The effects of Samsun Metropolitan Mun？cipality adjacent area practices on agricultural areas and agricultural production

ABSTRACT Nowadays, population and urban migration is gradually increasing. As a result of the increasing population and urbanisation, the need for new settlement areas is also gradually increasing. Some legal regulations are made for places that have not yet become towns to meet this settlement needs from the relatively neighboring rural areas. One of these regulations is sharing a commom border (adjecent areas). It has been in our legislation since 1957, and has been used extensively by municipalities with the purposes of need for settlement and the control of neighboring areas. In this study, questionnaires were administered in villages within the adjacent areas, in order to find out the effects of adjacent area practices of Samsun Metropolitan Municipality on agricultural productions and agricultural lands, and positive or negative influences were also observed. According to the results of the study, it was found that when compared with the pre-adjacent area period, the population in the villages within adjacent area decreased 21.01 %, the number of residences increased 19.03 %, agricultural lands decreased 0.66 % and settlement areas increased 4.90 %. In addition, the number of husbandry business decreased 15.46 %, while 212.37% increase was found in the prices of agricultural lands. While a large decrease was found in tobacco, grain, forage plant, fruit and vegetable production, increase was found only in hazelnut production. According to the results obtained, it was found that adjacent area practice in Samsun with its existing form could not make a positive contribution to agricultural lands and agricultural production. With the Law number 6360, adjacent area practice ended with metropolitan municipality services and responsibilites in Samsun and other metropolital municipalities becoming extended to the borders of the whole province. Regulations about adjacent areas should be made in Soil Protection Act and Building Law and agricultural lands should be taken under protection. In addition, legal regulations should be developed to protect agricultural lands and agricultural production in relation to town planning and municipality activities for metropolitan provinces