Glossary of technical terms and administrative concepts used in the study Türkiye’s Settlement Pattern and Population Dynamics (Supplementary Article 6) Aydın Tiryaki (2026)

The new management models and settlement proposals developed throughout this article series are built upon a specific technical terminology. The following alphabetical list explains the administrative and spatial definitions of the core concepts mentioned across the articles.

Administrative Division: The partitioning of a country’s territory into administrative units such as provinces, districts, and villages for management purposes and the determination of these boundaries.

Administrative Simplification: Accelerating decision-making processes by reducing the multi-layered structure and unnecessary bureaucratic steps in public management.

Big Data: The analysis of data sets that are too large and complex to be processed by traditional methods and their use in public administration decisions and settlement planning.

Citizen-Centricity: Centering the requirements and comfort of the individual directly, rather than the hierarchical structure of the state, in the design of public services.

Civil Administration: The administrative structure in the provincial organization of the state, covering the governorship and district governorship systems.

Digital Twin: A 1:1 digital copy of a city or an administrative unit. Disaster simulations, traffic management, and infrastructure planning are carried out through this model.

Disaster Resilience: Refers to the durability of physical structures and management systems against natural disasters, their level of preparedness, and their ability to recover quickly after a disaster.

Economy of Scale: The situation where the unit cost decreases as the amount of production or service increases. It is used to determine the efficiency threshold in management.

Efficiency-Orientation: A management approach that aims for the highest citizen satisfaction with minimum resources in the delivery of public services.

Functional Service Areas: Natural service access zones shaped according to the economic and social interactions of settlements beyond official administrative boundaries.

Governance: A transparent, participatory, and multi-actor management model where managers and citizens act together in decision-making processes.

Mobile Public Offices: Mobile service units brought to the citizen with technologically equipped vehicles instead of fixed buildings in scattered or low-population settlements.

Population Density: The number of people per unit area, usually per square kilometer; it determines the service load of a settlement unit.

Rationalization: Making management processes and settlement decisions most efficient based on reason and data, by stripping them of emotional or political justifications.

Reverse Migration: Planned population movement from large metropolises to rural areas or new attraction centers in Anatolia.

Rural Neighborhood: The administrative status of settlements that maintain their rural characteristics and where agricultural and livestock activities continue after the village legal entity is abolished.

Settlement Architecture: A holistic settlement design for the future where administrative structure, population dynamics, and geographical realities complement each other.

Spatial Justice: The geographically balanced and equitable distribution of public resources, investments, and social facilities across the country.

Special Status District: An administrative unit equipped with different powers and budget opportunities than the standard district structure due to reasons such as economic, strategic importance, or population size.

Urban Village: A next-generation settlement unit that has the technological and social facilities provided by the city, but preserves neighborhood culture, neighborly relations, and local belonging.

Aydın Tiryaki Ankara, January 12, 2026