Multi-Criteria Evaluation of Socio-Spatial Resilience based on Sectoral Changes in Kayseri City Region

This paper will evaluate the outcomes of the economic and sectoral development policies of Turkey in terms of investigating the socio-economic and spatial resilience of Kayseri city-region. In Turkey, economic development was mainly based on the manufacturing sector with a significant rise during the period of 1980-1990s. In recent decade, however, the main economic activity has shifted toward the construction sector. Depending on the limitations of the construction industry in the near future, however, the cities need to develop ?resilience plans?, which consider the sectoral potentials and challenges as well as their influences on physical development and/or settlement patterns by comprising both the urban and rural areas of their regions. In this context, this paper focused on the Kayseri city-region. Indeed, Kayseri, which is known with its innovative entrepreneurship in business, has witnessed certain developments in the manufacture industry, i.e. automotive and furniture sectors during 1980-1990s. Although this change addressed a significant shift toward the new regional policies that can lead success in the competitiveness and global integration, there is seen a sectoral decline in the automotive industry since 2000s. Simultaneously, the construction and service sectors increased, when Kayseri has experienced a significant rural-to-urban migration. That is, the influence of the rise in the construction sector does not only lead a decline in the urban manufacturing sectors, but also a decrease in the rural sectors that accompany to the migration. Moreover, the peripheries of Kayseri metropolitan area that had agricultural character with a contribution into the industry have also been threatened with the speculative activities of the construction industry. Regarding the limitations of the construction industry in the next years, Kayseri needs to define the way of resilient development by means of economic sectors. Thus, the paper will evaluate the resilience of Kayseri city-region in terms of Multi-Criteria Analysis Approach, which provides using several criteria, i.e. limits and potentials in the economic sectors as well as in the social and physical development, and different scales, i.e. regional and metropolitan levels. The data on the economic sectors and spatial development of Kayseri are obtained from local authorities such as regional development agency and metropolitan and district municipalities. Regarding both the characteristics of urban and rural areas, the paper will present firstly a sub-regional zoning, which is based on the existing and potential economic activities with the reasons of migration, proposals for rural development and integration of rural sectors into metropolitan sectors. Then, the paper will focus on the metropolitan area by investigating the potentials of urban economic sectors in association with rural sectors? integration, urban growth patterns and main macro-form decisions.