Demographic and Socio-economic Structure of Gaziantep City Population: Notes from a Fieldwork

• Main Authors: Şerife GENİŞ, Emin Baki ADAŞ
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Gaziantep University 2011-06-01
• Series: Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences
• Subjects: Gaziantep; nüfus yapısı; göç; eğitim; istihdam; population structure; migration; education; employment
• Online Access: http://dergipark.gov.tr/jss/issue/24244/257033?publisher=gantep

One of the important socio-spatial consequences of the liberalization and globalization of Turkish economy in the aftermath of 1980 has been the expansion of industrialization to the periphery and the emergence of industrial cities interchangebly called “Anatolian Tigers” or “local industrialization nodes.” The meaning of economic transformation experienced by these cities however remains controversial in the literature on social change and development. The main subject of debate focuses on the content of this economic transformation as well as its sustainability and its impact on social and human development. This article focuses on Gaziantep, one of the significant examples of these new industrial cities experiencing striking socio-economic and spatial transformations. Based on a fieldwork carried through a city-wide representative sample and conducted between the period of December 2008 and April 2009, this article examines and evaluates selected demographic and socio-economic indicators of Gaziantep city population. Some of the most significant problems the city faces are mass migration from its own periphery, a large young population with significantly low levels of education, high levels of unemployment and extensive temporary/informal employment