2009 Volume 39 Issue 1 Pages 67-88
European spatial development policy supports a transnational polycentric urban development and development of new global integration zones to accelerate job creation and decrease inequalities. In this context, Southeastern European Space (SES) is a potential global integration zone as proposed by Mehlbye[12]. It is one of the most problematic areas in Europe due to high regional inequalities, structural problems and spatial integration. While the European Union's (EU) spatial development policy supports transnational and cross-border cooperation in the SES, Turkey's involvement has been problematic. In the current 2007-2013 period, Turkey not only faces the challenge of EU membership, but also the challenge to integrate to the SES.
We first take a brief look at regional development in SES after year 2000. Metropolitan and few smaller regions continue to grow, contributing to decreasing international inequalities in SES, but intra-country inequalities seem to persist. Turkey has an important contribution to overall inequality. Loss of population in Bulgaria, Romania and in parts of Greece, and high growth rates of population in Turkish regions introduce different challenges for regional policy. Despite significant growth in regional GDP per capita in SES, it is not clear if there is disintegration rather than integration. For Turkey, developing human resources in science and technology and dealing with population pressures on metropolitan areas remain as key challenges.
In the second part of the study, we try to evaluate the implications of institutional capacity constraints and spatial planning system of Turkey for further spatial integration to the area.
