According to Law No. 5449 on the Establishment, Coordination and Duties of Development Agencies, Agencies are given certain responsibilities in the preparation of regional plans that will shape regional development. In order to achieve regional development goals; these include developing cooperation between the public sector, private sector and civil society organizations, conducting and commissioning research to identify the resources and opportunities of the region, accelerating economic and social development and increasing competitiveness. Agencies assume the role of a moderator institution within the scope of the preparation of the regional plan, contributing to the realization of local cooperation and the local actors coming together to make strategic decisions that will shape the future of the region in a collaborative working culture. The 2014 – 2023 Çukurova Regional Plan was prepared within the framework of the 100th anniversary targets of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey and the 2014 – 2018 Tenth Development Plan (OKP) and the 2014 – 2023 Regional Development National Strategy (BGUS) draft, taking into account the views and suggestions of local stakeholders. National priorities in the Tenth Development Plan are summarized under the headings of “qualified people; strong society”, “innovative production; stable high growth”, “livable spaces; sustainable environment” and “international cooperation for development”. The 2023 target of the Regional Development National Strategy document has been determined as “creating a fully developed Turkey consisting of regions that are socio-economically and spatially integrated, with high competitive power and welfare levels”. In the regional plan, in addition to these basic targets determined at the national level, it is possible to see the development priorities of the European Union for the same period with which Turkey continues its membership negotiations with the 2014-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework Document. The basic priorities in the framework document are expressed as “competitiveness for growth and employment; economic, social and regional harmony; sustainable growth and natural resources; security and citizenship”. As can be seen, issues such as competitiveness, employment, sustainable growth, economic and social harmony or integration, and livable spaces and environment are commonly prominent in international and national strategy documents. In the 2014-2023 Çukurova Regional Plan prepared at the regional scale, national and international targets were also taken into consideration and the general framework of the Plan was created on thematic axes with strategic objectives. Local priorities determined with the participation of public and private sector representatives and representatives of civil society organizations in the region were reflected in the Plan document at the priority and measure levels. Within the scope of the participatory strategic planning method applied during the preparation of the Plan, it was aimed to ensure the widest possible participation in the region and participation was designed on geographical, thematic and sectoral axes. The aim is for the goals and strategies that emerge as a result of the coming together of these three axes to reveal all the geographical and structural characteristics of the region. Approximately 800 local stakeholders actively participated in all workshops and meetings held within the scope of the Regional Plan. The Regional Plan draft, which was created as a result of participatory workshops and technical analyses, was published on the Agency website and all other stakeholders were allowed to submit their views and suggestions. In addition, approximately 300 local stakeholders participated in the vision survey published on the Agency website and expressed their views. Thus, the Regional Plan has created a high level of ownership as a document that tries to reflect the views and suggestions of all segments of society as much as possible. The Regional Plan begins by emphasizing the strategic importance of the Çukurova Region for Turkey, in parallel with the national plan and strategy documents. It is seen that the region, which is an important metropolitan center and focus of development after Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir in Turkey, is at the intersection of many socio-economic relations. It is anticipated that this center of attraction feature of the region will become even more evident thanks to the large-scale infrastructure investments in the fields of transportation, logistics, health and tourism that will take place in the coming period. Another fundamental role assigned to the region in national plans and programs is that the region is one of the world's important energy distribution bases with its existing and planned pipelines. The Ceyhan district of Adana, where oil and natural gas can be transported to the world via the Mediterranean, is an energy bridge between the Middle East and Europe. It is anticipated that the region will gain significant gains in terms of industrial development with the completion of the Ceyhan Energy Specialized Industrial Zone. Within the framework of these fundamental predictions determined on a national scale, the vision set forth for the Çukurova Region is; "to be the leading region of the Eastern Mediterranean that transforms its strategic location and rich resources into value." The six strategic objectives that constitute the main axes of the Plan in order to achieve this regional vision are;
The first strategic objective determined within the scope of the Regional Plan is to be an international center of attraction and production base, to reduce intra-regional development differences, to solve social harmony problems, to develop human capital, to grow green and ensure environmental sustainability, to have attractive metropolises with high urban life quality. The first strategic objective determined within the scope of the Regional Plan is to “become an international center of attraction and production base”. The priorities under this basic axis, which includes the targets and measures of the region in the next 10 years for the realization of economic development, are to be an energy production and distribution center, to transform the strategic location of the region into a logistic advantage, to increase the competitiveness in the manufacturing industry, to increase the added value obtained from agriculture, to activate the tourism potential of the region and to develop the R&D and innovation capacity of the region and to improve the entrepreneurial environment. In the Çukurova Region, which is considered to be among the regions at risk of the middle-income trap, increasing the share of medium and high-technology sectors in production and export has been determined as one of the most important areas of measure for the purpose of becoming an international center of attraction and production base. With the strategic aim of “reducing intra-regional development differences”, it is aimed to minimize the socio-economic development differences between districts and sub-regions in the Çukurova Region. The two priorities determined for this purpose are to diversify the rural economy by activating the internal potential of the districts and to bring natural resources to industry and to improve the physical infrastructure in rural areas. With this strategic aim, it is aimed to diversify income-generating economic activities in the rural areas of the region and to increase the quality of rural life. The third strategic goal of the plan has been determined as “solving social adaptation problems”. Three priority areas have been determined within the framework of this basic axis that reveals the goals of the region in the field of social development. These priority areas are to ensure social integration, to activate policies for social inclusion and to develop social capital. The socio-economic and cultural adaptation of the migrant population and the social and spatial integration of seasonal agricultural workers are among the important areas of measure addressed under this strategic objective. One of the national priorities set forth in the Tenth Development Plan is qualified people and a strong society. The fourth strategic objective of the Plan, which can be expressed as the reflection of this priority determined in the National Plan at the regional level, is “developing human capital”. The priorities determined under this strategic objective, which aims to train qualified people and provide employment in accordance with the needs of the region, are to increase accessibility and quality in education, improve the infrastructure and quality of vocational and technical education, and provide quality employment. In other words, the basic axis of developing human capital foresees qualitative and quantitative development in the field of education and employment. The fifth basic axis determined within the scope of the Regional Plan is “green growth and ensuring environmental sustainability”. Within the framework of this strategic objective, which aims to take environmental factors into consideration in the process of achieving regional economic and social development, the priorities determined are to improve environmental infrastructure, develop green production through environmentally friendly technology and innovative applications, ensure adaptation to climate change and observe the protection-use balance. Within the framework of the strategic objective of growing green and ensuring environmental sustainability, it is aimed to follow a regional and holistic approach especially for improving environmental infrastructure. The sixth and last strategic objective of the plan has been determined as “creating attractive metropolises with high urban life quality”. The priorities determined under this strategic objective, which aims to make the metropolises in the region more livable, are to increase the physical environmental quality in cities and to create livable cities with a human-centered planning approach. The solution of urban infrastructure problems that reduce the quality of life in the region is aimed with this basic development axis. The Regional Development National Strategy 2023 vision, determined as “A Totally Developed Turkey Consisting of Socio-Economically Integrated, Competitive Power and Prosperity Level High Regions”, is aimed to provide maximum contribution to the region with the basic policies summarized under six headings within the scope of the Regional Plan and covering all development axes. In achieving the performance targets stated in the plan for 2023 such as 10 billion dollars of export, 15 billion TL of plant production value, 5% unemployment, 40% female labor force participation rate, and an average education period of 7.5 years, the cooperation of national and regional institutions and organizations and the close monitoring of the results obtained will be the determining factor.
