Tavşanlı Höyük, a significant Bronze Age settlement in Western Anatolia, is located approximately 1 km south of the Tavşanlı district in Kütahya Province, at the centre of a wide tectonic depression known as the Tavşanlı Plain. The eastern and northern boundaries of the mound are naturally bounded by the Orhaneli Stream, which flows through the region.The primary aim of these studies was to reconstruct the palaeogeographic conditions during the initial phases of settlement and to evaluate, within a chronostratigraphic framework, how subsequent environmental changes affected the accumulation and characteristics of archaeological deposits. In line with this objective, eight boreholes were drilled in the study area, and sediment samples obtained from these cores were subjected to radiometric analyses. Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating results were used to construct a detailed chronostratigraphic framework.The findings indicate that Tavşanlı Höyük was founded at the beginning of the Bronze Age on a ridge located along the edge of a shallow lake in a wetland environment. The presence of water appears to have played a decisive role in the selection of the settlement site. This wetland environment largely persisted throughout the Bronze Age. However, over time, the Orhaneli Stream altered its course, leading to the transformation of the area into a floodplain dominated by fluvial processes. Geoarchaeological coring revealed anthropogenic cultural deposits ranging from 8 to 10 metres in thickness, containing traces of burning and architectural layers. Sediment characteristics and radiocarbon dating results show that beneath these cultural layers lie earlier occupation traces dating to the Neolithic period. These findings that settlement at Tavşanlı Höyük began approximately 8,000 years ago, during the Neolithic period, making it one of the earliest known settlement sites in Western Anatolia and within the boundaries of Kütahya Province.
Similar to the “100 Provinces, 1000 Districts” offer, the debate surrounding administrative reorganisation in Türkiye remains an ongoing and disputed topic, motivated by varied reasons and policy viewpoints. A notable concern in these discussions is the supremacy of populist discourses, often at the cost of impartial evaluations based on economies of scale and austerity-oriented governance tenets. Within this framework, the current research aims to examine the economic inefficiencies resulting from district and village units that have turned helpfully out of date within Türkiye’s administrative structure. Using Afyonkarahisar Province as a case study, this study applies a set of assessing criteria to determine districts whose present structures seem inconsistent with the public benefit —particularly where administrative boundaries no longer represent functional or economic actualities. To this end, the research implements ENTROPI-based TOPSIS and VIKOR multi-criteria decision-making methods to examine the province’s current administrative divisions. Two different models for reorganising the administrative structure of Afyonkarahisar are suggested. In the primary model, the province—currently comprising 421 villages, 42 town municipalities, and 17 districts (excluding the main district)—would be restructured into 11 districts (including the main district), 252 villages, and 49 town municipalities. The second model suggests a more unified structure, consisting of 8 districts, 150 villages, and 48 town municipalities. Both models are assessed as being more compatible with the public benefit, providing enhanced a
The increasing preference for urban centres as living spaces has led to heightened population density in these areas, thereby amplifying the need for Smart City Systems to help cities manage these challenges effectively. In this context, İzmit, as one of Türkiye's prominent smart cities, stands out due to its innovative applications in research, industry, and technology. The aim of this study is to empirically evaluate İzmit, the central city of Kocaeli Province, based on Cohen's smart city characteristics across six primary dimensions (smart people, smart environment, smart living, smart governance, smart mobility, and smart economy) and their associated sub-criteria. The research employs the analytical hierarchy process and best-worst method to compare İzmit against these smart city criteria. The findings highlight the significance of smart city applications in facilitating human life and urban management, providing practical implications for local authorities. Accordingly, İzmit has made significant progress in its smart city initiatives; however, it also faces certain challenges. Concrete solution proposals have been presented for these issues, emphasising the necessity for the design of sustainable, human-centred strategies that align with community needs, ultimately pointing to the need for advancing more sophisticated smart city applications.
Although tourism is a sector dependent on environmental quality, it has serious negative impacts on the environment. Therefore, the implementation of sustainable tourism policies is necessary to protect the natural, historical and cultural environment, increase repeat tourist visits and develop competitiveness. The planned development process that began in Turkey in 1963 has given significant importance to the tourism sector. For this reason, 12 Five-Year Development Plans (DP) were examined and evaluated in terms of sustainability. Within this qualitative research model, there have employed document analysis method as a qualitative data collecting technique. Via Maxquda programme, code analysis, code document analysis, two case models, word cloud and similarity metrics methods have been used for data analyzing, in order to analyze the changes and relations between the plans. An examination of the 12 FDPs (1963-2028) reveals that early plans focused more on mass tourism, but did not take environmental impacts and sustainability into account. From the 1990s onwards, the concept of sustainable tourism began to feature more prominently in development plans, with environmental protection, local community participation, and economic and legal sustainability becoming priorities. The Seventh Development Plan, in particular, placed greater emphasis on environmental sustainability issues. According to the Maxqda analysis, environmental (27.3%) and economic (24.2%) sustainability were the most prioritised issues. Consequently, sustainable tourism policies have gained increasing importance in Turkey's development plans. However, concrete action plans addressing environmental issues need to be developed, and all stakeholders must be involved in the process. This study evaluates the place of sustainable tourism policies in planning.
This article examines farmers’ evaluations of water governance and bottom-up policy proposals in the Burdur Lake Basin, one of Türkiye’s most climate-vulnerable regions. Drawing on survey and interview data collected across multiple villages, the study investigates how smallholder farmers assess existing state support mechanisms, including subsidies for fuel, fertiliser, and irrigation, and how they articulate critiques regarding the centralisation of decision-making, inadequate monitoring of groundwater extraction, and limited responsiveness of current policies to local realities. The analysis foregrounds farmers not as passive recipients of environmental stress but as active political agents who generate locally grounded reform agendas. Their proposals include phasing out flood irrigation in favour of drip and sprinkler technologies, strengthening cooperative-based water infrastructures, reducing agricultural input costs, and introducing incentives to sustain rural livelihoods. Rather than measuring the biophysical impacts of climate change or cataloguing adaptation strategies, the article situates these proposals within a political ecology framework that highlights the relational dynamics of power, governance, and agency. By cantering “politics from below,” the study contributes to debates on participatory water governance and argues that incorporating farmers’ critiques and proposals is crucial for building equitable and resilient agricultural futures in semi-arid regions.
