‘Problem Spaces’ and Struggles Over the Right to the City: Challenges of Living Differentially in a Gentrifying Istanbul Neighborhood

Abstract

Focusing on everyday life and the dynamics of contestations between very different groups thrown together in dangerous proximity in a neighborhood of Istanbul called Tophane, this article contributes to debates on urban transformation, political aspects of gentrification and the right to the city, with a focus on how to live differentially. Amidst rising political tensions and polarization in Turkey, competing economic interests, gentrification pressures and/or ultimate clashes over norms and values have fueled these contestations, which have degenerated into violent encounters. Calling for a re‐evaluation of ‘the right to the city’, we argue that, unless the concept of right to the city is complemented by a commitment to live differentially—that is, by a right to difference—mediating and addressing these contestations will be difficult. Whether clashes over the right to the city and everyday encounters can lead to a new politics committed to resisting urban transformation that pushes the boundaries of urban citizenship, or whether these uncomfortable encounters will continue to escalate, with one group claiming hegemony over space until the neighborhood is finally and fully gentrified, remains very uncertain. But it will, ultimately, be the litmus test of the country's democracy and inclusive citizenship.

An empirical analysis of gentrification in Istanbul

“…People in Istanbul may tend to live places where the majority of people share similar political opinions. As Öz and Eder (2018, p. 1043) point out, “the entry of different groups into others familiar territory could indeed be unpleasant since … there might be an undeclared comfort in segregation and conserving the status quo”, which keeps “everything in place.” As mentioned above, the gentrification process may to some extent play a role in this process.…”

“…Based on the results, it can be said that there is significant social distance between political party supporters in Turkey.Not surprisingly, people in Istanbul are highly likely to move to districts administered by a political party they feel closer to, or to a neighbourhood in which people hold similar political attitudes. Therefore, we have added government opposition as a dummy into our analysis, keeping in mind Öz and Eder's (2018, p. 1043) argument that gentrification “intensified segregation in the city along lines of ethnicity, class and cultural norms.”…”

“…Many issues affect this transformation, among which gentrification is often singled out as of particular critical importance in influencing the housing structure of the city. In this light, the aforementioned clash may have been a result of processes of gentrification in Istanbul's Beyoglu district (Öz & Eder, 2018). Ergün (2006) identifies relatively low prices of housing stock, relatively high volume of renters, easy transportation facilities, and high architecture values as typically the main indicators of the onset of gentrification within a specific region, with conflicts between old and new residents an expected part of this process (Ergün, 2006).…”

The Refugees’ Right to the Center of the City and Spatial Justice: Gentrification vs Commoning Practices in Tarlabaşı-Istanbul

“…In Syria, we may at some point be able to repatriate and rebuild our houses, but here it will be impossible to stay in the future luxurious neighborhood. (Mohamed, Syrian refugee, personal interview, 10 June 2019) Istanbul has evolved in recent decades into a rapidly expanding global city with a booming construction industry, extensive renewal and gentrification projects, hun-dreds of gated communities, and impressive megaprojects (Aksoy, 2012;Erdi-Lelandais, 2013;Öz & Eder, 2018). These practices are depicted by Lovering and Turkmen (2011) as "bulldozer neoliberalism" and as Karaman (2013, p. 716) underlines, they "have been used as a tool of dispossession, expropriating residents and uprooting them from their social networks."…”

“…Concomitantly, a network of self-organized solidarity initiatives and community centers supports the residents and organizes collective activities and anti-gentrification struggles. Although there is extensive literature (Kuyucu & Ünsal, 2010;Öz & Eder, 2018) on gentrification processes in Istanbul, there are few studies that focus on the articulation of gentrification with refugees' commoning practices which claim the right to the city and spatial justice in the case of the Tarlabaşı neighborhood. This article aims to explore questions about the potentialities of refugees to co-live and co-inhabit in the center of the city.…”