Speaker
Description
In the current era of rapid migration, it is stated that one out of 30 people is on the move, and the proportion of the population living in cities will increase to 66% in 2050 (IOM, 2024). Migration corridors have started to take shape in the last 30 years due to neoliberal economic policies, war, displacement and climate crisis. Turkey is located between important migration corridors such as Syria-Turkey and Turkey-Germany.
In the 2000s, there has been a diversity turn in migration studies. The recognition that countless ethnic groups now live together in cities (Berg and Sigona, 2015), that different factors beyond ethnicity, such as class, gender, age have become determinants in the formation of the dynamics of social life (Vertovec, 2007), and that all these practices directly affect the shaping of space (Berg and Sigona, 2015) has gained importance. Zapata-Barrero, Caponio and Scholten (2017) talk about the local turn, where the socio-spatial correspondence of diversity is understood locally in neighborhoods. In cities, the everyday negotiation of differences takes place at the micro level, so these practices are shaped by and shape space (Amin, 2002; Gidley, 2013; Nowicka and Vertovec, 2013; Wessendorf, 2015).
Turkey is not only located between important migration corridors, but also receives migration from different countries due to its location. Istanbul is the city where this demand is the highest. In 2024, 1 million 87 thousand migrants are living in Istanbul, which is about 7% of the population. Şişli and Beyoğlu districts appear as diverse districts where approximately 30 thousand migrants from different countries, who only have residence permits, live (TUIK, 2023). Kurtuluş, which is located at the intersection of the two districts, is a place that maintains its residential character, unlike other districts in the city center.
Differentiated from other parts of the city with dominant immigrant groups by its diversity, Kurtuluş is also a place where differences have historically continued to coexist. Greek immigrants settled in this neighborhood during the Ottoman period, and Armenians started to live there in the early 20th century. Afterwards, the neighborhood underwent a significant demographic transformation as some of the non-Muslims were forced to leave Turkey. After the 1980s, Kurtuluş was already inhabited by different groups, but as Turkey became a part of international migration networks in the 1990s, the neighborhood also attracted international migrants. After the 2000s, a significant part of the effects of the dynamic human mobility around Turkey, both due to geographical proximity and global reasons, can also be observed in Kurtuluş. Understanding the impact of a diverse neighborhood, on socio-spatial transformation is important for developing planning policies at different scales and for discussions on an inclusive planning approach.
In this context, the research aims to analyze the socio-spatial transformation of Kurtuluş neighborhood in the last 35 years. A mixed methodology was used, including the 'trans-ethnography' method of migration studies (Hall, 2016), spatial analysis techniques of the planning discipline, and interviews to understand the neighborhood. Spatial transformations were identified through satellite and street images from different years, the change of international networks established through the transformation of local workplaces was mapped trans-ethnographically, and interviews were conducted with 15 residents and migrants from different social backgrounds.
Following the fieldwork, three spatial transformations that are directly influenced by the differentiating actors of diversity and this shaped social fabric were identified. The first of these is the transformation of housing forms and use, the second is the transformation of public space and urban gaps, and the third is the transformation of sectors and workplaces. These forms of spatial transformation shaped by diversity offer concrete findings for policy makers.
References
Amin, Ash (2002) Ethnicity and the Multicultural City: Living with Diversity. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 34(6), pp.959-980.
Berg, Mette Louise and Sigona, Nando (2013) Ethnography, diversity and urban space, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, 20 (4), pp. 347-360.
Gidley, Ben (2013) Landscapes of belonging, portraits of life: researching everyday multiculture in an inner city estate. Identities, 20(4), pp.361-376.
Hall, S. M. (2016) Super-diverse street: a 'trans-ethnography' across migrant localities. In Bulmer, M. and Solomos, J. (eds.) Cities, Diversity and Ethnicity. London: Routledge.
IOM (2024) World migration report. [Online] available at: file:///Users/bengisuertek/Downloads/pub2023-047-l-world-migration-report-2024_13.pdf
Nowicka, Magdalena and Vertovec, Steven (2013) Comparing convivialities: Dreams and realities of living-with-difference. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 17(4), pp.341-356.
TÜİK (2023) Turkey migration statistics.
Vertovec, Steven (2007) Super-diversity and its implications. Ethnic and Racial Studies, [online] 30(6), pp.1024-1054.
Wessendorf, Susan (2014) Commonplace diversity: social relations in a super-diverse context. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Zapata-Barrero, Richard, Caponio, Tiziana and Scholten, Peter (2017) Theorizing the 'local turn' in a multi-level governance framework of analysis: a case study in immigrant policies. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 83(2), pp.241-246.
| Keywords | diversity; socio-spatial transformation; local turn |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
