Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

12-2012

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.P.A.

Department

Urban and Public Affairs

Committee Chair

Bourassa, Steven C., 1957-

Author's Keywords

Public housing; Turkish housing; mass housing; European housing; social housing; real estate

Subject

Housing policy--Turkey; Public housing--Turkey

Abstract

Most industrial countries face with some form of housing problems. As a result, each state has adopted a variety of housing policies. Policy methods of government authorities in meeting the housing gap and addressing the low income families' housing needs differ from one country to another. In Turkey, the housing policies have not been effective to respond the housing needs of low- and middle-income families until the recent decades. Turkish Mass Housing Administration (TOKI), which was established in 1984, accelerated its mass housing provision in recent years. Through law amendments and administrative reforms in 2003 and 2004, TOKi as a central government organization became the main actor in the housing sector in Turkey. The rapid increase of its mass housing production in the last decade has attracted the attention of many urban scholars, professional real estate organizations, and other non-profit organizations in terms of whether such mass housing provision changes the urban life in a better way and fills the housing gap without any negative externalities. Thus, this study builds upon the recent practices of Mass Housing Administration (TOKI) and aims to reveal its nature by investigating the determinants and possible outcomes of recent mass housing production. Proliferation of mass housing projects in the last ten years received some criticism by scholars and the civil organizations. Particularly, the methods being used in the housing provision are questioned in most housing studies in Turkey as they bring not only significant amount of housing supply but also some negative implications to the Turkish society. Based on discussion in the literature, it is hypothesized that population increase, political support, available public lands, and tenancy rates are the determining factors; net migration increase, real estate company shutdowns, more land use for housing, and more political support to the administration are the possible outcomes of mass housing provision by TOKI The findings of this study indicate that the mass housing provision of the past decade is a positive function of political gains, metropolitan areas, and the destruction of recent major earthquakes. Also, TOKI's housing provision seems to have impacted the real estate sector in a negative way while it helped the ruling party to increase its political support in the last five years.

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