Toplumcu belediyecilik çerçevesinde yerel kalkınma girişimlerinin sosyo – ekonomik değerlendirmesi: Ovacık örneği
Socio-economic evaluation of local development initiatives based on municipal socialism: the case of Ovacık
Yazar: ZEYNEP GÜLER CANPOLAT
Danışman: DOÇ. DR. ÖZHAN ERTEKİN
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü / Şehir ve Bölge Planlama Ana Bilim Dalı / Bölge Planlama Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2019
Konu: Şehircilik ve Bölge Planlama = Urban and Regional Planning
Dizin: Bölgesel kalkınma = Regional development ; Tarım kooperatifleri = Agricultural cooperatives ; Toplumcu belediyecilik = Social municipalism

Özet:
Dünyada ülkelerin ekonomik, sosyal ve kültürel yönden birbirine bağımlı hale geldiği, liberal akımın güçlendiği, teknolojik açıdan büyük gelişmelerin başladığı dönemde, Türkiye'de dış dinamiklere paralel iç dinamiklerin etkisiyle, devlet neo-liberal politikalar neticesinde elini doğrudan kamu yatırımlarından çekmeye başlamıştır. Buna göre sağlık, konut, sosyal güvenlik gibi alanlarda piyasacı yaklaşım benimsenmiş sosyal hak ve hizmetlerin sunumunda kamusal değişimler yaşanmıştır. Buna bağlı olarak, tüm dünyada yerel yönetimlerin üstlendiği roller bir değişim sürecine girerken; merkezi yönetimler, yürüttükleri sosyal hizmetlerin sunulması işini yerel yönetimlere devretmiştir. 
Türkiye'de iç ve dış siyasi ve ekonomik olaylara paralel olarak değişim ve gelişim gösteren yerel yönetimler, 2000'li yıllarda kamu yönetiminde yapılan birtakım düzenlemelerle son halini almıştır. Yerel yönetim literatürüne bilgi edinme, açıklık, şeffaflık ve katılımcılık gibi kavramlar girmiştir. Klasik belediyecilik uygulamaları yerini zamanla sosyal politikaların ön plana çıkarıldığı belediyecilik uygulamalarına bırakmıştır. 
2014 yılı sonrasında, Ovacık Belediyesi mevcut belediyecilik uygulamalarının dışına çıkarak, toplumcu belediyecilik anlayışını benimsemiştir. Belediye, doğrudan yerel ve hazineye ait kaynakları ve gönüllü insan gücünü kullanarak elde ettiği gelir ile dezavantajlı gruplar için alternatif ekonomi yaratmaya çalışması açısından ve temel kentsel ihtiyaçlardan içme suyu temininin düşük ücretli olması, ulaşımın ücretsiz olması gibi ekonomi politikaları ile yaptığı uygulamalar ile dikkat çekmeyi başarmıştır. 
Ovacık ilçesi, gerek nüfus yoğunluğunun ve büyüklüğünün az olması gerekse coğrafi ve iklim şartlarının zor olması sebebiyle, küresel ve ulusal ölçekte rekabet edebilme gücü düşük bir ilçe konumundadır. Küçük ölçekli çoğu belediye gibi, bu belediye de klasik belediyecilik faaliyetlerini sürdürebilmek için bile kısıtlı bütçe, personel ve ekipmana sahipken, sosyal politikalar üretmek için kaynak oluşturma gücü konusunda büyük beklentiler yaratmamaktayken, ilçede tarımsal gelişme dinamiklerinin devreye sokulması, gönüllü ve örgütlü üretim politikalarının benimsenmesi, katılımcı ve şeffaf belediyecilik anlayışı ile Ovacık belediyesi ilçenin yerel kalkınması konusunda 2014 yılı sonrasında bir atılım gerçekleştirmiştir. Ovacık ilçesinin dinamikleri ve dışarıda yarattığı algılar, Ovacık Belediyesi'nin başlattığı tarımsal üretim çalışmaları ve alternatif belediyecilik anlayışı ile değişmeye başlamıştır. 
Ovacık belediyesince başlatılan girişimleri değerlendirebilmek için, tez çalışması "yerel yönetim", "yerel yönetim yaklaşımları", "yönetişim", "yerel kalkınma", "kooperatif" kavramları ekseninde temellendirilmiştir. Ayrıca, ulusal ve kentsel düzeyde sürdürülebilir kalkınmanın sağlanabilmesi için Birleşmiş Milletler tarafından kabul edilen eylem planlarına ve bu eylem planları ile kent ilkelerine dâhil edilen beslenme ve gıda güvenliği konularına değinilmiştir. Buna kapsamda, belediyenin, ilçe dışında dikkat çeken girişimlerinin ilçe halkı üzerinde oluşturduğu intiba ile ilçe ölçeğinde yerel kalkınma dinamiklerini harekete geçirip geçirmediği ve sosyo-ekonomik katkı sunup sunmadığı nicel ve nitel araştırma metotları kullanılarak incelenmiştir.
Araştırma dâhilinde, Ovacık ilçesinde, yerel kalkınma girişimlerini uygulayıcılardan ilki olan Ovacık Belediyesinin son beş yıla ait detaylı faaliyet raporu incelenmiş, yapılan girişimler sınıflandırılmış, bu girişimlerin ilçede bir değişim yaratıp yaratmadığı yerel halk ile yapılan anketler ve ilgili kurumlardan alınan veriler karşılaştırılarak değerlendirilmiştir. Buna göre, bahse konu girişimlerin ilçeye katkı sunup sunmadığı, yerel düzeyde, ekonomik, sosyal, kültürel, çevresel ve siyasi olarak katkı sağlaması beklenilen yerel kalkınma anlayışı çerçevesinde ele alınmıştır. Ovacık Belediyesinin söz konusu girişimlerinin sürdürülebilirliği tartışılarak çalışma tamamlanmıştır.

Abstract:
Throughout history, Ovacık has been popular with rather unfavorable incidents including the construction of dams & hydroelectric power plants, the declaration of special security zones, countless military operations, gold mining with cyanide, and the adverse effects of the fault line that runs through the settlement. After 2014, however, the dynamics in the settlement and the perception of the district by outsiders have changed dramatically on account of the agricultural production activities and alternative municipal practices launched by the Ovacık Municipality. Although it was not the first time that an alternative method to neoliberal municipal practices was adopted in Turkey, these practices, which have been cumulatively called as the "Ovacık Model," drew both national and international attention. 
This study uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods and provides an analysis of Ovacık residents' impressions about these initiatives, which received significant acclamation outside of the district, and aims to reveal whether they triggered local development dynamics and made any socioeconomic contribution in the district. 
The study is particularly focused on the notions of "local government," "local development," "cooperatives," and it examines the current demographic, geographic and economic structure in Ovacık. The aforementioned initiatives were further evaluated with the surveys conducted with the district's residents where the residents were asked for their opinions on the initiatives of the Ovacık Municipality. 
Currently, the entire world is going through a period where countries economically, socially and culturally depend on each other, the liberal influence has gained strength, and significant technological advancements occur. In this respect, with the influence of both internal and external dynamics and as a consequence of the neoliberal policies, the state in Turkey has distanced itself off from making direct public investments. Accordingly, a market-oriented approach has been adopted in the provision of health services, housing, social security, and major changes have been introduced in the provision of social rights and services. During this period, the roles of local governments around the globe underwent major change, and central governments transferred their duty of providing social services to local governments on account of the localization principle. 
Throughout the 2000s, local governments in Turkey, which have changed and evolved under the influence of the internal and external political and economic developments, reached their current state by means of various regulations enacted in public administration. Notions such as knowledge acquisition, openness, transparency, and participation were introduced to the literature on local governments. Over time, conventional municipal activities were replaced with social municipal activities. 

In line with all these developments, the notion of "governance" gained popularity. "Governance" entails a three-pronged structure between the public, private and non-profit sectors, and it prioritizes saving and production by keeping distance from consumption. 
This study also addresses the notions of governance and local development as well as the action plans (such as the Urban Agenda 21, the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, the New Urban Agenda, the Bogota Declaration) approved by the United Nations in order ensure sustainable development at the urban scale. 
It is apparent that, nowadays, not only countries but also cities compete with each other at the global scale, and thus, the concept of local development is not only affected by global actors but it is also subject to global influences. Although local governments are assigned with the authority to come up with social policies and are provided with the opportunity to generate income by leveraging the potentials in their area of jurisdiction, the capability of small-scale local governments in competing and generating financial resources is limited to their ability to take advantage of the potentials in their locality. 
Ovacık has a rather low competitive capacity due to its low population size and density, unfavorable geography, and harsh climate conditions. In a similar fashion to many small-scale municipalities, Ovacık has limited budget, staff and equipment to fulfill its conventional municipal activities. Furthermore, it does not create very high expectations in terms of generating resources to develop social policies. Yet, the district took a leap forward in local development after 2014 when the local government took steps to activate the potential for agricultural development, to adopt voluntary and organized production policies, and to embrace a participatory and transparent approach.
Ovacık Municipality deviated from the conventional approach in municipal services and embraced a municipal socialism approach by making effort to generate an alternative income for disadvantaged groups by means of using local and treasury-owned resources as well as voluntary work force and by developing economic policies such as providing potable water and transportation free of charge. Thus, it set a significant example to other local governments.  
The initiatives in Ovacık are also significant in terms of food security and access to healthy food. In recent years, food consumption practices in Turkey have significantly changed in line with global trends. The new global agricultural system, which is influenced by neoliberal globalization policies, led to increasing distance between the place of production and place of consumption. Problems such as the adverse ecological outcomes due to the increased use of chemicals, industrialization, and mechanization in agriculture brought about new pursuits in agricultural organization. Therefore, food and nutrition security were listed among urban principles in the New Urban Agenda. When the natural agriculture and animal husbandry initiatives that were launched in 2015 by Ovacık Municipality are evaluated in terms of the fact that food and nutrition are critical in the urban agenda; the production, distribution and consumption models have gained increasing importance and they should be addressed by urban planning, it is evident that such initiatives correspond to the new urban dynamics listed in the New Urban Agenda. 
The study provides an analysis of Ovacık Municipality's rural development efforts by using a mixed method that consists of surveys with local residents, semi-structured interviews, activity reports of the Ovacık Municipality and the Ovacık 94 Neighborhood Agricultural Development Cooperative Limited, and various statistics provided from the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization and Fırat Development Agency. The latest five annual reports of the Ovacık Municipality, which has been the first to implement the local development initiatives, were scrutinized, a semi-structured interview on the activities of the cooperative was made with an employee of the Ovacık 94 Neighborhood Agricultural Development Cooperative Limited, and the activity report of the cooperative for 2017-2018 was analyzed. In addition, a survey was conducted with the local community in Ovacık, who are both participants and beneficiary of the municipality's initiatives. 
Moreover the initiatives launched by the Ovacık Municipality were categorized, and it was investigated whether these initiatives made any change in the district by comparing the results of the survey conducted with the local community and the date collected from relevant authorities. Accordingly, the study analyzes whether the aforementioned initiatives contributed to the district with respect to the local development perspective, which has economic, social, cultural, environmental and political dimensions. The study is concluded with a discussion about the sustainability of the initiatives carried out by the Ovacık Municipality.
According to the interview conducted with the employee of the Ovacık 94 Neighborhood Agricultural Development Cooperative Limited, the products that are available at the cooperative are also provided from producers located in Hozat, Mazgirt, Pertek and Pülümür districts in Tunceli. In this context, it is apparent that the initiatives commenced in Ovacık made a contribution to the province in general. In addition, these initiatives provided 3.90% increase in the rate of female labor force participation rate and 6.30% increase in the labor force participation rate in sectors that thrived as a consequence of the initiatives commenced by the Ovacık Municipality.
The findings of the study, which were derived from the field study and the data, indicate that the number of visitors in the district significantly increased; and thus, the increase in the number of visitors provided economic participation. In light of all the data, the initiatives of Ovacık Municipality that enhanced both agricultural and cooperative activities provided economic prosperity in the district. 
Although the number of visitors in Ovacık increased, it was observed that the transportation facilities as well as the technological and institutional infrastructure is not adequate and sufficient to host a great number of tourists. In this respect, coordination and governance between institutions is lacking. 
It is evident that the initiatives of the Ovacık Municipality since 2014 were acknowledged by the United Nations and they were covered in action plans such as the New Urban Agenda as well as the objectives identified for the district in the TRB1 Regional Plan prepared by the Mınistry of Development. Yet, in order to ensure the sustainability of Ovacık Municipality's activities, it is necessary to address and improve coordination between different institutions in order to enhance social, cultural, political and physical development.