Path Dependence of Space Production in Turkey: The Hegemonic Construction of Neoliberalism in Eskişehir and Konya

Neoliberalism, which emerged as a global discourse and was shaped by the foundations of the capitalist economy, has turned space into a political tool at the local scale by developing capital-friendly strategies. This ideology prevailing in Turkey’s urbanisation since 1980 has significantly shaped its specific geographies in the last 20 years. Based on the path dependence theory in the urbanisation of neoliberalism, this study analyzes neoliberal practices and hegemonic construction in two cities, one with conservative liberal and the other with social democratic administration practices. The data was gathered from the city actors in Eskişehir and Konya through in-depth interviews. Our findings indicate that while the urbanisation process in Konya progresses in a path-dependent manner and localities pave the way for new trajectories, this process in Eskişehir progresses in different trajectories, although it is path-dependent and creates its own unique process by drifting away from universal neoliberalism.