1st Istanbul International Geography Congress Proceedings Book
Spatial development and cluster analysis of industry in İzmir
Çiğdem ÜnalThis study investigates the spatial transformation of industrial clusters around İzmir in eastern Turkey. Izmir houses 10% of Turkey’s 500 largest industrial enterprises and about half of the industrial establishments in the Aegean Region. Consequently, Izmir holds high importance in terms of industrial investment. Long an active trade center due to its fertile soil and convenient transportation, Izmir became an important industrial city during the Ottoman period, with its current industrial clustering having started in the 1930s. Industrialization intensified around Alsancak Port and influenced the emergence of new industrial centers in areas such as Halkapınar, Kemeraltı, and Şehitler. As the industries changed structurally, new forces shaped the region’s dynamics. Today, Izmir’s northern, southern, and eastern districts are the result of the spatial development of its industrial sectors. Reflections of the spatial transformation in the industrial sector in Izmir and reorganization of industrial areas through the main transport corridors in the management of other geographical factors. The number of manufacturing enterprises was used as the determining variable for ascertaining cluster trends. While chemical, iron and steel, plastic, and machinery manufacturing are at the forefront in the industrial belt advancing north, food production leads in the region moving south, and manufacture of machine parts and various sub-industries are at the forefront in the region moving east.