Speaker
Description
Recent urban changes in Istanbul have reorganized not just physical areas but also the social fabric of daily life, all within the larger framework of authoritarian neoliberalism. The process and effects of this change, embodied in risk-based redevelopment, gentrification initiatives, and mega-projects, are profoundly gendered. This presentation examines how fear, mobility constraints, and socio-spatial marginalization impact women's urban experiences, drawing on feminist urban theory and current empirical research on Istanbul. It challenges the prevailing planning paradigms that make women invisible in creating and administering cities.
This presentation will focus on how women respond to discriminatory urban policies by creating resistance and micro-strategies. It interacts with the larger theme of conflict and contestation in Istanbul's urban planning by tying together the symbolic and material dimensions of space.
In doing so, the presentation asks how feminist insights might open alternative pathways for inclusive urban futures. It adds a gender-sensitive lens to the session's critical discourse on Istanbul as an "aspiring global city."
