https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12619/2838 2026-04-04T23:50:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12619/103361 Social Policy in Smart Cities: The Forgotten Dimension Özdemir, Akın Modern cities face a range of challenges and threats caused, inter alia, by intense population growth, environmental pollution, climate change, poverty, unemployment, lack of safety, migration and socio-economic inequality. Smart cities presuppose an innovative and knowledge-based approach to cope with these challenges and threats to improve urban quality of life and to make the city more inclusive and competitive. Digital technologies provide the tools to enhance the empirical knowledge about the city and its residents. This chapter addresses the question: ‘Under which conditions is social policy a facilitator of smart city strategies?’ Using a broad inventory and multi-disciplinary approach, and with the help of an extensive literature review, this chapter aims to provide a better understanding of the technology-based issues of smart cities and the position of those social groups most affected by these developments. The authors develop a conceptual framework for mapping out the forces at work. They also argue that digital technologies can be more accessible and usable for more city residents through social policy. 2019-09-25T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12619/103360 WOMEN'S REPRESENTATION GAP IN TRADE UNION MANAGEMENT: A CASE OF A PUBLIC SECTOR UNION Özdemir, Akın Regarding the progressive decline of the social influence of the trade union movement, it is emphasized that women workers should be a potential source of members and managers in the discussions on strategies to revitalize trade unionism. However, women's access to positions such as management or leadership and their representation in these positions are severely limited due to the pervasive effects of the employment relations regime and masculine culture in various organizations of working life. This article aims to examine the representation gap of women in trade union management in a public workplace in the light of interviews with union member women. As a result, the Turkish public sector's unique political and legal dynamics, as well as the existence of unequal gender relations that have been structured in social life, have been identified as important factors that hinder the representation of women in management. 2023-10-14T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12619/103359 DATA- AND KNOWLEDGE-DRIVEN SMART CITY STRATEGIES: RESEARCH ON IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN TURKEY Özdemir, Akın The present study sought an answer to the question, “What kind of challenges do local governments in Turkey confront while implementing data- and knowledge-driven smart city strategies?”. It seems noteworthy to explore tacit links between such implementation challenges through a field study employing an exploratory design. Thanks to the original theoretical framework enriched with empirical findings, this research is expected to bring practical and theoretical contributions to the smart city literature. The data were gathered through face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 23 personnel of Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality (SMM), which has become the very first local government in Turkey to have introduced a smart city strategy and action plan. In this field research employing a single case, the content analysis technique was utilized to interpret the findings. Accordingly, SMM is faced with basically data-driven difficulties such as data security, poor technological and physical infrastructure, insufficient budget and high costs, dubious legal regulations and bureaucracy, resistance to change, lack of human resources and high turnover, and digital divide while implementing its smart city strategy. 2022-08-10T00:00:00Z https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12619/103358 Akıllı Kentlerde Yaşam Kalitesi: Sakarya Büyükşehir Belediyesi’nin Akıllı Kent Uygulamaları Üzerine Bir Araştırma Özdemir, Akın Amaç - Bu çalışma, “akıllı kent stratejileri, kentsel yaşam kalitesinin iyileştirilmesine nasıl katkı sağlayabilir?” sorusuna yanıt bulmayı amaçlamaktadır. Yöntem/Metodoloji/Dizayn - Türkiye’deki yerel yönetimler arasında ilk akıllı kent stratejisine sahip Sakarya Büyükşehir Belediyesi (SBB), bu özgün yanı ile tekli vaka incelemesine değer bulunmuştur. SBB bünyesinde, çeşitli kademelerde çalışan 23 personelle gerçekleştirilen yüz yüze görüşmelerin yanı sıra hazırlanan stratejik plan (SASEP) ve kurumun resmi haber bülteni (Gündüz-Gece) içerik analizi tekniğiyle incelenmiştir. Ek olarak alan araştırması sürecinde, araştırmacı tarafından tutulan gözlem notlarından içerik analizinde elde edinilen bulguların yorumlanması için faydalanılmıştır. Sonuçlar - SBB’nin veri odaklı bir akıllı kent stratejisine sahip olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Bu strateji sayesinde örneklemin, öncelikle kentin nesnel yaşam kalitesi göstergelerinde bir iyileşme sağladığı ve bu iyileşmenin ağırlıklı olarak altyapı, ulaşım, çevre ve yönetişim gibi akıllı kent göstergelerinde görüldüğü ortaya konulmuştur. Katkı/Farklılıklar - Geniş kapsamlı literatür incelemesi ve ampirik bulgulardan destekle bu çalışmada akıllı kent kavramı, “bir kentin kendi iç dinamiklerine yönelen ve o kentin öncelikleri doğrultusunda teknolojik gelişmelerden, çeşitli veri kaynaklarından ve doğru bir süreç çerçevesinde elde edinilen bilgiden paydaşlarının yaşam kalitesi standartlarını iyileştirmek için faydalanan kent yönetim stratejisi” şeklinde tanımlanmıştır. 2022-11-30T00:00:00Z