Complete urbanization in Ayvalık and urban ecological movements

Abstract

Over the past three decades, the vast expansion of urban areas driven by neoliberal policies has drastically transformed the interactions between ‘urban society’ and ‘nature,’ intensifying existing environmental conflicts. Therefore, the restructured socio-urban environment as part of what Lefebvre described as “complete urbanization,” calls for new conceptualizations and scopes within environmental movements from a radical perspective, necessitating a re-exploration of the understanding and definition of nature. Accordingly, this study introduces the concept of urban ecological movements, which is defined as the forms of resistance shaped under conditions of complete urbanization and the increasing incorporation of non-urban spaces into neoliberal urban development. In order to discuss this changing relationship between urban and non-urban spaces under the conditions of complete urbanization, the study is grounded in the literature of right to the city, urban social movements, environmental movements and the framework of urban political ecology. Using a critical urban political ecology framework, it examines the interplay between neoliberal urbanization, urban nature, and socio-ecological resistance. To conduct this research, Ayvalık, a coastal town under the governance of Balıkesir Metropolitan Municipality, is scrutinized as a case study. Ayvalık is designated both as an ‘urban conservation area’ for its historic port and traditional settlement and a ‘natural and historic conservation area’ for its olive groves. Its proximity to the metropolitan areas, especially Istanbul, makes it a striking example to discuss the actors of resistance and the network generated among them. Ayvalık exemplifies a contested environment, where local resistance engages with regional, national, and even global urban and environmental issues. The specificities explored through the case allow for a grounded discussion on the neoliberal mode of urbanization and the relentless production and exploitation of urban nature, argued to be driven by social and political policies. The scope of the research is limited to the past decade, a period that has witnessed significant impetus in ecological movements, marked by the Gezi Park Protests, opposing neoliberal urban policies pursued by power-holders. By analysing the socio-political and environmental consequences of complete urbanization in the last decade, the research highlights how conscious and organized urban ecological activism of complete urbanization actively claims the right to the city and nature as both working slogans and political ideals against neoliberal restructuring of space.