Abstract:

The aim of this study is to reveal the changing spatial planning policies according to different periods, universities site selection decisions and their functional transformation in Turkey. Functional transformation has been effective in the location of universities foundation and some periods important in terms of Turkey’s “universitization” have come to fore. For the analysis of the process, Five-Year Development Plans of Turkish State Planning Organization, Higher Education Research in 1970, the study of Staging of Residential Centers in Turkey in 1980 and “Socio-Economic Development Classification of Cities and Regions” published in 1996 and 2003. Five periods were created as a result of the classifications based on these studies: First Period, 1923-50; Second Period, 1951-1987; Third Period, 1988-1994; Fourth Period, 1995-2008 and Fifth Period, 2009 and the following years. State universities that are public investments were considered in this study. However, information related to status of foundation universities was given where needed. Keywords: Turkey, Universitization, Cities, Socio-economic Development, Spatial Planning.