Social Municipalism in Metropolitan Municipalities: New Opportunities and Issues to be Solved

Within the framework of Law No. 6360, enacted in 2012, the boundaries of metropolitan municipalities were extended to the provincial administrative borders. Following this, due to the expansion of the metropolitan municipalities' jurisdiction, certain problems have emerged in the social policy practices carried out within the scope of the social municipalism approach. This study discusses these problems and the proposed solutions in light of data obtained from a survey and face-to-face interviews conducted with senior administrators serving in metropolitan municipalities and metropolitan district municipalities. In this context, the study first addresses the conceptual framework and historical development of social municipalism; it then examines the transformation of the social municipalism approach in Türkiye since the 1970s and evaluates the problems that Law No. 6360 has brought about in the field of social municipalism, along with the proposed solutions to these problems. Law No. 6360 had envisaged strengthening local governments, producing low-cost and high-quality services by benefiting from economies of scale, and eliminating the coordination deficiencies in service delivery. However, the surveys and face-to-face interviews revealed that certain problems have been experienced in the field of social policy following Law No. 6360. These problems can be grouped, in essence, as follows: (1) the inadequacy of the share allocated to social services from the municipality's general budget; (2) the lack of coordination in the delivery of social services and the resulting duplication of services; (3) implementation problems in areas such as women's and children's shelters, arising from the absence of sanctions in the new legislation, cultural habits, and the scarcity of qualified personnel; and (4) the harm done to agricultural and livestock activities as a result of the abolition of the rural-urban distinction, and the consequent adverse effects on the economic welfare of the former villagers / new neighbourhood residents living in rural areas.

Among the solution proposals put forward in the face-to-face interviews in response to these issues, the first is to raise the share allocated to social services in the municipal budget by enhancing the financial autonomy and own-source revenues of municipalities. The second proposal is the establishment of coordination and communication units among metropolitan municipalities, district municipalities, neighbourhood headships (muhtarlıks), the central government, and NGOs, in order to remedy the lack of coordination and the duplication of services. The third proposal, specifically regarding women's and children's shelters, involves applying sanctions and oversight to municipalities that fail to provide the services and assistance stipulated in the Law, training qualified personnel in this area, informing citizens continuously and regularly about the assistance and services available, and providing support services to those who refrain from receiving services and assistance despite needing them. The final proposal involves updating outdated legal regulations concerning rural areas to suit present-day conditions, reassessing regulations that increase the production costs of citizens living in rural areas, and establishing training centres for agriculture and livestock farming through municipalities, promoting current practices, creating model facilities, carrying out joint projects, and providing material assistance.

The reforms recently undertaken in the field of local government generate significant opportunities within the scope of the social municipalism approach. However, this situation is prone to producing new poor populations in rural areas and to rendering poverty permanent across the entire province. As a result, citizens remain outside employment and continue their lives dependent on the assistance provided. In this context, by cooperating with public institutions and NGOs in the city, municipalities can enable unemployed citizens to participate in employment; thus, they can offer longer-term solutions to the problem of poverty rather than short- and medium-term ones.