ENERGY POVERTY IN TÜRKİYE: AN EVALUATION THROUGH CONSENSUAL-BASED INDICATORS

Date

2023-12-01

Author

Özgür, Fatma Yağmur

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Energy poverty is a global problem observed in housing and living environments in relation to housing problems (i.e., deprivation) and income poverty for a long time. Although it affects different segments of the housing stock and societies, energy poverty still needs a unified international definition and measurement method. The issue is rapidly finding its place in international policy agendas. However, Türkiye still lacks a decent legal definition of the concept and does not contain any related information or policies in the national policy documents, neither under housing nor energy-related topics. This thesis emphasizes that defining and measuring the level of energy poverty in Türkiye will reveal the long-ignored layers of Turkish housing characteristics and living conditions of households. Regional scale analysis regarding the energy poverty in Türkiye and the vulnerable households and housing stock in terms of this problem is an essential starting point for defining energy poverty and designing national policies about this problem. Hereby, this study aims to explore the incidence of energy poverty in Türkiye, employing consensual-based indicators of energy poverty together with household and housing characteristics. In this regard, 'arrears on utility bills' and 'thermal comfort' and their relationship with household type, income, mode of tenure, and existing housing conditions are examined to reveal which residential and community segments are more exposed to energy poverty. TURKSTAT's Income and Living Conditions Survey (ILCS) raw data dated 2020 is employed for this purpose. The study's findings exhibit that the highest energy poverty incidence is observed in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions. Furthermore, household income is found to be the most prominent factor in relation to energy poverty as it affects other variables directly. Also, vulnerable household groups regarding energy poverty are detected as families with children, the elderly, and multi-person households. Several conclusions follow from the analysis. Energy poverty is a significant problem in Türkiye that requires designing policy measures to tackle this problem. Nevertheless, the incidence of energy poverty displays a spatial polarization at the regional level. This means designing spatially informed policy measures is a necessity. Also, the current definitions (or lack thereof) and measurement methods of energy poverty are insufficient to capture the extent of the problem. Therefore, there is a need for a national definition of the issue and its measurement method in order to monitor the process.

Subject Keywords

Energy poverty, Consensual-based indicators, Household characteristics, Housing characteristics, Türkiye

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/107757

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis