Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Urban Renewal – Istanbul – Turkey'

This project aims to analyze the existing context and propose a strategy to revitalize Fener and Balat, which are two historic districts in Istanbul. During the past two centuries, economic changes, modernization movements and new planning strategies throughout the country have given the city a new shape. Individual buildings, streets, and entire sub-districts exist in various stages of disrepair. But today, Fener and Balat still preserve their distinctive character in their historic major structures, as well as historic commercial and residential districts. This unique character can be seen the districts' assets which are documented in this project along with the many liabilities. This revitalization project focuses on restoring and preserving the human-scaled buildings and pedestrian oriented streets, while creating cultural and tourist-oriented facilities to help economically revitalize the neighborhood. This project serves as a prototype for the revitalization of other historic neighborhoods in Istanbul and other historic Turkish cities.
Department of Architecture

In this study, I investigated sustainability in urban renewal through urban renewal components. I selected an area situates in both Emekyemez and Arap Cami districts’ boundaries in Beyoğlu which has got many particular urban renewal projects. The area restricts with urban renewal and gentrification projects around unless there is no urban renewal decision belong to the area. I assume that the area will be effected by recent urban renewal and gentrification processes close to study area which are, Cihangir, Çukurcuma, Asmalı Mescit and Galata. The area’s history started in 7th century B.C. The area maintains historical heritage buildings such as Genuese courtyard, Genuese houses, Genuese city wall and its gateway,and  Ottoman Bank Buildings. Genuese heritage is coming from 13th century and monumental bank buildings from late term of Ottoman Empire(19th century). My research question is that; the study area will be affected negatively by recent urban renewal and gentrification projects near the study area. My study hyposthesis are; real estate prices tend to increase, commercial sector tends to change and investments for transformation of this area will start and buildings can be sold. However, with using sustainability principles and taking measures, the  negative  effects of the surrounding areas can be reduced. The area can be redeveloped trustworthy if a good action plan is used for specific points of urban renewal process. I discussed in my thesis how urban renewal can be achieved in the area with economical, socia , environmental and socio-cultural sustainability principles, and which measures can be taken in the area to avoid negatif effects of urban renewal practices from surroundings. One of the aim of the study in case area to discuss  sustainability  through recent physical and social status of the area.  The other aim of the study is improving strategies to avoid negative effects of urban renewal projects which restricted to the case area. Using literature study, searching planning practices in the case area, comparing with other examples from world, scrutinizing documents, making interviews and quastionares, visiting and taking photos in different periods of the study area, the study was resulted. The result includes recent physical, legal, social status of the area, the effects of surrounding renewal projects. Lastly suggestions were constituted about achieving legal, economical, socio-cultural and environmental sustainability for urban renewal in case area. This starts with a introduction in which urban renewal, gentrification and commercial gentrification were determined and then sustainablity principles in urban renewal were discussed. I examined sustainable urban renewal samples carried out in business districts in the world. After it focuses on a case study, it introduces physical, legal and social aspects of case area. It goes on with a conclusion of aspects of case area and it ends with giving suggestion to achieve sustainability in the case area.

Thesis (Master of Community Planning)--University of Cincinnati, 2006.
Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed Jan.25, 2006). Includes abstract. Keywords: informal space; reinventing urban space; spatial practices; social space; Istanbul; Includes bibliographical references.

The aim of this study is to contribute to the urban social movement literature of Turkey which is lacking particularly for &ldquo
gecekondu resistance&rdquo
and to reveal and study the gecekondu resistance as a grassroots movement against the demolition of gecekondus, in the name of urban renewal projects in Istanbul, especially since 2004. It also investigates the &ldquo
urban social movement&rdquo
concept whose meaning is under discussion in the literature due to its usage in different aspects of resistance in the urban area. The literature review focuses mainly on the production of space, focusing particularly on urban renewal, urban resistance and social movements especially reflecting on the theoretical perspectives of prominent scholars like Lefebvre and Castells. The research focuses on neighborhood resistance in gecekondu areas
however in an attempt to make a categorization of ways of urban resistance in Istanbul. This thesis is based upon the field study pursued in the period between January and October 2006, in Gü
zeltepe neighborhood, in Eyü
p, being a remarkable example of resistance for various reasons which will be elaborated in the thesis. Gü
zeltepe which is a part of the urban renewal project in Istanbul is investigated with participant observation and in-depth interviews comprising people both participating directly in the resistance and &ldquo
ordinary&rdquo
dwellers, who do not have political affiliations. The study is supported by a systematic analysis of representations of gecekondu resistance and its demolition in the Turkish press, from July 2005 until August 2006.

ABSTRACT IMPACTS OF URBAN RENEWAL POLICIES: THE CASE OF TARLABASI/ISTANBUL Sakizlioglu, Nur Bahar M.S., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Helga Rittersberger-Tiliç
May, 2007, 296 pages Istanbul of 2000s has experienced a shift in urban policy approach from leading and maneuvering uneven, excessive and speculative urban growth, towards managing &lsquo
urban transformation&rsquo
that has been put implementation with urban (re)development / renewal / regeneration / revitalization initiatives. To examine the rise of these new policies for &lsquo
urban transformation&rsquo
in Istanbul of the 2000s for the entire restructuring of the city is the first and comprehensive aim of this study. In this respect, the political economic, social, dynamics that lied beneath the policy shift toward urban transformation and the associated alterations in the institutional and legislative configurations are discussed. Besides, a categorization of the extant &lsquo
urban transformation&rsquo
projects in Istanbul with different scopes and aims is provided and lastly the main elements and impacts of the urban transformation projects in the city are evaluated. The second and main aim of the study is to investigate the underlying features and intents, impacts of the new urban policies designed to renew the historical neighborhoods of Istanbul with a specific focus on the role of the municipal government as the key actor in the process. Attached to this, it is specifically targeted to examine the relationship between these new urban renewal policies, strategies and gentrification in inner city historical neighborhoods. To this end, the case of TarlabaSi renewal process, a deprived neighborhood in the old commercial and cultural center of Beyoglu-Istanbul, is analyzed giving detailed accounts on the renewal approach and the municipality&rsquo
s attitudes towards different stakeholders in the process, the initial impacts of the project in the neighborhood and lastly on the relation between renewal initiative and gentrification. Embracing a qualitative methodology, the study makes use of variety of data collection techniques, namely semi-structured in-depth interviews, document analyses, media analyses, participant and direct observations. Based on the analysis, the study firstly evaluates that the rise of the new policies, programs for urban transformation/ renewal in Istanbul of the 2000s refers to a new phase in the unplanned and highly uneven urbanization experience of Istanbul, which has been shaped by the neoliberal policies for more than twenty years. It also suggests that this new urbanization phase has been shaping with an approach, which sidelines the social aspects of urban transformation on behalf of the rent-oriented project implementations, plans that would make the urban redevelopment sector attractive for inter/national investments and which paves the way to the rewriting of the uneven urban development that would potentially result in the accentuation of the polarizations between the winners and the losers in the redistribution of the urban rents created as the result of these projects. Based on the analysis regarding the TarlabaSi renewal process, it is suggested in the study that renewal process in the neighborhood initiated by the municipality with a cultural and tourism based renewal strategy has been shaping with rent- oriented approach which excludes the social aspects of urban renewal. Leading the process, municipality has embraced an entrepreneurial attitude towards the investors and a selectively inclusive, encouraging one towards the property owners. However, the tenants, the groups with no legal tenancy status and the marginal groups, all of which constitute the majority of the neighborhood population have been the social groups that the municipality has not taken as the addressees but rather excluded within the renewal process. The initial implications of the renewal proposal at the neighborhood level have been speculative increases in the real estate prices, heightened interest of the big capital groups for renewal investments in TarlabaSi and an emerging appeal and interest of the middle classes for a living in TarlabaSi etc. Once these impacts are evaluated in relation to gentrification, the study argues that the renewal process that has been experiencing in TarlabaSi is preparing the infrastructure for gentrification in the neighborhood as the result of the municipal initiative. Urban renewal plans shaped by the municipality do not include any social mechanisms, measures and programs to prevent the displacement of the low-income and marginal groups living in TarlabaSi in this process, rather encourage a radical change in the socio-cultural profiles of the residents to create a &lsquo
new&rsquo
TarlabaSi as a prestigious cultural center in the city. In this sense, the study argues that this deprived, sociospatially stigmatized neighborhood in the historical city center is being created as a gentrifiable one with the municipal intervention in this renewal process. While such a trajectory of neighborhood change pinpoints the potential reproduction of the uneven development process that has carried TarlabaSi to the thresholds of renewal through this new renewal policy, it leaves the low-income disadvantaged groups living in TarlabaSi to face the very tangible problem of displacement.

Since the 1970s, cities have become core areas for neoliberal restructuring strategies, policies and processes (Peck et al., 2009). Brenner et al. (2010) stress that different neoliberalization practices share the ambition 'to intensify commodification in all realms of social life' (Aalbers 2013, 1054). In addition, prominent critical scholars including Lefebvre, Harvey and Castells agree upon the fact that 'capitalist cities are not only arenas in which commodification occurs; they are themselves intensively commodified' (Brenner, Marcuse, and Mayer 2009, 178). The research argues that commodification of urban space is deepening under neoliberal urbanisation by expanding the commodity realm into spatial practice (Lefebvre, 1990), and by producing simultaneously its enabling mechanisms. It grounds this argument by investigating commodification through the critical case study of branded housing projects developed in Istanbul, Turkey. Housing enclaves have been expanding globally as part of neoliberal urbanisation and, as a particular version of contemporary housing enclaves, branded housing projects have been developed in Turkey since the early 2000s, following the intensification of neoliberal restructuring processes. Branded housing projects are housing enclaves produced under certain brands and provide key urban services within the confines of the projects. Housing enclaves and branded housing projects, in particular, present a representative case for various dynamics of commodification of urban space under neoliberal urbanisation. The research undertakes this critical case study by analysing spatial practice of branded housing projects, to investigate deepening of commodification of urban space, together with analysing discursive formation and development processes of this phenomenon to investigate enabling mechanisms for this commodification. As a result, the research proposes the concept of hyper-commodification of urban space to explain multi-layered deepening of commodification of urban space under neoliberal urbanisation as its main contribution. The research also contributes to methodology by proposing a mixed method strategy bringing critical disourse analysis from communication studies and spatial analysis from urban studies together.

The aim of this study is to investigate the relation between the ownership issues and the conservation of historical housing areas, which is still an ongoing problem in Turkey. The study was carried out with respect to the local and international conservation approaches, as well as three urban conservation experiments from Turkey and Italy. Istanbul - Zeyrek World Heritage Area was taken as a case study to understand further on the issue. Approaches of international authorities on urban conservation such as UNESCO and European Council, and existing conservation legislation in Turkey were studied in relation with the concept of ownership and integration of property owners into the conservation process. Besides, recent changes in Turkish conservation legislation were studied and criticized from the same perspective. Three urban conservation experiences, &ldquo
Renovation of the Historic Center of the City of Bologna&rdquo
from Italy, &ldquo
Rehabilitation of Fener and Balat Districts Programme&rdquo
and &ldquo
TarlabaSi Urban Renewal Project&rdquo
from Istanbul Turkey were also studied within the frame of this study. These practices supplied information about how property owners&rsquo
integration into the process effects conservation of urban environments, from three different perspectives. Zeyrek World Heritage Area is a conservation area with monumental buildings from Byzantine Period and timber houses from Ottoman Period. Although many conservation plans concerning the area has been prepared, historical building stock of the area is in danger. Conservation problems and opportunities of the area were investigated by analysis and social and economic research in the area. At the end of the study, with reference to the experiences discussed, it was emphasized that Zeyrek World Heritage Area could be conserved, with an approach considering property owners within existing social and economic conditions of Zeyrek and current conservation legislation.

Due to the inappropriate planning and explosive population growth in urban areas, especially in developing countries, sustainable and disaster-safe urbanization has become the most important challenge for governments. Urbanization presents benefits in different ways but has led simultaneously to changes in land use/land cover (LULC), impacting soil quality, runoff, surface temperature, water quality, and promoting climate change. The environmental implications of LULC changes cannot be understood well enough to take precautions without the knowledge of LULC change. This reality is the driving force behind my research, which focuses on impacts of urbanization on flood and soil erosion hazards in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul is the biggest city in Turkey with its almost 15.000.000 population. In 1999 the Marmara earthquake destroyed the city especially the newly developed zones. Every year Istanbul suffers also from flood damages. Istanbul has been experiencing uncontrolled migration, chiefly from rural areas, since the economic reform policies took place in the second half of the 20th century. These policies forced the city to expand towards the agricultural land and to the coastal areas. Istanbul has been faced with illegal housing and uncontrolled development since then. This developoment has produced significant decreases inproductive agricultural lands and created more impervious areas. Infrastructure development has not matched the rate of the population increase and uncontrolled urbanization, making the city vulnerable increasingly to natural disasters. This dissertation aims to understand the impacts of urbanization on flood and erosion hazards in Istanbul by examining changes in the city using remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS) methods. LULC was examined first: Two change detection methods were applied to choose the best peformer for Istanbul. The post-classification comparison (PCC) method produced better results than the principal component analysis (PCA). PCC utilized 1984, 1997, 2001, 2007 and 2010 Landsat images of the study area. These Landsat images were corrected atmospherically and radiometrically using COST Model (Markham and Barker, 1986). After the corrections geometric rectification was performed with the help of 1987 topographic map, 1995 orthophotos, 2005 GPS data. Location and nature of the change were derived for the time periods. Results show that since 1984, agricultural land have been replaced increasingly by urbanization. Flooding and related soil erosion are both natural events. Yet these events can be hazardous; they can harm/destroy lives and property. In recent years these events have become disasters for Istanbul.. We investigated the role of urban growth in such disasters. To understand the urbanization and flood relation better, flood events for each time period were examined using LULC change, runoff information and watershed analysis. Soil erosion events occur slowly and in Istanbul they do not happen frequently (yearly) as with flooding. But some of the locations of erosion that occurred in the past are now urbanized areas. It is thus important to understand how the built environment affects soiol erosion. We applied the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) method for each year in the time series. Prior erosion locations digitized from General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration were compared to predicted locations. The resultant maps indicates that European side of Istanbul is more prone to erosion than Anatolian side.

The main aim of the thesis is to analyse the recent socio-spatial patterns of Istanbul, in which squatter areas on publicly-owned land (gecekondu) and old historical centre of the city are subjected to regeneration projects, under the impact of making Istanbul a purified place for the significant social classes via exclusion of the others. The formulations of Henri Lefebvre for analysing the production of (social) space are used as the conceptual framework of the thesis. To reveal the case study, the recent urban regeneration projects in Istanbul, a wide range of qualitative data collection techniques and methodology, documentary analysis, in-depth interviews, participant observations, which will pave a way to understand the complex relations among social and spatial formations, are used. According to the analysis on the acceleration of urban regeneration projects in the city of Istanbul, the thesis argues two main points: Firstly, the specificity of urbanisation period in Istanbul after 2000 is characterised with the strong role of the central state, mainly MHA. Secondly, the people, who are living in the gecekondu areas and old historical centres in the inner city are not only evicted from their living spaces, they are also socially and spatially excluded from the city centres.

The Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) has had a political hegemony over Istanbul for more than a decade. Initiating rapid rates of development, the Turkish economy has nearly quadrupled under AKP leadership. The political party has also become notorious, though, for moving further away from a liberal democracy. Flirting with authoritarianism, recent governance trends include a weak rule of law, stringent social policies, extralegal policy execution, and substantial censorship. While Istanbul closely aligns with several emerging urban centers, the factors contributing to its patterns of growth are unique to both Turkish history and culture, and the city’s strategic regional position. Through a proposed self-sustaining cycle of neoliberal policy implementation, followed by institutional and political consolidation, the AKP has managed to maintain control of new engines for growth while facing increasing pushback from the residents of Istanbul. Though the past few years have been marked by unprecedented development, weaknesses in the AKP’s institutional structure are beginning to show. Istanbul is on the brink of an economic downfall. The government needs to take immediate action against a massive urban crisis if it wants to sustain legitimacy of authority. In leveraging the strategic location of the city, international institutions must partake in shifting Istanbul towards a more sustainable trajectory of urban growth.

This dissertation is a study of economic, political, and social reforms in contemporary Turkey and how they are experienced by the country's Romani ("Gypsy") population. By focusing on urban renewal projects, the pluralization of cultural identities, and the proliferation of civil society organizations, this dissertation analyzes these changes in urban Romani communities, examining how state and civil society initiatives impact identity and civic engagement. This research contributes broadly to work in anthropology studying the relationship between culture and power, specifically investigating how local cultural identities and practices intersect and interact with transnational political-economic processes. While the meaning and application of the concept of 'culture' has been much debated in the social sciences, this analysis is situated within studies that consider culture a site of governance. Many modern forms of governance work less through force than by subjecting culture to the political logic of empowerment and improvement. This study interrogates this process via ethnographic research with dislocated Roma and Romani rights civic actors in three Turkish cities, focusing in particular on one dislocated Romani community from a neighborhood in Istanbul known as Sulukule. The project is unique in that it addresses Romani identity, culture, and citizenship where they intersect with current politics around urban development in Turkey. While 'urban renewal' projects are incorporating the land of the urban poor into new plans for Istanbul as a global city, Romani residents find themselves increasingly dispossessed. More than interventions that aim to improve the conditions of Turkey's Roma, urban development has renewed the politicization of urban Romani communities, particularly the youth, who have begun participating in social movements and Romani rights activism. The study finds that, while the changes resulting from liberalization and democratization in Turkey are typically posed by scholars, politicians, and civil society actors as either positive or negative, the advantages and disadvantages for marginalized populations like the Roma are actually simultaneously produced and mutually constituted. While Turkey's Roma are being integrated into discourses, practices, and institutions of Turkish national belonging and transnational Romani rights solidarity, they are also facing the dissolution of their local communities, traditional occupations, and cultural life. This dissertation suggests broader repercussions for anthropological understandings of the impact of free-market liberalization and democratization in so-called 'developing countries,' and particularly interrogates the politics of 'openness', the relationship between civil society and 'political society', and the role of transnational networks in urban politics.

Thesis (Master of Community Planning)--University of Cincinnati, 2009.
Advisor: Rainer Vom Hofe. Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed Aug. 26, 2009). Includes abstract. Keywords: knowledge economy; knowledge city; Istanbul; Turkey; urban planning. Includes bibliographical references.

Urban renewal policies in welfare state period are usually associated with the paradigm of social engineering that was dominant between 1940s and 1970s. However, in the wake of the fiscal crisis of the state in 1970s, and the following hegemony of the new right, urban policies including the renewal schemes have been ever-increasingly dominated by the deregulatory market oriented policies and rent seeking concerns. De-regulatory urban renewal policies focusing mainly in squatter areas have also dominated the urban policies and political discourse in Turkey since the mid-1980s and little attention has been paid to the negative consequences of these policies. Today, more than ever, residential redevelopment presents cities with a fundamental dilemma. In order to change the social and spatial condition of disstressed areas, alternative policies are implemented through either market or state-led redevelopment schemes. However, very same renewal schemes directly or indirectly leads to displacement of lower-income population, raising concerns over political equity. Likewise, overall success of these schemes often complicated by their impact on the macro-form of the cities. The main objective of this study is to discuss the impacts of de-regulatory urban renewal policies on the socio-spatial structure of contemporary Turkish cities in which, social exclusion and spatial segregation are becoming increasingly widespread. The case of Dikmen Valley Redevelopment Project provides us with the opportunities to conduct this discussion since it is one of the most significant urban renewal projects in Turkey and it is regarded as a model for the forthcoming gecekondu transformation projects. The thesis argues that although the scheme has been led by the local authority, the logic of market which revolves around the rent-seeking activities has dominated the redevelopment process in the area and main losers are the tenants who live in the squatters subjected to redevelopment.

Comme un « nouvel animal politique et matériel », les mégaprojets urbains (MPUs) représentent aujourd’hui une réalité urbaine répandue tout autour du monde. Depuis, les MPUs ne cessent de transformer la ville, ainsi que la vie sociale et politique du pays, notamment à travers les politiques économiques qui visent à maintenir le secteur de la construction et, par la même occasion, contribuent fortement à l’émergence d’une nouvelle bourgeoisie conservatrice proche du gouvernement d’AKP. L’objectif de cette thèse est de comprendre comment un objet technique sert comme une nouvelle « technologie du pouvoir » qui transforme non seulement des geographies, mais aussi profondément les entités sociales. Pour cela, elle propose d’étudier deux mégaprojets d’infrastructure, dont le pont de Yavuz Sultan Selim et le Grand Aéroport d’Istanbul.Cette thèse propose de suivre une approche complémentaire à cette littérature, qui considère la mobilisation des investissements de l’Etat de mégaprojets urbains par le gouvernement comme une méthode stratégique pour recréer et distribuer la rente foncière, pour stimuler l’économie, pour gouverner à la fois le discours politique et la narration développementaliste, et, enfin, pour restructurer les relations socio-spatiales et la mémoire collective. Dans cette approche, les infrastructures sont conceptualisées dans le contexte plus général des assemblages du capital et du pouvoir, où elles ont la capacité de transformer non seulement les terres, mais aussi les relations de nature sociale. Ainsi, la théorie de l’assemblage est mobilisée pour étudier ces différents aspects des mégaprojets urbains, tant du point de vue des acteurs qui y sont impliqués dans et touchés par ces derniers, que du point de vue des symboles et des idées qui les entourent.L’argument principal de cette thèse est que l’investissement des infrastructures de grande ampleur offre au gouvernement Turc, un ensemble d’outils, de politiques, de moments et d’espaces stratégiques et tactiques, qui permettent d’intervenir sur le plan économique et de légitimer les discours hégémoniques, tout en transformant le pays et la société en profondeur et de manière incontournable, à travers du « béton ». La première partie qui porte sur la capacité transformative des infrastructures, analyse la mobilisation de divers mécanismes autour des deux projets étudiés, tels que les modifications législatives, l’expropriation des terres et des ressources naturelles, les contrats publics pour le développement d’infrastructures urbaines et les partenariats public-privé dans le secteur de la construction. La deuxième partie porte sur la manière dont AKP a réinventé les mégaprojets d’infrastructure présumément pour contribuer au développement et à la pérennisation d’une nouvelle bourgeoisie conservative. La troisième et dernière partie explore enfin le contexte commun des dirigeants politiques et économiques de la Turquie, à travers l’analyse des waqfs. Elle montre que comme le point focal des « aspirations et des visions grandissantes » d’Istanbul, les mégaprojets urbains constituent également le terrain de réinvention de l’identité nationale. Cette identité réinventée est en réalité une réincarnation des origines Ottomane, Islamique et Turkic de la Turquie et est animée par les symboles, les rituels et les représentations fondées sur la glorification d’un passé ottoman. En somme, alors que « l’économie du don » qui est remodelé à l’ère d’AKP autour de secteur de la construction permet à certains groupes sociaux de s’encastrer dans le système politique et économique, elle produit également de l’exclusion pour des groupes dissidents
A “new political and physical animal” – urban mega projects – have become ubiquitous throughout the world’. In Turkey, they have become part of our daily lives since 2011 when Erdoğan, the Prime Minister of time, announced his Kanal Istanbul project by saying: “Turkey deserves to see 2023 with such a big, crazy and great project. Today, we are rolling up our sleeves for one of world's greatest projects, which cannot even be compared with Panama Canal, Suez Canal or Corinth Canal”. Since then, we have been witnessing urban transformation by mega infrastructure projects (UMPs) as well as social and political transformation of the country by economic policies in order to keep alive the construction sector, with the associated emergence of a bourgeoisie during the AKP era. We selected two UMPs for our dissertation: Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and Istanbul Grand Airport in Istanbul. Our research attempts to conceptualise infrastructure policies as “technologies of government”. When we look at the Turkish case, the literature on infrastructure analysis has generally adopted a limited focus on either infrastructure as a technical object that transforms the landscape or on its success/failure based on economic and engineering criteria. An alternative approach would consider the government’s adoption of state-led urban mega project investments as a strategic method in order to re-create and distribute the land rent, to boost the economy, to preside over both the political discourse and developmentalist narrative and finally, to reform the socio-spatial relations and collective memory. In this work, we advance a different approach to infrastructure. Rather than considering a mega infrastructure project as a technical object which would be usually evaluated by success and failure stories, we conceptualise it within the wider assemblages of capital and power, where it has the capacity to be a transformative mechanism not only on land but also on social relations. Thus, we mobilize assemblage thinking to discuss thoroughly all aspects of urban mega projects: the actors involved in and influenced by these mega projects, and the symbols and ideas that come into existence around them. The main argument of this dissertation is that large-scale infrastructure investment provides the Turkish government with strategic and tactical tools, policies, moments, and spaces through which to intervene in the economy and to govern and manage the legitimisation of a hegemonic discourse, while transforming the country and society profoundly and irreversibly by the “concrete”. Part 1 elaborates on infrastructures' capacity of being a transformative mechanism not only on land but also on social relations, through the mobilisation of various mechanisms such as law amendments, expropriation of natural resources, public contracts for urban infrastructure development, and public–private partnerships in the construction sector. Part 2 examines how the AKP has re-invented mega infrastructure projects to allegedly contribute to sustainability as well as to the development of a new conservative bourgeoisie. Finally, Part 3 explores the common background of the economic and political rulers of Turkey through an analysis of waqfs. While the focal point for the “growing aspirations and visions” of Istanbul, urban mega projects also constitute the centre of a reinvented milli kimlik (national identity). This re-invented identity is reincarnated in the Ottoman, Islamic, and Turkic origins of Turkey and has been framed in symbols, rituals and representations based on the glorification of the Ottoman past, while ignoring multicultural and multi-ethnic components. Indeed, we find that whilst the construction-based “gift economy” reshaped during the AKP era enables some social groups to be embedded into the political and economic system, it creates a dis-embeddedness for the dissident groups

Turkish metropolises suffer poor infrastructure systems and weak structures due to unplanned urbanization as a result of migration waves from rural to urban. Slum clearance was a necessity to provide safe and quality life in the metropolises. Through the enaction of related laws and establishment of Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ) a new era started on urban regeneration. Since 90’s Turkey has been implementing several Urban Regeneration Projects (URP) due to fortify and change the urban structure. Some of those URPs are succeeded others are not. This paper elucidates the urbanization and squatter history of Turkey since 60’s in parallel with clarification of terms like urban area, urbanization and urban transformation, in order to understand the background of urban transformation in Turkey. Also, squatter areas and methods that implemented to transform them are defined. Finally, several URPs are demonstrated to discuss pros & cons.

The main aim of this thesis is to examine urban movements in Istanbul, Turkey. More specifically, the research has two principal objectives: first, to expand the existing conceptual framework of urban movement studies by critically examining the present literature on urban movements and considering people’s experiences in the cities of global South; and second, to make an empirical contribution to the literature on urban movements in general and the developing literature on urban movements in Turkey, in particular by analysing political mobilisation surrounding contested urban regeneration projects in Istanbul, Turkey. The thesis argues that the research framework of current urban movements’ literature is too static and limited to be able to develop a dynamic, relational and comparative approach to the analysis of mobilisation in urban space in different geographies. The case materials presented demonstrate that the political and social relations established between actors of urban politics are enmeshed in a dynamic political process, and that the motivations that inform the development of urban movements can change over time. In addition, the issues causing conflicts and political mobilisation are perceived and experienced differently under different conditions, which results in a diversification of the ways in which mobilisation is pursued. As such, a-priori assumptions about the emergence and goals of political mobilisation in urban space – for example, assumptions that urban movements necessarily are progressive and a part of a wider political agenda – is shown to be inadequate for examining the dynamics of mobilisation in different settings. In developing these theoretical arguments, the research constructs a dynamic relational framework to the analysis of political mobilisation in urban space, contributing in turn to the existing conceptual framework of urban movement and political mobilisation studies. Empirically, these issues were explored through case studies of two urban renewal areas in the historical neighbourhoods of Istanbul, Turkey, using a qualitative Critical Realist methodology. Like many other megacities, Istanbul has experienced an immense process of socio-economic and spatial restructuring in which the state has played a fundamental role. Moreover, in these new urbanisation dynamics, urban renewal projects have become conspicuously contested, leading to mobilisation at a variety of spatial and governmental scales. This thesis focuses on the different responses of local people in two urban renewal areas in order to examine the factors that enable and inhibit mobilisation. Specifically, the research is framed around two contrasting cases: the Fener-Balat-Ayvansaray renewal area, which is taken as a case of political action, and the Suleymaniye renewal area, which is taken as the case of inaction. The research findings show that the intervention of the state is not the only factor causing mobilisation in the localities. Other factors include: the condition of the built environment and the formation of spatial relations in the localities; the condition of the property market and how property owners value their assets in terms of its exchange and use values; the political relations between the state and the residents; social relations within the localities; and the implementation process of the urban renewal projects. These factors are derived from the empirical findings of the research and combined into a dynamic conceptual framework that contributes to reconfiguring existing analyses of urban movements. As such, by its critical relationship to existing urban social movement theory and through its novel methodology, the thesis aims to make significant contributions both to the conceptualisation and empirical analysis of contentious politics in urban space.

Transformation of informal housing settlements by urban renewal and redevelopment has become one of the major tasks of Turkish urban policy in the last decades. Nevertheless, in some cases urban redevelopment could not be facilitated due to low level of investments
and moreover most of the transformed settlements are still problematic with added difficulties brought out by urban transformation itself such as lower levels of physical quality, gentrification or dislocation. Understanding the sources of these implications and incompetence would be an important step for developing more successful policy and planning tools. To serve this aim, hypothesizing that there would be available regulatory tools including planning besides policy options relying on finance for local and central authorities and planning institutions on the basis of their political and regulative power and resources to overcome most of these bottlenecks
I have carried out both a theoretical and an empirical research to discuss the relevancy of this hypothesis. First, I have developed an institutional model of urban transformation to unravel the constituent shaping factors and actors of the process. Secondly, I have implemented this model for the analyses of urban transformation in informal settlements in Turkey with a case study in Sentepe and carried out surveys with households and interviews with developers to focus more on household and developer perspectives in terms of their aims and the implications they have an impact upon and are subjected to. Thus, this thesis includes an institutional analysis of urban transformation in informal settlements of Turkey, outlines the major problems of implications, discusses the links between factors, actors, events and their implications and accordingly searches for clues of efficient policies and better practices in urban transformation with a case study in Sentepe Neighbourhood. The findings of the empirical study revealed that first and foremost, the problem of disinvestment and very low levels of transformation in the area have been solved dramatically by a new '
project'
by the local authority in 2005, after almost twenty years passed since the first redevelopment plans were prepared. Moreover, the results indicate that the Sentepe Transformation Project could also managed to avoid the well-known unintended or undesirable social outcomes of a typical redevelopment like dislocation of residents or social integration of initial and new residents. These findings of the research suggest that local authorities and planning institutions could avoid some but not all of the bottlenecks and drawbacks of market mechanism in urban redevelopment even by making minor changes in the institutional environment such as providing information flow, easing the procedures for investors and developers, changing subdivisions and planning additional green areas for increasing the attractiveness of investments by builders in that area, and adoption of more participative approaches for developers and households. On the other hand, if the complementary housing and non-housing policies for redevelopment
such as affordable housing, employment or rent assistance are lacking, some of the outlined problems remain hard to solve. For local authorities and planners, these findings suggest the importance of accommodating policies, which are more responsive to the locality, to the needs and perceptions of local residents, local developers and local economy as well as of considering vulnerable sections of the society. For central authorities, on the other hand, the findings underline the cruciality of upper scale policies both directly and indirectly related to housing such as affordable housing and employment in the overall success of any local urban redevelopment practice. Once we have the institutional model to imply on various urban renewal processes, it would be helpful to carry out comparative studies for future research to better understand and evaluate various policy tools.

This thesis investigates the transformation of cities under the influence of globalization and the socio-spatial impacts of the process. The thesis asserts that global processes, with their neo-liberal agenda, influence the creation of new urban environments and new conditions of living and working in cities by triggering new dynamics in the functioning of certain urban mechanisms such as labour and land markets, which are conceptualized in the study as &lsquo
urban interface mechanisms&rsquo
. The thesis also asserts that as well as the ongoing functioning of urban interface mechanisms, the resilience of urban inhabitants is also an important determinant of the socio-spatial outcomes of the experienced urban transformation. The influence of new dynamics in labour and land markets are discussed for understanding how the changes in the conditions of living and working for urban inhabitants are created, how the different types of vulnerabilities and opportunities for urban inhabitants are created within this process and what is the role of social resilience, measured by the adaptive capacity of the inhabitants, in the determination of the socio-spatial effects of the urban transformation process. In order to answer these questions a research study had been conducted in a growing business centre in Istanbul, the Levent &ndash
Maslak axis, and in the surrounding neighbourhoods, which have different physical, functional and socio-economic patterns. The experience of different inhabitant groups had been investigated and compared in order to understand the parts played by neo-liberal policies, functioning of interface mechanisms and social resilience in the experienced outcomes of urban transformation.

This paper examines how green areas may be used as strategic recovery zones in the event of an earthquake and how these zones may strengthen the resilience for future quakes in Istanbul. The paper also refers to investigating why the planning system in Turkey can pose a threat for the provision of green areas. Green areas have proven to be an important feature in natural disaster stricken cities for coping with disasters by strengthening the city’s resilience. However due to rapid population growth and high demand for housing and infrastructure, green areas risk disappearing when the city expands. This problem is evident all major cities of turkey and particularly in the country’s largest city Istanbul, where green areas are benign exploited instead of preserved; leaving larger city’s such as Istanbul vulnerable for future earthquake disasters. The high demand for new housing and functioning infrastructure in conjunction with a complicated planning system in Turkey leads to a vaguely regulated planning system, which creates a threat to green areas. This creates an uncertain situation for the city's ability and resilience to withstand a future earthquake disaster. The study will be based on a qualitative method. The empirical material will be presented through a previous research overview and a case study, which is also based on previous research on the subject. Essay analysis will be performed based on a quantitative text analysis based on concepts; urban disaster resilience, green infrastructure, land use planning and governance, presented in the essays theoretical framework. The general conclusions of the study are that there is a lack of good governance in the planning system in Turkey, which creates restrictions for a sustainable and resilient urban planning in the city of Istanbul. Green areas are resilience and capacity building areas in the city to handle future earthquake disaster, by providing open recovery zones in a densely built city. It is therefore important to plan for a long-term land use and to regard the green areas in the city to uphold strong urban disaster resilience for future earthquakes in Istanbul.

In this thesis, socio-spatial processes regarding the distribution of transport infrastructures are investigated and the ways in which inequalities occur as a result of these processes are discussed. The transport system of Istanbul and particularly, the Istanbul Metro, the first modern subway of the city, has been the focus of this research. In order to understand inequalities in transport, social and spatial justice theories have been employed. Discussions have been extended in order to include different approaches to the issues of transport inequality from various disciplines such as geography, sociology and urban planning. In this sense, this study is multi-disciplinary. Debates on land rent theory, space and power, gendered mobilities, social exclusion and the right to the city are among the many concerns that formed the main arguments of this research. In this thesis, transport is taken as a fixed, an immobile commodity that produces mobile and dynamic commodities such as mobilities and flows. Through such interaction socio-spatial processes are produced which may or may not consist of inequalities. Issues related to inequalities are deconstructed in the literature review in order to help reconstruct a theory of uneven socio-spatial development as a result of the distribution of transport infrastructure investments. Discussions on theory are further examined through four empirical chapters each of which investigates different issues related to transport inequalities. A mixed-method approach has been used in order to fully explore the complexity of the subject and integrate different epistemological positions. Through four empirical chapters, socio-spatial inequalities are discussed with regard to daily mobility levels of different socio-economic groups in Istanbul and the Istanbul Metro as well as in-direct economic impacts of the Metro and the socio-political processes it generates. The findings support some of the previous research on social inequalities based on transport, especially on how gender, education and employment become important determinants of travel time, trip frequency, trip purposes and the use of different transport modes. Yet, the thesis presents unexpected results on the impacts of the Istanbul Metro. On the one hand, the Istanbul Metro can be regarded as a just infrastructure as it accommodates users from every socio-economic background. On the other hand, it can be inequitable as it is likely to facilitate the accumulation of capital in certain areas, and circulation of producers and consumers of this capital within the same spatial unit, the Metro itself. This thesis proposes that horizontal and vertical socio-spatial inequalities exist both individually and together in various contexts in Istanbul. These inequalities are based on the spatial distribution of transport infrastructure investments, power relationships between different socio-economic groups, the dominance of politically powerful groups and the historical development of the urban space. Together this thesis is in an attempt to establish a comprehensive narrative of the discourses of inequalities in transport planning and policy and makes suggestions on the ways to reduce such inequalities. Moreover, this thesis is an original contribution to the literature as it links hitherto unconnected strands of theory in transport geography and social and spatial justice literatures.

Co-operatives and housing co-operatives as main consideration of the dissertation are historically and philosophically developed institutions. Co-operative culture, although emerged in Britain during early phases of the industrial revolution, has been adapted by other countries within socialist, social democratic and even communist systems. In the contemporary era, housing co-operatives are still in existence and contribute housing production all over the world in every economic and political system. Institutional development of housing co-operatives in Turkey can be regarded as a process of adapting a Western institution and it shows how contextual differences result in changes in terms of ideology and implementation. In this respect, the thesis aims to evaluate Turkish housing co-operatives by putting forward their contextual differences. Housing co-operatives are non-governmental organizations and produce considerable amount of housing in Turkey. The dissertation regards housing co-operatives as a kind of collective action and discusses underlying factors of success of them with respect to collective action theories. Free riding, group size, critical mass, heterogeneity, network density and selective incentives are the factors obtained from the Theory of Free Rider and the Theory of Critical Mass and discussed regarding the Turkish co-operative development case to be tested via &ldquo
The Housing Co-operatives Interview Survey&rdquo
in istanbul and Ankara. The thesis&rsquo
findings provide that despite there might be expected effects of factors on success of housing co-operatives, these factors might be different due to the fact that they depends on desires of the critical mass
whether to act in favor of collective or individual benefits.

Adopting an inside out perspective to city branding, this doctoral thesis examines the significance of residents and their relationship towards cities in terms of association, identity and ownership of the physical environment, in the context of city branding. This is important because the growing interest towards city branding not only challenged the traditional understanding of branding concepts but also forced academics and practitioners to seek ways to mould and shape existing concepts to the context of city branding. This qualitative study was undertaken within a constructivist grounded theory methodology and uses Leeds, UK and Istanbul, Turkey as deliberately contrasting case studies. In accordance with grounded theory, the literature was only used to inform rather than direct the research design. The sampling design involved initial and theoretical sampling and in total of 22 residents interviewed from both cities. The emergent place brand identity mosaic comprises of four main categories of social process (SP), place attachment (PA), sense of place (SoP) and built environment (BE), and the most significant feature of the place identity mosaic is that it is processual, dynamic, and time and context specific. In terms of contribution to knowledge, the present study bridges the gap in between the subject fields of branding (brand management) and urban studies by proposing an inside out approach to branding cities. The findings indicate that the place brand identity mosaic elements provide a platform to explain how residents make sense of where they live and to begin to understand the concept of the city brand identity. Moreover, in regards to practice, it brings a new perspective to the existing city managements by highlighting a focal point of “keeping the existing customers happy” through investigating and understanding the role and significance of residents, their attachment to where they live and how this insight can be cooperated into creating and developing a sustainable city brand.

This research is focused on understanding the ways in which the community orientation of the Kazak ethnic community in Istanbul, Turkey have contributed to their economic success which in turn encourages strong community, and the nature of their community-based support networks for providing material and cultural support. It examines the role of social capital and cohesion in maintaining the community with its positive implications for the continued building of wealth or sourcing of funding on a community level. The theoretical concepts relevant to this project are based on the ideas that the shared values of a community are a positive force that allow communities to achieve common goals and is particularly important in the context of an economy that favors cheap labor and a highly mobile workforce, both factors that negatively affect the asset building and place-based rootedness that communities require for their stability. Key community entrepreneurs and leaders were the main sources of information for this research. The findings of this thesis suggest that it is a combination of factors such as the failure of the community to maintain its stable economic position through unfortunate business practices and choices coupled with external market forces that slowed this community economic development and disabled its continued growth.

With the emergence of urban transformation concept in 1980s, the concept of eligibility has also started to be discussed as a new term in Turkey. However, the absence of a sustainable urban transformation law which defines the criteria of eligibility of stakeholders has undoubtedly brought about violations and disagreements between stakeholders. Especially the uncertified gecekondu possessors who are not determined as eligible stakeholders have been subjected to forced and arbitrary evictions. This study aims to clarify the problem of eligibility of uncertified gecekondu possessors in urban transformation and attempts to determine the criteria for the eligibility of this particular group. It argues that since the claims of uncertified gecekondu possessors like right to adequate housing, labor and possession have moral characters which do not depend upon legal acts, they can not be criteria of eligibility. The legal property ownership must be the criteria of eligibility in urban transformation practices in the law. On the other hand, this study urges that no matter living in a legal or illegal housing, the vulnerable families who lack of basic economic security and living in the project area must be determined as eligible stakeholders. In the first part of this master study, the problem of eligibility was discussed from theoretical perspective. In the second part, this problem was discussed in the case of Dikmen Valley 4th and 5th phases Urban Transformation Project. The knowledge obtained from the case can be useful for the local governments to develop sustainable policies on this particular problem.

The urban transformation shows its effects world wide, and changes spatial and social conditions of cities, but Turkey faces the worst outcomes of this planning system. In every city, urban transformation projects mainly improve the life conditions of upper classes , albeit we can notice some practices focusing on low classes, as well.However in Turkey, the urban transformation projects not only lacks any democratic, participative or social, goals; but also tries to gain the most possible profit for the private sector. As a result, , we see urban social movements protesting this uninclusive planning system in Turkey, especially in Istanbul.Since urban transformation projects in Turkey mainly focus on the areas that experience the property or neighborhood issues, the ghetto affected the moost by these projects. Taken into account that ghetto inhabitants are experienced with urban social protests life-long; the most powerful disapproval against the urban transformation projects are observed in these kinds of neighborhoods.Ghetto inhabitants describe urban transformation projects as “non participative”, “non focused on inhabitants” and they oppose against them in two different ways, informal or juridical. These movements become more and more visible in urban Istanbul.In this context, the aim of this study is to analyze the urban social movements in Istanbul raised against the urban transformation. Although the opposing groups are composed of many nongovernmental organizations, university students, academics, international organizations, I rather focus on residents who are influenced directly by these projects and concentrate on organized societal movements of the city inhabitants. Briefly, the ghetto inhabitants are the research object of this dissertation.During my study, I addressed some questions such as “Who are against the urban transformation?, Why are they against it?, What are the aims of opponents?, How can they oppose? , What do they do to institutionalize their opposition in neighborhoods?” and exposed the features of anti – urban transformation behaviors in slums in İstanbul. While answering these questions, I posed some hypotheses and try to prove them:-The slum residents opposing urban transformation have been trying to protect their lifestyle. - The residents cannot be called as conservatives, since they are open to new ideas and to work with other groups.-They tend to form neighborhood associations and become organized under one roof.So in slums, there have been seen a common attitude, which can be described as not constant, not having a particular leader, dominant ideology, or coordination . This study aims to analyze this new behavior, which is against urban decisions.But as Castells says: “While researching the movements against the urban planning systems, considering them only as some consumer reactions is not enough. We also have to analyze the relation between social contradictions and their movements’ aim.” So, we can say that in this dissertation, movements against urban planning system will be investigated by correlating their social conditions and aims. Urban social movement will be examined through Istanbul. Choosing Istanbul has some several important reasons. First of all, Istanbul is a strategic hub, which has been among major global cities, and bears the characteristics of global cities. Locally and internationally it should be described as a sign post for capital hosts, attracting the attention of fund groups.Istanbul is the city, where migrants try to survive or habitants who were pushed out of capitalist system because of their ethnic origin, religion or sect. They can only riddance by their social network or standing together.İstanbul stands out with these characteristiscs, which make the community more ‘free’ but on the other hand, ‘conflicted. The fact that Istanbul possesses both the government constraint and the counterview makes it one of the most convenient cities for the study. The general info, which was obtained from all of the ghettos in İstanbul, ends with concurrentdetailed research in Kazımkarabekir district in Sarıyer .The reasons to choose Kazımkarabekir can be listed as follows:-The district, which is composed of many ethnic groups, has their own associations-The relationships in the neighbourhood are very strong.-Socialist groups are replaced with ideological groups -District is located on the sea side of Sarıyer, which is one of the attractions of high-income group.-Although there have not seen any ongoing urban plans around the quarters of Kazımkarabekir , experiences gained from other ghettos made , the district community alert and already rised an opposition against urban transformation.This dissertation comprised of three mains chapters. Our first chapter includes an historical context about Turkish planning systems, second is about the urban social movement especially against the planning decisions and the final chapter produces our research results about Kazımkarabekir neighborhood making a synthesis with the previous two chapters. In the first chapter, primarily emphasize on Turkey urbanization, describing it informal and analyzing in 4 periods. First period of urbanization, is a result of the formation of nation-state; and this is an important part of modernization of Turkey. Second period begins after the Second World War, and indicates the beginning of the neo-liberalization of the state. Third is the fastest urbanization period of Turkey, in this period we appear a huge increase on urban rents. In that the final period of the urbanization beginning in the late 90’. This period changes all the urban areas and social structures. Regeneration and transformation projects cause the gentrification.The second chapter of study focuses on the sharp shift of informal urbanization process to a capital based urban regeneration. Our new urbanization practice, which is not unique or integral, is now embodied by the value of change. That new urbanization practice had a great reaction of the inhabitants, occasionally demonstrated by serious protests, trials and petitions as well. Even there are several arguments rising from disagreed groups, they present a distinctive overlapping on inequity, the lack of public participation and injustice debates. In respect to this, first of all, the second section theoretically argued the social and urban movement. This debate aimed to reveal how class struggles of a society are turned into urban public movements. Afterwards, similar protests against public interferences of different societies from all over the world are examined by aiming to find the common characteristics of the acts. Lastly, determinations about ghetto neighborhoods’ historical experiments of urban actions and current appearance of Istanbul are taken into consideration. The section includes a table of the group of actors against urban regeneration that followed by the comments about the ghetto neighborhoods’ actions. In addition to the various of arguments about urban regeneration, there are various of contrary acts. It should be admitted that the struggle of ghetto neighborhoods are intended on the right of conserving the housing and the way of life.In this regard, commitment to the neighborhood, having good affairs with the neighbors, countrymen networks and promises of the urban municipality are the important factors that affect the power of the resistance. The character of the campaign can be determined by the other effective factors, such as ethnical and religious balance, political view and the activities of the dominant political groups within the neighborhood. The third chapter that consists of three sections focuses on the field study of the Kazimkarabekir neighborhood. In the first section, the physical and social characteristics are detailed. Especially, investments in the neighborhood within the last 10 years targeting high income leveled residents and the factory shut downs are listed. On the other hand, planning process is checked and the neighborhood relevant plans are examined.In the second section, resistance movement and its historical basis are examined; social solidarity networks and demand based movements are presented. Thus, the way of the inhabitants ‘neighborhood’ perceptions, such as political view, ethnical identity or generation difference, are defined. In the last section, inner dynamics and public relations of the neighborhood union are examined. The opinion of the local habitants about the union and the institutionalization of the movement are stated.Nonetheless, according to different perceptions of neighborhoods, political views or ethnical relations and generation contrasts, manners of claiming neighborhood has marked. At the last chapter, internal and external relationships of neighborhood association is studied, as well as the thoughts of the neighborhood inhabitants about the association and the institutionalization of the formation has been emphasized. In conclusion, it would not be wrong to say the activity in slum areas is related with the previous slum movements or maybe continuation of them. However the new- slum movement is being shaped, in a way that inhabitants utter their demands freely, concerning about environmental, cultural issues or other neighborhoods. It is difficult to say a movement which contains plenty of different communities has a strong organization structure. Still, one of the features of the slum movement is, in an urgent case, whichever political view people support or whatever ethnical identity they belong, people take part in that movement.

Ce travail veut apporter des éclairages sur la façon dont la ville d’aujourd’hui est conçue en revisitant à la fois les pratiques urbaines (approche néolibérale et approche par le risque). À travers l’étude comparative de deux quartiers d’Istanbul, Sarıgöl et Tozkoparan, désignés à risques et soumis à des projets de rénovation urbaine, nous avons analysé les objectifs des projets, leur contenu, les bénéficiaires de ces projets et les populations affectés. Sur quels motifs et réalités se basent les politiques publiques urbaines ? Comment les projets sont-ils légitimés par le risque ? Répondent-ils aux problèmes urbains et sociaux présents ? Occasionnent-ils de nouveaux problèmes sociaux ? Les constats établis sur les conséquences des pratiques de rénovation urbaine, nous ont poussé à nous intéresser aux enjeux sociaux émergeant des dynamiques urbaines conflictuelles. Comment les populations sont-elles ou seront-elles affectées par ces rénovations ? La réaction des habitants ?
This work aims to shed light on how the city of today is designed by revisiting both urban practices (neoliberal approach and risk approach). Through the comparative study of two districts in Istanbul, Sarıg.l and Tozkoparan, designated at risk and subject to urban renewal projects, we analysed the objectives of the projects, their content, the beneficiaries and affected populations. On what grounds and realities are urban public policies based ? How are projects legitimized by risk ? Do they respond to the urban and social problems ? Do they cause new social problems ? The findings on the consequences of urban renewal practices have led us to focus on social issues emerging from conflictual urban dynamics. How are populations affected or will they be affected by these renovations ? The reaction of the inhabitants ?

This study is about "transness" in contemporary Istanbul. As this thesis demonstrates, transness is an urban phenomenon, an identity specific to time and space. In Istanbul, it is a subculture, defined by sex, gender, sexuality, class, and ethnicity. "Transness: An Urban Phenomenon in Istanbul" situates itself as part of a conversation about marginal subcultures in Gender Studies, Queer Theory, and especially Transgender Studies. This study fills two gaps: the temporal gap between the early Turkish scholarship on trans issues and the contemporary trans world of Istanbul; and the conceptual gap between trans words -- transvestite, transsexual, and transgender -- and trans identities in Istanbul. Furthermore, this study brings the current issues and discussions of US-based queer scholarship into the Turkish context and does so by discussing recent Turkish examples of media representations ranging from a documentary to a movie, and to a newspaper article; and by analyzing certain drag performances. All these examples discussed in this work exemplify the temporality and spatiality of transness, its relation to heteronormativity, and its publicness as a subculture. As is suggested by my examples, transness is 'out-of-time' and 'out-of-place,' always already public, and, as a performance, it asserts individual identity. Moreover, it is also always a public performance. All the examples point to the complex relationship between queerness and transness, and claim that the queerness of transness is always contextual. Combining the detailed analysis of these examples with the ethnographic work on Istanbul's trans world, "Transness: An Urban Phenomenon in Istanbul" provides answers to the following questions: "What is transness?" "What is the impact time and space have on transness within the urban structure of Istanbul?" "What is the relationship between dominant normativity and transness?" Finally, this MA thesis offers new perspectives and opens new paths for further research on the topic intended to help imagining new futures for trans folk in Istanbul.
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The environment has become an important issue in planning agendas as a consequence of the industrial era. Planners have begun to use scientific findings and strategies in solving problems. Among these strategies, the greenway planning strategy is promoted by landscape-ecological planning proponents and employed by planners because of its multifunctional features. Along with the positive science-based strategies, social sciences began to discuss the meaning of environment in the light of post-modern perspectives after the late 1980s. The environment is recognized as a discourse based on intertwined social, economic and political understandings. There are different discourses on the meaning of environment among different countries; moreover, there is a significant distinction between the environmental discourses of industrial countries and developing countries. This research investigates the modes of adaptability of the green-way planning strategy in the Istanbul Metropolitan Area (IMA), Turkey, by exploring the differences in environmental discourses between industrial and developing countries. It is argued that the environmental discourses are interconnected in the process of making and implementing physical plans that have ecological concerns. Moreover, industrial and developing countries exhibit relatively sharper differences in environmental discourses than within the industrial countries or within the developing countries. The investigation has been undertaken in two phases. In the fast phase two industrial country metropolitan area plans (Toronto and Portland, OR) and two developing country metropolitan area plans (Jakarta and Mexico City) are examined. Based upon this examination, a draft strategy has been drawn. In the following phase, the possibility of implementing the strategy in the IMA is investigated through interviews. The research concludes that environmental discourses differ in developing countries as compared to industrial countries in two ways. First, developing countries do not have environmental discourses of their own in the same way as do the industrial countries; they utilize mostly the discourses imported from industrial countries. Second, the content of environmental discourses can be subject to weakening or under-utilization, as in the case of sustainability. The research also found that the greenway planning strategy can be adapted to a developing country's planning system within the limitations of the planning tradition and environmental priorities of that country.