The structural mismatch created by managing rural life with urban rules

Türkiye’s Settlement Pattern and Population Dynamics (Article 5)

Aydın Tiryaki (2026)

Radical changes in the local government system in Türkiye have transformed the thousands-of-years-old “village” unit into a “neighborhood” status overnight, especially in the 30 provinces with metropolitan municipality status. At this point, a key distinction must be highlighted: this change only covers settlements within metropolitan borders; in our other 51 provinces that do not have metropolitan status, the “village” legal entity and traditional village management continue exactly as before. This situation causes two different rural management models to exist simultaneously on the administrative map of Türkiye (1).

For villages in metropolitan areas, this transformation may seem like just an administrative naming at first glance, but it carries much deeper meanings in terms of social fabric and settlement culture. While the village is a unique ecosystem with its own traditions, collective decision-making mechanisms, and production-oriented structure, the neighborhood is a unit connected to the service network of a central municipality, consumption-oriented, and restricted by urban rules (2).

The biggest problem experienced in settlements that have transformed from villages to neighborhoods can be defined as “structural mismatch.” The fact that noise, construction, waste management, and landscaping rules valid in a neighborhood in the city center are applied exactly in these new neighborhoods where agriculture and animal husbandry continue leads to serious conflicts. For example, questioning agricultural activities that start in the early hours of the morning or natural odors and sounds resulting from animal husbandry through urban aesthetic rules weakens the unique identity of rural life (3).

To resolve this confusion, it constitutes a necessity to adopt new and rational naming in administrative terminology. Formally defining settlements that remain within metropolitan municipality borders but maintain their rural character as “Rural Neighborhoods” will provide these units with special management flexibility. Similarly, formally naming settlements located in the 51 non-metropolitan provinces that have lost their village characteristics due to reasons such as industrialization or tourism and gained an urban identity as “Urban Villages” has become a requirement for making the administrative structure compatible with reality (4).

In conclusion, reconfiguring Türkiye’s settlement pattern with these two new terms will both preserve the agricultural production memory and eliminate injustices in service delivery. Accepting the concepts of Rural Neighborhood and Urban Village as official statuses is a fundamental solution proposal for Türkiye’s management architecture in the coming decades.

Aydın Tiryaki Ankara, January 12, 2026

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All ideas, opinions, and suggestions in this article belong to the author. During the process of writing the text, the artificial intelligence Gemini was utilized for writing assistance and information compilation.

ANNEXES

Annex A: Current Distribution According to Administrative Structure in Türkiye

• Metropolitan Provinces (30 Provinces): Villages have been transformed into neighborhoods.
• Other Provinces (51 Provinces): The village legal entity and the mukhtar (village head) system continue.

Annex B: Newly Proposed Administrative Terms

• Rural Neighborhood: The proposed official title for agriculture and animal husbandry-oriented neighborhoods in metropolitan areas.
• Urban Village: The proposed official title for villages in other provinces whose population density and economic structure have become urbanized.

REFERENCES

(1) Law No. 6360 on the Establishment of Metropolitan Municipalities and Twenty-Six Districts in Thirteen Provinces and Amendments. https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr

(2) Village Law No. 442 and Its Historical Development. https://www.mevzuat.gov.tr

(3) Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, Urbanization Council Reports. https://www.csb.gov.tr

(4) Rural Neighborhood Regulation and Implementation Bylaws introduced by Omnibus Law No. 7254. https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr