Effects Of Metropolitan Law No. 6360 on Administrative Geography of Kula District (Manisa)

Abstract

Kula is located within the boundaries of the Inner West Anatolia Region of the Aegean Region. Kula, which is located within the administrative boundaries of Manisa in terms of administration, is located in a depression area surrounded by high masses. The district, which was established in the Gediz River Basin, is surrounded by Demirci and Selendi from the north, Alaşehir from the south, Salihli from the west and Eşme from the east. Prior to the enactment of the metropolitan law, the district of Kula, designated as a research area, had a total of 54 administrative units, including 1 district center, 51 villages and 2 towns. However, after the law was published in the official newspaper, the municipalities of the districts were closed down, the legal personality of the villages was terminated and the villages became the neighborhoods of the district. These changes in administrative status did not reveal any changes in the geographical situation and existing structures of rural settlements. Geographically, the village is still a village and in all academic studies carried out by the geographic sciences community, the term köy village değil is used instead of neighborhood. As of today, there are 52 village administrative areas together with 1 district center in Kula district.