Browsing by Subject "Urban renewal"

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Open Access
Rendering responsible, provoking desire: women and home in squatter/slum renewal projects in the Turkish context
(Routledge, 2017) Erman, T.; Hatiboğlu, B.
This article is situated at the intersection of urban restructuring, cultural conservatism and neoliberalism in the Turkish context to understand the new subject formations of poor women as they are relocated to high-rise apartment blocks in slum/squatter renewal projects by the prospect of homeownership via long-term mortgage loans. It contributes by showing the gendered effects of urban transformation on poor women as neoliberalism and conservatism interact. It draws upon two ethnographic studies that reveal women’s experiences embedded both in neoliberalism and patriarchy. In neoliberalism, women’s participation in the informal job market was promoted as they were made responsible for contributing to mortgage payments, and they were brought into consumption as they were provoked the desire for good homes via furnishing, and in patriarchy, women’s traditional roles in social reproduction were demanded in spite of their new roles and responsibilities. The study ponders women’s differentiated negotiations with patriarchy which resisted radical challenges when the family and the home framed women’s new responsibilities and desires. The rising conservatism rooted in Islam in Turkey, which prioritizes the family over individual women, created the conditions for it. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Open Access
Urban design—or lack thereof—as policy: the renewal of Bursa Doğanbey district
(Springer, 2017) Batuman, B.; Erkip, F.
The role of urban design in urban policy making has been extensively discussed in recent years due to the insufficiency of existing applications in the complex structure of global urbanization. This paper aims at addressing the role of urban design as a policy instrument in urban politics through a case in one of the metropolitan cities of Turkey, Bursa. The case presented in the article reflects the emergence of a non-space in a city with a rich historic and cultural heritage. Lack of control and accountability, lack of communication between actors in the process and power coalitions are the main reasons of this process that caused the huge misfit between TOKI Doganbey settlement and the overall context. This settlement harmed Bursa’s identity tremendously and caused a lot of turmoil since none of the parties involved is content with the end product. We try to elaborate on the process and the role of various actors in shaping it. Turkey does not have a rich urban design experience although successful projects are seen in high-income housing settlements. We conclude that it is timely to start with a new approach to the discipline to prevent such failures with large impacts on the urban form and life. The need for a holistic approach seems imperative to establish the core of a new urban design discipline involving socio-spatial concerns. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.