Abstract:

The discussions about how the globalization affects and changes the roles of the cities have produced concepts such as ‘world cities’ and ‘global cities’. This discussion points out the new roles and positions of these cities in the process of globalization. On the other hand, the status of the cities of different sizes that are outside the global networks is also discussed. The regional development approach, on the other hand, is a development policy produced to overcome the development divide between regions that is also Hacettepe Üniversitesi Sosyoloji Bölümü, Ankara. [email protected] reinforced by the globalization. Regional Development Agencies in Turkey are based on the implementation of this policy. In this article, Kastamonu as one of the three cities forming Northern Anatolia Development Agency (KUZKA), is examined in terms of how it is affected by the global processes and to what extent it fits into the ‘strategic coupling’ model proposed by Coe, et.al. (2004), in the context of regional development experience. The activities and working programs of KUZKA are evaluatedaccording to this model and it is found that KUZKA has the tendency of adapting Kastamonu to the global processes, especially in terms of attracting investments and competitiveness.

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