Negotiating the Rural Promise: A Comparison of Pre‐ and Post‐Migration Lifestyles Among Migrants in Muğla, Türkiye
2025-12-30
This article examines the lifestyles of people who have migrated from Türkiye's major metropolitan centres to Muğla province, analysing how their social, economic and spatial conditions change as a result of relocation. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews with 30 migrants, the analysis traces three interconnected phases of migration: the decision to relocate and adaptation, the adjustment to everyday life in the new setting, and the efforts to establish spatial permanence. Migration was found to be motivated by dissatisfaction with metropolitan life, including the increasing densities, socially disconnected lifestyles, long and exhausting commutes, and limited access to open spaces. Relocation decisions were noted to be driven by pre‐migration imaginaries centred on autonomy and proximity to nature, shaping both the expectations and post‐migration practices of the respondents. Many of the respondents reported improvements in time management, mobility and social interactions, as well as easier and more frequent engagement with natural environments. Yet these positive experiences were offset by such challenges as rising housing costs, limited infrastructure, seasonal fluctuations and uneven integration. Efforts to attain spatial permanence were therefore marked by uncertainty. Only a few of the respondents were actively considering moving again, while many remained undecided, suggesting that permanence is conditional rather than assured. This ambivalence intersects with a broader paradox: as the appeal of nature‐oriented lifestyles grows, former desirable rural destinations begin to experience densification and urbanisation. Overall, the study conceptualises lifestyle migration as a negotiated temporal process that reshapes individual trajectories and rural geographies in Türkiye.