Transformation of Village Housing into Second Homes: The Case of Pelitköy
Serdar Ceylan, Mehmet SomuncuThe aim of the study is to investigate the effect of selling houses within the Pelitköy settlement to the urban population on the local people. The research was carried via quantitative and qualitative research method. The survey was administrated to the local people (161). Moreover, in-depth face-to- interviews in a semi-structured form were conducted with 12 local individuals. The survey data was analyzed descriptively in SPSS 16.0 program, whereas interviews were analyzed descriptively in MAXQDA 12 program. According to the research findings, the main means of livelihood of the local people of Pelitköy is olive cultivation. Urban people, who have recently arrived in the village from big cities, increased the housing market by purchasing village houses. Young people married in the village prefer to emigrate to the city because of difficulties with renting and buying a house. This case accelerates migration from rural to urban areas. As a result, the increasing interest of the urban population to use rural areas for holiday and recreation purposes has increased the cost of living in the study area and accelerated the displacement of local people.
Köy Evlerinin İkinci Konuta Dönüşümü: Pelitköy Örneği (Burhaniye/Balıkesir)
Serdar Ceylan, Mehmet SomuncuAraştırmanın amacı, Pelitköy yerleşmesi içerisindeki evlerin dışardan gelen kentli nüfusa satılmasının yerel halk üzerinde nasıl bir etki oluşturduğunu anlamaya çalışmaktır. Araştırmada nicel ve nitel yöntem birlikte kullanılmıştır. Yerel halktan 161 kişiye anket uygulanmıştır. Ayrıca yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formları üzerinden 11 kişiyle de yüz yüze derinlemesine görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiş; bu kişilerden 11’ine ilişkin veriler nitel bulgularda değerlendirilmiştir. Ankete katılanlar, basit tesadüfî (rastlantısal) örnekleme yöntemine; görüşme yapılan kişiler ise, amaçlı örneklem yöntemine göre belirlenmiştir. Anket verileri SPSS 16.0 programında, görüşme verileri ise MAXQDA 12 programında betimsel olarak analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma bulgularına göre, Pelitköy yerel halkının temel geçim kaynağı zeytin tarımıdır. Yerel halk ürettiği zeytinlerden zeytinyağı elde etmektedir. Köyde yaşayan Romanlar, zeytin arazisi olmayan düşük gelirli bir kesim olup; ikinci konutlarda temizlik ve bahçıvan işlerinde ve zeytin tarlalarında gündelikçi olarak çalışmaktadırlar. Son zamanlarda büyük kentlerden gelen insanların köy evlerini satın alması, alandaki konut piyasasını yükseltmiştir. Köyde evlenen gençler, köyde yüksek fiyattan ev kiralamakta ve satın almakta zorlandığı için kente göç etmeyi tercih etmektedir. Bu durum, kırsaldan kente olan göçü hızlandırmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, kentli nüfusun tatil ve dinlenme amaçlı olarak kırsal alanlara olan ilgisinin artması, yoksul yerel halk için hayat pahalılığına neden olmakta ve yerel halkın yerinden olmasını hızlandırmaktadır.
Rural areas have become an increasingly considered topic (Bakırcı, 2007a: 23-24). Numerous settlements, such as villages, towns, and farms, have become attractive for tourism in terms of climatic conditions, natural features, landscape beauty, and rural lifestyle (Özgüç, 2007:129). An increase in the leisure and welfare level and advances in transportation and communication have led to the development of tourism in rural areas. Today, many people spend their holidays in rural areas (Rezavani, 2003; Keshavarznia et al., 2013: 181). Many villages in Turkey have ceased to be places of production and living and transformed into exclusively living places at the moment. Furthermore, an increase in the elderly and retired population in rural parts of Turkey has transformed rural areas from a production place to a living place (Tekeli, 2016, 138-140). Second homes used by people for holiday, rest, and renewal (Marjavaara, 2008: 7; Çimen, 2010: 10) are described as a private real estate investment that is utilized during holidays and outside of urban living conditions (Çubuk, 1981; Mizan, 1994: 9-10). Recently, researchers have focused on second home tourism that has affected rural societies economically, socially, and culturally. Therefore, second home tourism has become a topic explored by researchers from different departments, such as geography, tourism, planning, economics, and sociology (Coppock, 1977; Williams & Hall, 2000; 2002; Asgary ed., 2011: 31). Unplanned development of second homes has caused many problems in the world, including economic, social, environmental, and cultural damages for rural societies (Keshavarznia ed., 2013: 181-182). Thus, second homes are regarded as an undesired change in rural areas (Müller, 2011). The rural population living second home tourism region experiences displacement, because of increasing housing prices. Therefore, traditional rural dwellings gradually turn into seasonal houses (Coppock, 1977; Hall and Müller, 2004b; Gülcan, 2013: 11).
The research was carried out using quantitative and qualitative research methods. The survey was administrated to the local people (161). Moreover, in-depth face-to-face interviews in a semi-structured form were performed with 27 local individuals. Only 12 interviews were evaluated in the qualitative findings. Participants in the survey were selected according to the simple random sampling method. Interviewed people were selected according to the purposive sampling method. The survey data was analyzed descriptively in SPSS 16.0 program, and interviews were analyzed descriptively in MAXQDA 12 program. Research questions: How does the sale of village houses to the people of the city have an economic and socio-cultural impact in the field of research? How do the locals perceive second-home tourism and second-home owners?
The research area located in the Aegean Region consists of two separate settlements, namely, the village and the seaside residential area. The main economic activity in the village that has 2,478 inhabitants is olive agriculture. The villagers produce olive oil from the olives they grow. Olive and agricultural land of the village is 2366 hectares, which represents 81.3% of the total land. The second-home settlement on the coast covers 13% of the study area. According to survey findings, the basic demographic characteristics of the participants are rural. They are generally married (80.1%) and low educated (70.9%). Moreover, they generally belong to the middle and upper age groups (48.4%). The average age of the research group was calculated as (X̅ = 50.46). According to the survey, the participants are generally housewives (36%), retired (19.9%), farmers (15.5%), and unemployed (11.2%). 31.7% of the research group makes a living directly from olive agriculture. The majority of the participants (96.9%) thinks (X̅ = 4.02) that the economic value of village houses increased because of purchases made by outsiders who are living in cities. Moreover, 72.1% of them think (X̅ = 3.51) that second-home tourism in study area caused an increase in living costs. According to qualitative findings of the study, agricultural land located on the coast has passed from the villagers to the urban people and it is used for tourism and recreational purposes. Because of the second-home tourism, an increasing number of people arriving in the region has also increased the demand for village houses. The peasants sell their houses to the people of the city due to financial needs and high prices. This phenomenon has caused a rise in housing prices in the village. Roma people living in the research area also encounter difficulties in renting and purchasing houses. Consequently, young people marry and migrate from the village to cities. Put differently, the urban people who purchase village houses for holiday and recreation purposes have caused the displacement of local people from the village.
