The Impact of Public Housing Investments on the Economic Development of Provinces: The Case of Turkey (TOKI)

In the last 30 years, there have been various findings related to the effects of construction investments - especially housing investments - on the economic development of urban areas. However, the impact of public housing investments on economic development in rapidly and dynamically developing countries with high housing demand has not been sufficiently discussed. This article presents an examination of the impact of housing production as a public housing investment on the economic development of provinces at the macro level through the case of Turkey. In the study, we analyzed the impact of public housing investments on the economic development of the provinces in Turkey between 2004 and 2018. Since 2004, Turkey has pursued a policy of increasing public housing investments, and for this purpose, the structure of the Toplu Konut Idaresi Başkanllǧl (TOKI - the Mass Housing Authority), which is a strong and autonomous centralized public institution, has changed. Despite the increase in public housing investment at the country level as a result of this policy, the effect of public housing investment on economic growth at the provincial level has not been determined. In this study, panel data analysis methods were applied, regression analyses were conducted, and the findings were evaluated. The findings of the analyses showed that, although housing investments (private sector) have had an impact on the development of the provinces at the macro level, public housing investment and production have not played a decisive role in the economic development of the provinces.