Hale Sinirlioglu

According to Lefebvre, space is a social production, which is incomprehensible without the rhythms of everyday life. All rhythms of everyday life encompass a time-space relationship. One needs to outsee these rhythms to be able to understand and analyze them; a certain degree of externality triggers the analytical mind. To perceive that space is a social production, the present study deals with the porticos on the Moda Street of Kadıköy, which are regarded as an interface wherein the rhythm of life changes. To better understand the everyday life rhythms of these porticos, which are used by both pedestrians and shopkeepers, secondary actors of the porticoes, especially street vendors were observed. Finally, the reproduction of porticos with the everyday life and practices was discussed. It is hoped that this study will contribute to Lefebvre’s discussion of space theory, which asserts a conception of space as a social production.

During the last decade, ‘gated communities and urban segregation’ has become a widely analysed subject for the researchers. Due to the fast urban restructuring of neoliberalism, the number of gated communities still increases dramatically in many global and globalizing cities of the world. In this study, we examine the emergence of gated communities and fenced cities in Santiago, Chile and Istanbul, Turkey as a by-product of neoliberal economic system that followed the coup d’états. We argue that in both countries coups set in the Cold War mentality in order to ward off “communist takeover” and/or end “class welfare” were quick to install neoliberal policies as an antidote of such “dangers”. These policies set in motion during authoritarian times were continued under democratic regimes as well, preparing the ground for similar approach to the politics of space and place across continents. Therefore gated communities as “expression of inequality and exclusion” (Bosdorf, Hidalgo and Sanchez 2007) in both cities are essentially an outcome of late and heightened capitalism, coupled by the influence of globalization. Unlike the early examples of United States where gated communities were found in the peripheries of the city, in the cases of Santiago and Istanbul, gated communities appear as new closed settlements within the present fabric of the city, highlighting the contrast between different social classes living side by side. In these examples of newly globalizing cities, gated communities arise as products of the culture of consumption, in relation to the global phenomena. Being formed next to the poor neighbourhoods, the emerging trend of gated communities make these cities leading examples of social and spatial segregation. Leading to further segregation, “wall” becomes a tangible symbol of social and economic polarization. In this study, we highlight the parallel emergence of gated communities across continents and analyse the impact of top-down neoliberal reforms on spatial formations.

Keywords: coup d’états, neoliberal reforms, urban segregation, gated communities, Istanbul, Santiago

Kentsel sınırlar, farklı fiziksel, sosyal, ekonomik, politik ve kültürel etmenleri birleştirme ve ayırma işlevleri ile kentsel dokunun mekansal organizasyonunu oluşturan çok katmanlı ve karmaşık sistemlerdir. Sınırlama kavramı kentsel ölçekte yeni bir kavram olmamakla birlikte, 1970 sonrasında değişen günümüz kentlerinin sosyo-ekonomik yapısı yeni ayırma/ayrışma tiplerini de beraberinde getirmiştir. Bu bildiri, sınırların bu yeni fiziksel ve sosyo-ekonomik boyutlarını, kentteki yeni konut alanlarında ortaya çıkan fiziksel sınır ve sosyal ayrışma kavramları üzerinden incelemektedir. Kentsel sınırların bu yeni boyutları İstanbul'da yer alan Batı Ataşehir alan çalışması üzerinden irdelenmektedir. Ataşehir, 1980'lerde başlayan ve 1990'larda günümüzde Doğu Ataşehir olarak tanımlanan sınırlarda kalan ilk etabı tamamlanan bir uydu-kent projesi iken, yakın zamanda hızla büyüyerek İstanbul Anadolu Yakası'nın önemli bir ilçesi haline gelmiştir. 2000'ler sonrası Türkiye'deki genel kentsel politikalar ve kentse dönüşüm konsepti ile birlikte, 1980'lerde ikinci ve üçüncü etap olarak tasarlanan alanlar 2000 sonrası stratejilerine uygun olarak farklı bir şekilde biçimlenmiştir. Bu yerleşimler günümüzde Batı Ataşehir yüksek katlı kapalı site bölgesi ile halen inşaat halinde olan ve bölgeyi tartışmalı bir rantla etkileyen İstanbul Finans Merkezi projesidir. Bu bağlamda, yapılan araştırma, duvarlar, tel örgüler, güvenlikli kapılar ve geniş yolları ile lüks kapalı sitelerini, hemen yanındaki Barbaros Mahallesi'nden hem mekansal hem de toplumsal olarak ayıran/ayrıştıran Batı Ataşehir'i ve ayrıştırdığı Barbaros Mahallesi'ni kapsamaktadır. Bu bağlamda, bu bildirinin amacı, kentsel sınırları ve kentlerde görülen fiziksel sınırlar ve sosyo-ekonomik ayrışmanın boyutu ve dönüşümünü Batı Ataşehir/Barbaros Mahallesi örneği üzerinde sorgulamaktır. Alan araştırması, yazarın yapmış olduğu anket ve görüşmelerden ortaya çıkan analiz ve sonuçlara dayanmaktadır. Sınırın her iki tarafındaki konut ve konut çevresi kullanıcıları ile yapılan bu anket ve görüşmeler sonucunda, fiziksel sınırların sosyal sonuçları ve kentsel sınırların kentlilerin günlük yaşam pratikleri ve mekansal bellekleri üzerindeki etkileri görselleştirilecektir.

Borders are multi-layered and complex structures, forming the spatial organization of the urban landscape, through their dialectical function of connecting and separating different physical, social, economical, political and cultural phenomena. Though the idea of separation is not new, the ways of separation changed with the transformation of the social and economical structure of today's cities since 1970s. This paper focuses on the new physical and socioeconomic dimensions of borders and tries to overlay these two layers of urban texture, in the means of physical separation and social segregation within new residential developments of the city. These scopes of borders will be evaluated based on a case study of Batı Atasehir, a new urban transformation area in Istanbul. Atasehir, a satellite-city project of 1980s, with its first phase finished in 1990s, has recently grown to become an important district in the Asian side of Istanbul. With the changes of the concept of urban transformation in Turkey after 2000s, the second phase and third phase of the first project, were built otherwise in comparison to satellite-city of the 90s. These new developments are Batı (West) Atasehir, an area of high-rise residences of gated communities and the new Financial Center of Istanbul, which is currently under construction. The case study covers Batı Atasehir, which creates new types of urban spatialization and spatial segregation with its walls, fences, gates and roads, separating these new luxurious gated communities from the lower class neighborhood of Barbaros. The aim of the paper is to question the act of separation and the changes within the physical and social bordering on the example of Batı Atasehir/Barbaros neighborhood through the analysis and findings based.

Architecture and city have been the subject of various debates globally throughout the course of history. The contemporary debate on the subject is marked by impacts of change, transformation and forces of the global market. Globalization and the changes in the everyday cultural activities affect the new meanings of the "city" and "urban life". These transformations invite a new analysis of architecture and urbanity in view of the heterogeneous urban fabric. Especially, in Istanbul, the concept of urban transformation has gained momentum parallel to social, political, economic, geographic and cultural transformations of everyday life. Consequently, it becomes critical to reflect their impacts on the architectural design curriculum to enable a future conscious education. Contemporary everyday life should be focused on when approaching the city as a source and resource, and the city should be worked on actively to understand its complex and stratified structure. In this sense, the main aim of this paper is to discuss a design approach adopted by Turgut for various level design studios between 2007-2013, focusing on the 6th semester architectural design studio of Maltepe University during the Spring Semester 2013, which in particular works on an urban housing project in Hasanpaşa-Fikirtepe, a controversial current urban transformation area in Istanbul. The main purpose of this studio is to discuss the dynamic structure of Istanbul as a metropolis and to provide contextual and conceptual design solutions for new forms of urban housing. The "city" and "place" are considered as the main theme for the design approach. The process is intented to focus on the creation of a contemporary scenario; forming a new, multi-layered and multi-functional context, and creating different temporalities and spatialities on different layers in between the private and public areas, using the stuructural and social landscape of the metropolis as a main tool.