DEMOGRAPHIC MOVEMENTS IN THE TOWNSHIP OF

DEMOGRAPHIC MOVEMENTS IN THE TOWNSHIP OF

УПРАВЛЕНИЕ И ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ
TOM V (2) 2009
MANAGEMENT AND EDUCATION
VOL. V (2) 2009
DEMOGRAPHIC MOVEMENTS IN THE TOWNSHIP OF BÜYÜKÇEKMECE
Mesut Doğan
ДЕМОГРАФСКОТО РАЗВИТИЕ В ОБЩИНА БУЮКЧЕКМЕДЖЕ
Месут Доган
ABSTRAC: The township of Büyükçekmece is located in the European side of Istanbul. It is surrounded by
the townships of Silivri in the west, Çatalca and Arnavutköy in the north, Esenyurt in the east with Beylikdüzü in
the east and southeast and by the Marmara Sea in the south. Its population does not have a static structure, and
so it is in a constant fluctuation. This fluctuation continues depending, apart from births and deaths, on migrations. Since the time of the existence of humans, political, economic, and socio-cultural developments have continued in human life. These developments have affected the population in every way and have caused changes in
its structure. Because of Istanbul’s expansion from center to periphery, Büyükçekmece, located in the western
part of Istanbul, has been affected by this fact. Especially after 1985, it has been observed a great development
in the population of Büyükçekmece. Today, with its economic life and tourism activities, this township, which has
gained various functions because of the expansion of housing, will have an important place in the future.
Key Words: Turkey, Büyükçekmece, Population, Development
as was in the past. When important areas are
examined, it can be realized that multifunctional
areas are always attractive and tend to develop.
Throughout the history, Büyükçekmece became
prominent for its assorted functions such as its
political, economic, transportation and tourism
sides.
The
Lakes
Büyükçekmece
and
Küçükçekmece, 12 km away from each other in
the west of Istanbul, attract the attention of the
people because the Lake Büyükçekmece was
blocked by the sea, a cove formed out and its
was invaded by the sea with the last transgression in the lake pleistocene, which formed an
estuary. A spit at its mouth which gradually progressed and blocked its sea connection created
the Lake Büyükçekmece. In the south of the spit,
a cove formed out, which is called “çekmece”
(drawer). The cove which came into being at that
spot is larger than that of Küçükçekmece and it
was called Büyükçekmece (the Large Drawer).
In fact the Lake Küçükçekmece is larger than the
Lake Büyükçekmece. The size of Büyükçekmece
is 12km2, where as that of Küçükçekmece is
15km2. The adjectives were adhered according to
the size of the coves, not because of the size of
the lakes. Those two lakes came into being
thanks to the separation of the old estuary and
coves from the sea on the side of cordons
(Inandık, H. 1965, p.6). Our study area exhibits
The town Büyükçekmece, in the west of Istanbul in Çatalca District of Marmara Region, is
surrounded by Silivri in the west, Çatalca and
Arnavutköy in the north, Esenyurt in the east and
Beylikdüzü in the southeast and by the Marmara
Sea in the South. (Graphic 1) The Lake
Büyükçekmece stretches in the north-south direction. Two international roads pass across this
town (TEM and E5) connecting Europe to Asia.
Borders of the town, which changed frequently
in the recent past, cover 181 km2 today. The
town was known as Athyra and Atira in the past.
While it was a district of the Cadi of Eyüp in the
17th century, it administratively became a part of
Çatalca District in 1876, a sub-district of Çatalca
in 1926 with the Proclamation of the Republic
and a town on 17 June 1897 by the law 3392 of
Council of Ministers. By the temporary item 2 of
Metropolitan Law dated 23 July 2004 and numbered 5216 in the law “Foundation of new towns
in Metropolitan Municipalities” dated 22 March
2008. 2 (Beylikdüzü and Esenyurt) of the new
towns were from Büyükçekmece.
Büyükçekmece’s morphology is slightly
mountainous due to its position in the Çatalca
Peninsula. The town, prominent for its role in
transportation network, has a highly active and
strategic position with its town functions. Its
geographical position makes it important today
66
the climatic characteristics of the South Marmara
and is especially open to the climatic effects
from the Balkans and the North in winter. The
flora of Büyükçekmece is almost nonexistent.
Graphic 1. Büyükçekmece location map.
Büyükçekmece with its position, dating back
to the ancient times, contains important transportation routes and borders the sea and has fertile lands, which increased the invasions in the
area. Transportation and commercial activities
are greatly interdependent. These activities support each other and go hand in hand. Favourable
transportation attracted industrial and commercial activities until the last administrative division. Our study area was used as a game and a
winter quarter in the pre-Republic period, damaged by the invasions because of its geographical
position. Consequesntly, historical buildings also
got damaged. Büyükçekmece, called Athyra and
Atira, was founded as a colony in the 7th century
BC and ruled by the Thracians for a long time.
The Hun Emperor Atilla seized Büyükçekmece
in 447 BC, which was then included within the
borders of the Roman Empire. The area, being on
the migration route, became the land of the Eastern Roman Empire, in other words “Byzantine
Empire”, after the division of the Roman Empire
in 395 AD. Büyükçekmece got affected by the
invasion attempts of the Avar Turks in the 7th
Century and of Bulgaria in the 9th century. Our
study area, seized by the Pechenegs in 1090,
became an important resort and accommodation
centre of Anatolian Seljuks’ Armies. After the
Ottoman Empire crossed over to Rumelia,
population movements from Anatolia to the west
occurred. It was negatively affected by the Ottoman-Russian War (1829), the Balkan Wars
67
sometimes in small and sometimes in large numbers in a geographical area. Interregional migration and birth rates lead to population movements. Positive or negative conditions a settlement provides directly affect the population and
the opportunities. Our study area has always
attracted the attention of the people in terms of
population movements with its transportation
opportunities, fertile agricultural lands, and
closeness to Istanbul, which is a social, cultural,
economic and political centre. The town got
highly urbanized as a result of the different functions which gained importance after the Industrial Revolution and differentiation of various
types from each other in terms of function became possible (Göney, 1995, p.50). Industrial
movements, which took place in our country
after 1950, resulted in great changes and development, visible differences in the geographical
area, variations of the functions to make the life
easier, change in the construction style, foundation of entertainment and resting places, more
extensive daily population flows. Although migration takes place depending on industrialization in economically developed countries, settlements grow in parallel with the natural population growth especially in the underdeveloped
countries. The developmental opportunities of a
settlement are highly interrelated with its geographical position and regional conditions.
Socio-economic development of the settlements
is dependent upon the positive and negative effects the nature poses. In our country, the urban
coverage and the effect of a settlement are expanding over a large area as a result of the nonagricultural sectors in the settlements growing
with the increasing population. Commercial,
transportation, tourism, educational, social and
cultural functions emerge as a result of the urbanization in Büyükçekmece and these functions
became effective in every walk of life. Generally
in economically developing countries, there is a
flow from rural areas to urban ones, which results from financial problems (of land ownership,
natural and economic conditions) and from the
fact that cities provide employment with its urban functions offered by urban industries
(Tümertekin, 1994, p. 171). Industrial movements which started in Büyükçekmece in 1985
gave rise to a population movement, new dwellings were built and commercial and entertainment centres were founded. Industry institutions
provide employment to meet the labour need
they themselves created; thus, population movements just account for the amount that they cre-
(1912-1913) and the World War I (1914-1918).
As is known, wars always have negative effects
on the settlement. Due to its strategic position,
our study area got socio-economically affected,
too. Because it is an active route, some transportation difficulties used to be faced especially
when the water of the lake rose up in the rain
spell. Therefore, Mimar Sinan (Sinan the Architect) constructed a bridge by the decree of
Kanuni Sultan Süleyman. The bridge was used
till the end of 1950s and Mimar Sinan Bridge
was restored and left out of service after E5
started to run. Büyükçekmece with an important
transportation capacity from past to the present
possesses routes active throughout the history.
The most important and active one is BelgradIstanbul direction. This road used to start in Belgrad and reach the historical peninsula after
passing across Niş-Sofia-Meriç plain, Filibe
Edirne, Havsa, Babaeski, Lüleburgaz, Büyükkarıştıran, Çoğlu, Ereğli, Silivri, Büyükçekmece,
Küçükçekmece and Yedikule. The other active
road, which is Tuna-Burgaz-Istanbul route, used
to pass through Thrace, the south of Kırıkkale on
the Black Sea coastline towards Pınarhisar and
got connected to the road above after Sinekli
(Mansel, 1938, pp. 6-7). Rhegion (Küçükçekmece) as an important small castle in the early
Middle Age, located westward from Byzantine,
along the northern coast of the Propontis and
small Athyra (Büyükçekmece) Port founded at
the mouth of a namesake creek in its west. There
was Selymbria on the same coastline (Sevin,
2001, p.21, Ankara). These three cities still preserve
their
past
positions.
Especially,
Büyükçekmece is important because it connects
the others to each other. The increase in the level
of the lakes and creek in winter used to affect the
transportation negatively. Partial asphalting of
the road in 1934 caused minor changes in its
economy. This change manifested itself in the
replacement of cereals by fruit and vegetables
and foundations producing dairy products. This
caused an increase in the tomato, pearl onion,
melon, maize, anarsa (Gürpınar) vineyards, and
livestock feeding and as a result meadows appeared (Akgün 1997, p. 85).Tourism which
started in the late 1975 caused the second house
ownership and increased the population as a
result.
General Features Of The Population
People have lived dependent on geographical
areas since its first appearance. People live
68
man and Zonguldak. In 1831, 464 people were
living in Çekmece-i Kebir (Büyükçekmece), 403
in Çekmece-i Sağır (Küçükçekmece) and 29 in
Turkeş Farm (Karal‚1943‚s. 29). In 2007,
whereas 688774 people were living in
Büyükçekmece, where a large population growth
has occurred during the last 176 years up to 2007
census, the population was 163140 in 2008 because of the division. By the item 2 of the Metropolitan Law dated 23 July 2004 and numbered
5216, according to the address-based registration
system, 163140 people lived in Büyükçekmece
after 8 new towns were established in 2008 by
the law “Foundation of new towns in Metropolitan Municipalities”, 2 of which (Beylikdüzü and
Esenyurt) are from Büyükçekmece.
ated (Keleş‚2006‚p.72). Büyükçekmece received
immigrants from Sinop, Erzurum and Afyon for
the cement factory founded in 1960s, for construction sector from Trabzon, Rize, Giresun,
Samsun and Gümüşhane, then for the developing
construction sector from Van‚ Urfa‚ Sivas‚
Amasya‚ Tokat‚ Erzincan‚ Kastamonu‚ Adıyaman‚ Diyarbakır‚ Malatya and Çorum. The last
migration movement was especially from different towns of Istanbul. Büyükçekmece which
gained a position in political and local environment acquired sub-district and town status in a
short period of time. By the 2007 census, its
population was calculated to be 688774 and so as
a town outnumbered 50 provinces including
Çanakkale, Kastamonu‚ Sivas, Kütahya‚ Adıya-
Table 1: Urban and Rural Population of Büyükçekmece by Census Years
Census Year 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990
-
-
1997
2000
2008
Urban
-
1168 1846 2125 2269 3913 5204 8121 11310 129913 259718 373407 163140
Rural
8832 14456 23084 9025 13029 13534 10115 10745 15858 27782 47055 12297 21150 10682 -
Total
8832 14456 23084 10193 14875 15659 12384 14658 21062 35903 58365 142910 280888 384089 163140
Source: Turkish Statistical Institute, General Censuses
When Table 1 is examined, population in
Büyükçekmece calculated from 1950 onward can
be seen. Although not only population but also
various criteria concerning the living style are
evaluated, item 1 of the Village Law numbered
442 passed on 18
March 1924 is being taken into consideration. 1 The calculation of the population carried
out in Büyükçekmece in 1950 could result from
the fact that the existing lifestyle has urban characteristics other than the population criterion.
Roughly, it can be expressed that city population
has increased. A general growth is observed in
the rural population as in the urban one. It can be
realized that the total population in Büyükçekmece increased by 60% in 1945 when compared
to 1940. This increase was caused by the settlement of the military units as a result of the World
War II. With the ending of the war, it can be
realized that population decreased in 1950 when
these military units got back to their main units.
Population grew as a result of the population
exchange with Greece and Bulgaria and the newcomers brought together with themselves various
cultures, techniques and methods besides the
agricultural activities. 154393 immigrants came
to Turkey from Bulgaria as a result of the 19501951 Migration. (Tanoğlu‚1953‚ s.132). The
population of the study area increased from
10193 to 14875 by 46% between 1950 and 1955.
The reason for this increase is concerned with the
immigrants from Bulgaria between 1951 and
1952. Every country is facing internal migration
movements while international migration between the countries is going on. This migration
movement sometimes happens in large amounts
for a specific and significant reason. Within the
context of international migration, our study area
is one of the places exposed to the migration
movement from Bulgaria. One of the effects of
the international migrations on employment is
cheap labour force (Mutluer‚M.‚ 2003‚ s.17). It
can be inferred from Table 1 that population of
the town decreased in 1965. This decrease is the
result of the fact that Yeşilbayır (Muha), Hoşderei Ömerli and Karaağaç villages became a
part of Boyalık District of Hadımköy. The
population increased between 1965 and 2007 as
a result of the migrations and natural population
growth
1
Village Law item 1 Settlements with less than 2000
people are qualified as “village”, with a population
ranging from 2000 to 20000 as “town” and over
20000 as “city”. Even though less than 2000 people,
districts and province centres are qualified as “town”
and subjected to the Municipality Law.
http:www.hukuki.net/kanun
69
Table 2: Proportion of Urban and Rural Population to Total Population by Census Years (%).
Census
Year
Urban
Rural
Total
Proportion of the Urban Population
to Total Population %
Proportion of the Rural Population
to Total Population %
1935
-
8832
8832
-
100 %
1950
1168
9025
10193
10.9 %
89.1 %
1985
11310
47055
58365
19.4 %
80.6 %
1990
129217
12297
142210
91.4 %
8.6 %
2000
373407
10682
384089
97.2 %
2.8 %
2008
163140
-
163140
100%
0%
Source: Turkish Statistical Institute, Prepared with the Data Obtained from the General Censuses
population increased in some village settlements,
rural life did not lead a village life, the villages
all over the town got overpopulated, they gradually transformed into cities and acquired various
functions after 1975. Esenyurt, Girpınar, Kumburgaz, Mimarsinan and Tepecik, which were
within the administrative borders of the town in
1990 census, then Kavaklı, Kıraç and Yakuplu in
1997 census and Bahçeşehir in 2000 census were
qualified as Town Municipality and were
counted as a city. From then on, socio-economic
life was led as in urban way in these settlements
and urban population increased after 1990 and
accordingly rural population diminished
It is presented in Table 2 that the rural population of Büyükçekmece, which was a village in
1935, was 8832 and then it can be considered
that the centre of the district did not used to have
urban features. The population of the city centre
accounted for 10.9% of the whole population in
1950, for 19,4% in 1985,for 91,4% in 1990, for
97,2% in 2000 and for 100% in 2008. Contrarily,
while rural population accounted for 100% of the
total population in 1935, it did for 89,1% in
1950, for 80,6% in 1985, for 8,6% in 1990, for
2,8% in 2000 and for 0% in 2008. It can be
understood from Table 2 that rural population
was higher than urban population in Büyükçekmece in 1985. In particular, it was observed that
Table 3: Increase Rate according to the year 1935 (‰)
Census Year
Intervals
1935-40 35-45 35-50 35-55 35-60 35-65 35-70 35-75 35-80 35-85 35-90 35-97 35-00 35- 08
Büyükçekmece 67‚7
161‚3 15‚4
68‚4
77‚2
40‚2
65‚9
138‚4 306‚5 560‚8 1518‚0 3080‚3 4248‚8 1747‚1
Source: Turkish Statistical Institute, Prepared with the Data Obtained from the General Censuses
wall, was affected by this flow at the same rate
and time. Population growth rate of Büyükçekmece accounted for 138.4‰ according to 19351975 censuses and there took place a dense
population flow from this date onward. The rate
was 306.5‰ in 1935-1980 censuses, 560.8‰ in
1935-1985, 1518‰ in 1935-1990, 3080.3‰ in
1935-1997, 4248.8‰ in 1935-2000 and
1747.1‰ in 1935-2008
When annual population growth rates are
analyzed in Table 3, whereas population growth
rate was 67.7‰ in the interval 1935-1940, it
decreased by 15.4 ‰ in the interval 1935-1950
because of the negative effect the World War II
created. Industrial uprise in Istanbul after 1950
caused a population flow from east to west, thus
population of Istanbul rapidly increased.
Büyükçekmece, 40 km away from Istanbul city
Table 4: Population Growth Rates by Census Years (%)
Census Year
Intervals
1935-40
40-45
45-50
Büyükçekmece
98‚55
93‚61
−163‚49 46
50-55
55-60
60-65
65-70
70-75
75-80
80-85
85-90
90-97
97-00
2000- 08
10‚27
−46‚93 33‚72
72‚50
106‚67
97‚18
179‚10
96‚53
104‚31
−122‚32
Source: Turkish Statistical Institute, Prepared with the Data Obtained from the General Censuses
Table 4 of our study area shows that while
population growth rate was 98,55% in the census
years 1935-1940, 93,64% in 1944-1945, popula-
tion decreased by -163,49% in 1945-1950 due to
the fact that after the World War II military
forces returned to their units. Population which
70
Çatalca and became a town in 17 June 1987 by
the law numbered 3392 of the Council of Ministers. The population in Büyükçekmece grew so
much that two towns were formed out of it; Beylikdüzü and Esenyurt. In Büyükçekmece, which
became a town in 1987, industrial movements
started, different settlement areas appeared and
accordingly population increased soon.
In 2007, a great population potential appeared
in the study field and shops and working places
enlarged towards the town because of the overpopulated work centres in Istanbul after 1990.
Till 2008, around 1000 working places of various
sizes were established in Kıraç and in the environs in Büyükçekmece. Local people of
Büyükçekmece and commuters were employed
in these working places. As a result of this employment, population movements occurred in the
socio-economic area and daily population
movements were prominent.
decreased by -46,93 in 1960-1965 indicates that
population of the town had decreased. The reason for the decrease is that Yeşilbayır (Muha)‚
Hoşdere‚ Ömerli and Karaağaç villages became
a part of Boyalık District of Hadımköy. However, Karacaağaç and Hoşdere became districts
of Büyükçekmece again in the 1975 census. The
population increased as a result of the migrations
and natural population increase up to 1965-2007.
There appeared a difference by 80,65% in comparison to the previous census due to the increase
by 33,72% in the 1965-1970 censuses. This increase emerged from the migration of the workers and families from Afyon, Sinop and Erzurum
to work for the cement factory founded in Tepecik. During the years this increase took place,
Istanbul was slowly enlarging in the westward
direction and the increase rate of the population
was 179,10% in 1985-1990. At that time,
Büyükçekmece was divided from the town
Table 5: Distribution of the Population in Büyükçekmece according to Age
Groups and Gender (2008)
Age Group
0-4
5-9
10-14
Dependent Population
15-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
Active Population
65-69
70-74
75-79
80-84
85-89
90 +
Dependent Population
Total
Total
12580
13210
13533
39323
12607
13832
16094
15267
13944
12065
10757
8641
6673
4948
114828
3543
2385
1791
870
298
102
8989
163140
Male
6512
6852
6998
20362
6555
6817
8104
7681
6989
6143
5491
4443
3327
2361
57911
1744
1144
792
331
98
30
4139
82412
Female
6068
6358
6535
18961
6052
7015
7990
7586
6955
5922
5266
4198
3346
2587
56917
1799
1241
999
539
200
72
4850
80728
Source: Data pertaining to Population from Turkish Statistical Institute
and 23811 of whom are female. Approximate
percentage of the total dependent population in
the general population is 29.5%, which signifies
that every 30 in 100 people are unemployed or
As is known, the age groups 0-14 and 65-90
are known as dependent population. Total population of the dependent group is 48312 as inferred from Table 5, 24502 of whom are male
71
is an important amount indicating the amount of
the prospective labour force. Percentage of the
age group 0-14 in the dependent population is
24%, whereas that of the other age group 65 and
over is 5.5%.
dependent on the employed. On the other hand,
active, that is, working population is 114828,
57911 of which is male and 56817 of whom are
female. When compared to the total population,
70,5 of the population is or can be employed.
Population of the age group 0-14 is 39323, which
90 +
85-89
80-84
75-79
70-74
65-69
60-64
55-59
50-54
45-49
40-44
35-39
30-34
25-29
20-24
15-19
10-14
5-9
0-4
-10000
-8000
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
Male
4000
6000
8000
10000
Female
Graphic 2: Population Pyramid of Büyükçekmece (2008)
rates are decreasing in Büyükçekmece. It is
striking that the populations of the age groups
25-29, 30-34, 35-39 and 40-44 are high. The
abundance of this age group is the cause of the
population living in the industrial facilities in the
town and its environs
In the population pyramid (Graphic 2) created
with the same data, the beam representing the
age group 0-4 is relatively shortening and
similarly the beam of the age group 5-9 is longer
that the sub-group 0-4 but shorter than the upper
group 10-14. The shortening one standing for the
age group 0-9 in Graphic 1 signifies that birth
Table 6: Population Change in Büyükçekmece by Census Years (1935-2000)
B. Çekmece
Ahmediye
Gürpınar
Bahşayış
Hoşdere
Çakmaklı
Güzelce
Esenyurt
Kamiloba
Karaağaç
Kavaklı
Kıraç
Kumburgaz
Mimarsinan
Yeşilbayır
Ömerli
Tepecik
Türkoba
Yakuplu
Bahçeşehir
Total
1935
1366
247
834
212
503
299
298
374
642
307
291
250
306
1137
333
220
605
174
434
8832
1940
4456
260
980
550
259
304
360
618
271
353
282
344
2377
478
241
1492
188
534
14456
1945
5631
330
1757
1475
354
434
403
662
397
410
332
606
1830
3672
2072
1056
236
848
23084
1950
1168
281
1065
636
351
398
485
671
254
420
311
423
1312
447
340
788
283
560
10193
1955
1846
323
1108
1642
298
405
511
682
267
414
315
444
3035
1365
402
921
293
584
14875
1960
2125
370
1110
1811
287
523
981
652
471
460
664
518
2006
960
332
1065
309
884
15659
1965
2269
376
1207
334
592
1410
702
486
365
693
1637
1200
342
771
12384
1970
3913
435
1305
344
722
923
501
371
928
2296
1607
339
974
14658
1975
5204
473
1578
802
801
999
1631
325
628
435
1270
2232
3134
505
1045
21062
1980
8125
664
2812
864
525
211
6636
451
866
544
2750
3138
4805
364
1252
35903
1985
11310
802
3584
924
702
1366
21290
399
1021
826
2569
4083
7382
436
1664
53365
1990
22394
1183
10191
1538
1633
70280
681
2170
2239
7118
7690
12240
712
2841
120516
Source: Turkish Statistical Institute, Prepared with the Data Obtained from the General Censuses
72
1997
41644
1300
20702
12915
3675
100565
868
24475
10353
8329
15204
14588
2392
23878
239244
2000
35860
1197
25479
4593
148981
1263
39884
24217
10352
25858
18797
3629
24960
19018
384089
population of the whole town with its 23 quarters
was decided to be urban population.
The Quarters of Büyükçekmece and Their
Populations (2008)
Name of the Quarter
2008
1-Batıköy
22268
2-Fatih
16398
3-Atatürk
13906
4-Hürriyet
13428
5-Ulus
13427
6-Mimarsinan
12559
7-Muratçeşme
7853
8-19 Mayıs
7012
9-Kumburgaz
6665
10-Türkoba
6281
11-Güzelce
5986
12-Dizdariye
5911
13-Pınartepe
5204
14-Cumhuriyet
4780
15-Kamiloba
4507
16-Celaliye
4124
17-Bahçelievler
2718
18-Yeni Mah
2357
19-Çakmaklı
1904
20-Muratbey
1691
21-Alkent
1659
22-Ahmediye
1524
23-Karaağaç
978
Total
163140
When Table 6 is analyzed, Bahşayış village, a
part of Büyükçekmece District in 1935 became a
village of Çatalca Central District in the 1940
census. Bojdar (Hoşdere), Muha (Yeşilbayır),
Ömerli and Karacaağaç villages became the villages of Boyalı (Hadımköy) District in the 19651970 censuses, yet Bojdar (Hoşdere) and Karacaağaç re-included within the borders of
Büyükçekmece and Kamiloba was included in
Silivri with the 1970 census. Güzelce was integrated into the borders of Mimarsinan with the
1990-1997 and 2007 censuses and into those of
Kumburgaz in 2008. Bahçeşehir, a quarter of
Esenyurt till 2000, acquired the status of a town
municipality of Büyükçekmece by including
Hoşdere in its body and separated from the town.
It joined into the town Başakşehir in 2008. The
town got overpopulated and amounted to 688774
in 2007. Esenyurt, Beylikdüzü, Gürpınar,
Kavaklı, Kıraç, Yakuplu and Bahçeşehir were
excluded from Büyükçekmece by the Decree of
the Council of Ministers on 22 March 2008 and
Muratbey from Çatalca and Kamiloba and Celaliye from Silivri were included into the borders
of Büyükçekmece. As a result of this administrative division, Büyükçekmece was divided into 23
quarters, 2 of which were included in our study
field from Silivri (Celaliye and Kamiloba), and 1
from Çatalca (Muratbey). With this last regulation, no villages remained in Büyükçekmece and
Graphic 3: Büyükçekmece population map.(2008) (Each point = 500 people)
the west, their separation as two-way direction.
Expansion of the roads increased the opportunity
to work in Istanbul and live in the countryside.
The third factor is ownership of holiday houses
(the second house) which started to gain importance in 1970s and make the conditions favourable for the appearance and development of vari-
Three factors in particular had greatly significant effect in various stages in the population
increase of Büyükçekmece. First one of them is
the increase in the population of Istanbul and
expansion of the urbanization area towards Tuzla
in the east and Silivri in the west. Second factor
is the regulations of the roads from Istanbul to
73
signifies the environmental and health problems
it may potentially cause. As stated before, industrial facilities founded in the town has a remarkable share in the environmental problems. It is
necessary that the lake water should not be polluted considering that importance of water will
increase in the future. So as to avoid the hazards
of the chemicals used in the agricultural practices
conducted around the lake, necessary checkups
should be carried out with heed. Preventing the
dumping of the waste materials from the settlements and commercial facilities around the lake
could be beneficial. Careless fishing is doing
harm to the natural life and indigenous species of
the lake. People having picnic on the shores of
the lake at weekend should pay heed not to pollute the lake. Although daily two-way movements in Istanbul are quite intense, we cannot
make the utmost benefit from the sea. Especially
existing functions should be vitalized for a better
marine transportation. Marine transportation to
the working places will greatly contribute to
Beylikdüzü, Çatalca and Silivri along with
Büyükçekmece. Regular and efficient marine
transportation will lessen the traffic congestion in
central Istanbul. The construction in the south of
E5 after 1980 has the potential to mirror the
negative effects of a possible earthquake. Because the North Anatolia Fault in the Marmara
Sea passing by the town can cause dangerous
outcomes for the settlements, it will be true to
assign a new colourful function totally concerning sea tourism to the town. Housing and industrial facilities emerging in the fertile agricultural
lands will destroy the ones that will gain much
more importance in the future. Though huge
settlements have appeared in the last years, the
absence of an irregular construction pattern is
hilarious. Due to its 25-km coastline in the south,
it has always been attractive in military, political,
commercial, cultural and tourism terms. Tourism
activities emerging in the study area in summer
cause huge population movements. The density
caused by the second house (summer house)
owners and day-trippers at weekend results in a
visible population flow. It will be useful to restore the infrastructure of some areas to cope
with this remarkable population flow. Otherwise,
it will be no good to have a Blue Flag for a 4-km
beach. The International Culture and Arts Festival held traditionally will be effective in the
promotion of the town. The presence of TUYAP
(a fair company) in Büyükçekmece made it a
culture centre and established universities will
contribute to the culture of the town. Mistakes
ous functions in Büyükçekmece. Also this factor
affirmatively contributed to the population
growth. Essentially, recreational services and
transportation services developed; thus, these
three factors which affected and triggered each
other played a significant role in the population
growth of the town.
In Büyükçekmece, covering 220 km², population density was 1746 people per km² in 2000,
whereas it was 901 people per km² in 2008. In
2000, both the population and the town used to
cover a larger land. Thanks to the shrinkage of
the borders of the town and accordingly the decrease in the population in 2008, the amount of
people per km² also decreased. Contrarily,
population density of Turkey was 83 people in
2000 and 88 in 2008. The reason why these
numbers are much higher than the average of
Turkey is that large quantities of people are living in high-rise apartment blocks.
Results and Suggestions
Thanks to its geographical position,
Büyükçekmece attracted the attention of people
and still does. As a result of the fact that Istanbul
is one of the housing, trade, culture, industry and
tourism centres, it rapidly developed in parallel
with the population and land prices rose in a
short time due to the rising demands. Agricultural areas turned into housing, industry and
commerce areas. A sustainable method could not
be followed in using the lands during this change
process and as a result agricultural lands narrowed down. The study area, one of the important tourism centres of Istanbul since 1970s, is
also attractive as a holiday spot, but Büyükçekmece which changed and developed very fast
over time was included in the borders of Istanbul. Especially industrial movements in the north
and northeast caused a population flow to this
area. As a consequence of the increasing population, it formed housing estates and made the area
open to various professions. The ones using the
Bosporus as a transportation route today as in the
past pass across the study area through TEM and
E5 highways. These main highway arteries included Büyükçekmece into a transportation network. These highways passing across the north
and south of the town decreased the quality of
the inhaled air.
Cement factory founded in Tepecik happened
to be covered by the town borders by the passing
of the time and is now giving off white dust particles accumulating on the nearby roofs, which
74
7. 7-Tanoğlu‚ A.‚ 1952-1953‚ The Last Migration Movement of Bulgarian Turks, Istanbul
University, Journal of Faculty of Economics,
Vol. 14, Issue 132, pp.129-161, Istanbul
8. 8-Mansel A.M.‚ 1938‚ Culture and History of Thrace, Resimli Ay Press, Istanbul
9. 9-Mutluer‚M.‚ 2003‚ International Migrations and Turkey, Çantay Publishing, 17, Istanbul
10. 10-Sevin V. ‚2001‚ Historical Geography of Anatolia I, Turkish Historical Society
Press, Ankara
11. 11-TUİK (Turkish Statistical Institute), 2008, General Census, Ankara
12. 12-Tümertekin‚E.‚1994, An Introduction to Human Geography, Istanbul University,
Communication Faculty Press, Istanbul
made in socio-cultural and economic terms
should not be repeated for a more regular and
healthy urbanization of this important town.
References
1. 1-Akgün‚ H.‚ 1997‚ Büyükçekmece in Urban Development Process, Turkish Democracy
Foundation, Istanbul Branch Press, Istanbul
2. 2-Göney‚ S.‚ 1995‚ Urban Geography I,
Istanbul University, Faculty of Letters Press,
Istanbul
3. 3-İnandık‚ H.‚ 1965‚ Lakes in Turkey,
Baha Publishing, Istanbul
4. 4-Karal‚ E.Z.‚ The First Census 1831 of
the Ottoman Empire, Turkish Republic General Directorate of Statistics of Prime Minister,
Ankara.
5. 5-Keleş‚ R.‚ 2006‚ Urbanization Policy‚
İmge Publishing‚ Ankara.
6. 6-Village Law item 1 Settlements with
less than 2000 people are qualified as “village”,
with a population ranging from 2000 to 20000 as
“town” and over 20000 as “city”. Even though
less than 2000 people, districts and province
centres are qualified as “town” and subjected to
the Municipality Law. http:www.hukuki.net
/kanun
Mesut Doğan
Istanbul University
Faculty of Letters
Department of Geography
Room Number: 718
Beyazıt- Istanbul.
e-mail: [email protected].
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