through the village renewal. These adjustments can be created new business opportunities, so creating more dynamic non-farming sector in rural areas. If these opportunities were provided for local people and made village renewal, People wouldn't migrate to urban/city and due to increasing the quality of life, local people would stake a claim on their own region.
Village renewal studies have been important because of increasing migration rate since 1970 and Turkey has needed a new construct in order to provide rural development and to sustain it. The aim of this study the effects of village renewal on the quality of rural life and rural developments in Eskikaragac-Bursa/Turkey.

Keywords: Rural development, village renewal, Turkey

Contact Address: Duygu Sapolyo, Uludag University, Biosystem Engineering, 16059 Bursa, Turkey, e-mail: dsapolyohotmail.com