I am a scholar of urban political economy with a special focus on the financialization of housing, urban political ecology, and massive suburbanization. I received my PhD in Environmental Studies from York University in 2021.
Book Chapter.
Here is the citing version:
Üçoğlu, M. and Güney, M. K. (2024). “City with no Bou... more Book Chapter. Here is the citing version:
Üçoğlu, M. and Güney, M. K. (2024). “City with no Boundary: Suburbanization as a Mode of Wealth Accumulation in Istanbul”, in Hamel, Pierre (ed.) Politics of Periphery: Governing Suburbia, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp.174-196
The financialization of housing has become a crucial discussion point since the financial crisis ... more The financialization of housing has become a crucial discussion point since the financial crisis of 2008. This dissertation aims at focusing on the financialization of housing in the Greater Toronto Area and Istanbul Metropolitan Area. While the existing literature tends to describe the financialization of housing as the increasing impact of finance capital on the production of space, in this dissertation I argue that the financialization of housing appears as an economic growth model that transforms the socio-economic conditions of households at least in certain countries. The dissertation examines the cases of Brampton in GTA and Gktrk in IMA (Istanbul Metropolitan Area) in order to underline the ongoing property relations and the rise of suburban-financial nexus as an economic growth model. The financialization of housing occurs in many different forms in different countries. In certain countries it appears as a simple dynamic of the housing market, i.e. it is just a matter of mo...
Over the past two decades, the province of Ontario has deliberately upscaled regional governance ... more Over the past two decades, the province of Ontario has deliberately upscaled regional governance by creating a firm framework of land use planning. This entailed plans at the super-regional level that protect a large Greenbelt, designate growth centres, and roll out massive transit investment. This laid the foundation for a “real existing regionalism” in which growth management was produced through multiple conversations, contestations, technological change and territorial restructuring. By all accounts, this regime did not produce a perfect safeguard against sprawl – ostensibly the reason for its existence – but it shifted the practices of regional actors in land use and transportation politics and changed the politics around densities. This regime, which was in place for roughly fifteen years and coterminous with the reign of the Liberal Party of Ontario, has now come to an end...
ABSTRACT The financialization of housing and the massive suburbanization in many parts of the wor... more ABSTRACT The financialization of housing and the massive suburbanization in many parts of the world pose a plethora of significant problems that contribute to distortions of ecological balances (also known as the Anthropocene) which might reach an irreversible point. This work argues that the financialization of the suburban real estate market operates as a predatory formation. The theories of Urban Political Ecology (UPE) pave the way to understand how the suburbanization process in the twenty-first century has become one of the leading reasons of the Anthropocene. The task of UPE is to understand the political processes that shape, produce and reproduce the configuration of urban, nature and time. The latest suburbanization process has a special role in comprehending how processes and relations over the spatial configuration result in the collapse of ecological balances. This paper explores, through the case of Istanbul, how the financialization of housing market brings about a new ecological reality.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had crucial impacts on housing markets as working from home has become ... more The Covid-19 pandemic has had crucial impacts on housing markets as working from home has become a new normal for certain economic groups. In this paper, we analyse the specific role the pandemic played in worsening the ongoing housing affordability crisis in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The GTA has, in fact, been experiencing a housing crisis since the early 2000s. In this paper, we argue that this continuing affordability crisis stems from the economic growth model that was embraced in the late 1990s, and we discuss why the existing market-oriented housing model has failed. The economic growth model of the Toronto region depends on the convergence of the financialization of housing and massive suburbanization. Because of this, the new wave of suburbanization that has accelerated with the outbreak of Covid-19 is not a new phenomenon for the GTA. In the final analysis, we also illustrate that the ongoing Covid-related-suburbanization in the GTA has deepened the housing crisis as the region continues to be less and less affordable.
The financialization of housing and the massive suburbanization in many parts of the world pose a... more The financialization of housing and the massive suburbanization in many parts of the world pose a plethora of significant problems that contribute to distortions of ecological balances (also known as the Anthropocene) which might reach an irreversible point. This work argues that the financialization of the suburban real estate market operates as a predatory formation. The theories of Urban Political Ecology (UPE) pave the way to understand how the suburbanization process in the twenty-first century has become one of the leading reasons of the Anthropocene. The task of UPE is to understand the political processes that shape, produce and reproduce the configuration of urban, nature and time. The latest suburbanization process has a special role in comprehending how processes and relations over the spatial configuration result in the collapse of ecological balances. This paper explores, through the case of Istanbul, how the financialization of housing market brings about a new ecological reality.
Massive Housing and Nature's Limits? The Urban Political Ecology of Istanbul's Periphery, 2019
Üçoğlu, M. (2019). “Massive Housing and Nature’s Limits? The Urban Political Ecology of Istanbul’... more Üçoğlu, M. (2019). “Massive Housing and Nature’s Limits? The Urban Political Ecology of Istanbul’s Periphery”, in Güney, K. M., Keil, R. and Üçoğlu, M., Massive Suburbanization: (Re) building the Global Periphery, (pp. 201-219). Toronto: University of Toronto Press
İdealKent Dergisi'nin 16. Sayısında çıkan bu yazıda neoliberalizm, kentleşme ve yoksulluk ilişkis... more İdealKent Dergisi'nin 16. Sayısında çıkan bu yazıda neoliberalizm, kentleşme ve yoksulluk ilişkisini irdeliyorum. Başlıkta yer alan "Kent Alanları" sözcüğü ise günümüzde kentleşmenin tanımının son derece karmaşık hale gelmesinden ötürüdür. Tek bir geleneksel kent alanından bahsetmek artık çok zor. Kent hayatı az çok her yerde ve kent alanından ziyade kent alanlarını görmekteyiz. Urban kelimesinin tam olarak Türkçe karşılığının olmaması meseleyi anlamamızı zorlaştırabilmekte. Ancak kavramsal tartışma başka bir yazının konusu. Not (Yazı hatası olarak Gary Becker'in adı Gery Becker olarak yazılmış, küçük bir hata diyelim)
Page 1. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1527001 WILL LIFELONG LEARNING PRO... more Page 1. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1527001 WILL LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME HELP THE CREATION OF EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP? MURAT ÜÇOĞLU* ABSTRACT: Education and the ...
The Course Syllabus for ENVS4800Q: Land and Urban Development that I teach at York University in ... more The Course Syllabus for ENVS4800Q: Land and Urban Development that I teach at York University in the Winter Term.
GEP 0801: The History of 20th Century Thought, 2017
This is the course that I taught at Bahcesehir University in the Summer term of 2017. It is a cou... more This is the course that I taught at Bahcesehir University in the Summer term of 2017. It is a course that I designed to deliver necessary theories and approaches on the problems of political economy. The course aims at exploring the major approaches of political that had a great impact on the thoughts produced in the 20th century.
This course was instructed by myself in the Summer Term of 2017 at Bahçeşehir University. The nam... more This course was instructed by myself in the Summer Term of 2017 at Bahçeşehir University. The name of the course is Globalization and Istanbul and it is a course created by myself at that institution.
Book Chapter.
Here is the citing version:
Üçoğlu, M. and Güney, M. K. (2024). “City with no Bou... more Book Chapter. Here is the citing version:
Üçoğlu, M. and Güney, M. K. (2024). “City with no Boundary: Suburbanization as a Mode of Wealth Accumulation in Istanbul”, in Hamel, Pierre (ed.) Politics of Periphery: Governing Suburbia, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp.174-196
The financialization of housing has become a crucial discussion point since the financial crisis ... more The financialization of housing has become a crucial discussion point since the financial crisis of 2008. This dissertation aims at focusing on the financialization of housing in the Greater Toronto Area and Istanbul Metropolitan Area. While the existing literature tends to describe the financialization of housing as the increasing impact of finance capital on the production of space, in this dissertation I argue that the financialization of housing appears as an economic growth model that transforms the socio-economic conditions of households at least in certain countries. The dissertation examines the cases of Brampton in GTA and Gktrk in IMA (Istanbul Metropolitan Area) in order to underline the ongoing property relations and the rise of suburban-financial nexus as an economic growth model. The financialization of housing occurs in many different forms in different countries. In certain countries it appears as a simple dynamic of the housing market, i.e. it is just a matter of mo...
Over the past two decades, the province of Ontario has deliberately upscaled regional governance ... more Over the past two decades, the province of Ontario has deliberately upscaled regional governance by creating a firm framework of land use planning. This entailed plans at the super-regional level that protect a large Greenbelt, designate growth centres, and roll out massive transit investment. This laid the foundation for a “real existing regionalism” in which growth management was produced through multiple conversations, contestations, technological change and territorial restructuring. By all accounts, this regime did not produce a perfect safeguard against sprawl – ostensibly the reason for its existence – but it shifted the practices of regional actors in land use and transportation politics and changed the politics around densities. This regime, which was in place for roughly fifteen years and coterminous with the reign of the Liberal Party of Ontario, has now come to an end...
ABSTRACT The financialization of housing and the massive suburbanization in many parts of the wor... more ABSTRACT The financialization of housing and the massive suburbanization in many parts of the world pose a plethora of significant problems that contribute to distortions of ecological balances (also known as the Anthropocene) which might reach an irreversible point. This work argues that the financialization of the suburban real estate market operates as a predatory formation. The theories of Urban Political Ecology (UPE) pave the way to understand how the suburbanization process in the twenty-first century has become one of the leading reasons of the Anthropocene. The task of UPE is to understand the political processes that shape, produce and reproduce the configuration of urban, nature and time. The latest suburbanization process has a special role in comprehending how processes and relations over the spatial configuration result in the collapse of ecological balances. This paper explores, through the case of Istanbul, how the financialization of housing market brings about a new ecological reality.
The Covid-19 pandemic has had crucial impacts on housing markets as working from home has become ... more The Covid-19 pandemic has had crucial impacts on housing markets as working from home has become a new normal for certain economic groups. In this paper, we analyse the specific role the pandemic played in worsening the ongoing housing affordability crisis in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The GTA has, in fact, been experiencing a housing crisis since the early 2000s. In this paper, we argue that this continuing affordability crisis stems from the economic growth model that was embraced in the late 1990s, and we discuss why the existing market-oriented housing model has failed. The economic growth model of the Toronto region depends on the convergence of the financialization of housing and massive suburbanization. Because of this, the new wave of suburbanization that has accelerated with the outbreak of Covid-19 is not a new phenomenon for the GTA. In the final analysis, we also illustrate that the ongoing Covid-related-suburbanization in the GTA has deepened the housing crisis as the region continues to be less and less affordable.
The financialization of housing and the massive suburbanization in many parts of the world pose a... more The financialization of housing and the massive suburbanization in many parts of the world pose a plethora of significant problems that contribute to distortions of ecological balances (also known as the Anthropocene) which might reach an irreversible point. This work argues that the financialization of the suburban real estate market operates as a predatory formation. The theories of Urban Political Ecology (UPE) pave the way to understand how the suburbanization process in the twenty-first century has become one of the leading reasons of the Anthropocene. The task of UPE is to understand the political processes that shape, produce and reproduce the configuration of urban, nature and time. The latest suburbanization process has a special role in comprehending how processes and relations over the spatial configuration result in the collapse of ecological balances. This paper explores, through the case of Istanbul, how the financialization of housing market brings about a new ecological reality.
Massive Housing and Nature's Limits? The Urban Political Ecology of Istanbul's Periphery, 2019
Üçoğlu, M. (2019). “Massive Housing and Nature’s Limits? The Urban Political Ecology of Istanbul’... more Üçoğlu, M. (2019). “Massive Housing and Nature’s Limits? The Urban Political Ecology of Istanbul’s Periphery”, in Güney, K. M., Keil, R. and Üçoğlu, M., Massive Suburbanization: (Re) building the Global Periphery, (pp. 201-219). Toronto: University of Toronto Press
İdealKent Dergisi'nin 16. Sayısında çıkan bu yazıda neoliberalizm, kentleşme ve yoksulluk ilişkis... more İdealKent Dergisi'nin 16. Sayısında çıkan bu yazıda neoliberalizm, kentleşme ve yoksulluk ilişkisini irdeliyorum. Başlıkta yer alan "Kent Alanları" sözcüğü ise günümüzde kentleşmenin tanımının son derece karmaşık hale gelmesinden ötürüdür. Tek bir geleneksel kent alanından bahsetmek artık çok zor. Kent hayatı az çok her yerde ve kent alanından ziyade kent alanlarını görmekteyiz. Urban kelimesinin tam olarak Türkçe karşılığının olmaması meseleyi anlamamızı zorlaştırabilmekte. Ancak kavramsal tartışma başka bir yazının konusu. Not (Yazı hatası olarak Gary Becker'in adı Gery Becker olarak yazılmış, küçük bir hata diyelim)
Page 1. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1527001 WILL LIFELONG LEARNING PRO... more Page 1. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1527001 WILL LIFELONG LEARNING PROGRAMME HELP THE CREATION OF EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP? MURAT ÜÇOĞLU* ABSTRACT: Education and the ...
The Course Syllabus for ENVS4800Q: Land and Urban Development that I teach at York University in ... more The Course Syllabus for ENVS4800Q: Land and Urban Development that I teach at York University in the Winter Term.
GEP 0801: The History of 20th Century Thought, 2017
This is the course that I taught at Bahcesehir University in the Summer term of 2017. It is a cou... more This is the course that I taught at Bahcesehir University in the Summer term of 2017. It is a course that I designed to deliver necessary theories and approaches on the problems of political economy. The course aims at exploring the major approaches of political that had a great impact on the thoughts produced in the 20th century.
This course was instructed by myself in the Summer Term of 2017 at Bahçeşehir University. The nam... more This course was instructed by myself in the Summer Term of 2017 at Bahçeşehir University. The name of the course is Globalization and Istanbul and it is a course created by myself at that institution.
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Papers by Murat Ucoglu
Here is the citing version:
Üçoğlu, M. and Güney, M. K. (2024). “City with no Boundary: Suburbanization as a Mode of Wealth Accumulation in Istanbul”, in Hamel, Pierre (ed.) Politics of Periphery: Governing Suburbia, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp.174-196
Teaching Documents by Murat Ucoglu
Here is the citing version:
Üçoğlu, M. and Güney, M. K. (2024). “City with no Boundary: Suburbanization as a Mode of Wealth Accumulation in Istanbul”, in Hamel, Pierre (ed.) Politics of Periphery: Governing Suburbia, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp.174-196