Industrialization, Urbanization and Environment: The Case of Kocaeli Province

It is seen that industrialisation phenomenon taken place in the half of the 19th century and growing with urbanization has caused significant changes in the social and cultural fields its occurred society’s economic. However, the biggest impact of the changes caused by the growing industrialization with urbanization phenomenon has on the environment. Today, environmental issues, especially in the cities which are under the influence of industrialisation, have begun to reach dangerous levels. Kocaeli is Turkey’s largest industrial hub after Istanbul. The share of the industrial sector in the gross domestic product exceeded 70%. In particular, covering 13% of Turkey’s manufacturing industry, the manufacturing industry in the province has greatly improved As of December 2015, 2747 industrial investment including 229 foreign capital organizations is in Kocaeli. As a result of are not being adhered rational settlement policies in the locations of industrial establishments has caused unplanned construction in the city and the life has turned into chaos. In August 17, 1999 after the Marmara Earthquake, the increase of urbanization activity in Kocaeli, transport and waste problems, air and water pollution, noise pollution, soil pollution have become a serious concern. In this study, present environmental problems in Kocaeli, which is an important industrial city in Turkey, have been investigated and it has been aimed to be an important source in the literature