Sustainable regional development and provincial development planning: the case of Bolu

Abstract

This paper analyzes the possibilities of a development strategy for realizing sustainable spatial development in Bolu (an important tourism center and transit point of Northwestern Anatolia in Turkey). The paper also analyzes the principles and limitations of the 2023 Provincial Development Plan of Bolu (BIGEP). In Bolu province, where the co-existence of nature protection areas, a rich flora and fauna and historical settlements has provided suitable conditions for the development of mass tourism facilities, the earthquakes in the Eastern Marmara and Duzce in 1999 accelerated the urbanization of agricultural lands for housing needs at the sub-regional level. Both the need for spatial and economic planning of the future development of urban and rural settlements and the priorities of pre-disaster planning in the provincial area made necessary the preparation of a sub-regional development plan in Bolu. The BIGEP plan comprising the economic and spatial development strategies of Bolu province for 2023 can be evaluated as an effort to reveal the sub-regional development dynamics under the heading of a “provincial development plan”. However, the content of the BIGEP requires elaboration in terms of the priorities of sustainable development. The implementation scope of the plan as a region under constant threat from earthquakes means that the discussion of sustainability is far from being a priority. Here, the crucial questions are which priorities, emphases and contents do the policies on spatial and economic structure in a region under threat of earthquake have? Which natural contradictions exist for a strategy on making such a region the focus of economic development? And lastly, can provincial development planning be a planning level for sustainable development of the build environment?