The role of tradesmen and craftsmen in Mersin urban economics: An analysis of institutional, sectoral-based and location of activity

Abstract

Urbanization is not only a concentration of humans in city areas but also, the consumption and production activities that are comprised in urban space. In this sense, goods and services are developed through the urban economic actors, through labor, economic diversity, and prosperity. This article reviews the relationship between urban economics and tradesmen & craftsmen (TC). The focus is on analysing tradesmen and craftsmen’s institutional, sectoral-based, and activity location. To do that, the research has adopted the qualitative research method strategy and an instrumental and multiple case study design. The study used the document analysis technique to collect data. It aims to illustrate how urban economics actors conduct their businesses across the city. To clarify that, this article benefits from the urban economi cs notion which explains the relation between urban economics structure and actors. This paper also argues that tradesmen and craftsmen are key actors who produce goods and services in urban economics and it is composed of three main parts, the first of which analyses urban economics notion within the historical background briefly. The structure of Mersin's urban economics is assessed in the second part of this article. Within the scope of the paper, first of all, tradesmen and craftsmen were analysed in terms of the institutional framework, sectoral based, and location-activity. What is evident from this research is that tradesmen and craftsmen both are supported by the state and TC has an institutional organization capacity that is spread whole over the national level. Also, TC provides the city’s production process of goods and services based on sector.