A social and spatial restructuring in inner-city residential areas: the case of Istanbul

Abstract

In Turkey over the last twenty years, the disruptive quality of such restructuring processes has been exacerbated by the government’s decision to embrace urban transformation as a tool to speed the country’s integration into the global economy. This article examines the process of “social and spatial restructuring” as called by the authors in inner-city housings of Istanbul, as part of a larger phenomenon. Its particular focuses are the methodologies of urban transformation and the social and spatial restructuring which reclaims the historical housing districts. The paper begins by developing a theoretical background to highlight the multidimensional structure of urban transformation and gentrification. Dealing with this framework, this paper examines different implementation processes between two different projects in the city of Istanbul. It compares two such approaches in Istanbul’s Fener-Balat and Suleymaniye neighborhoods, which are both located at the historic peninsula of the city.