Loss of Social Belonging, Displacement and Social Exclusion in the Neighborhood: Urban Redevelopment in Sarigol, Istanbul, Turkey

• Main Authors: İlkim Markoç, Candan Çınar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KARE Publishing 2018-04-01
• Series: Megaron
• Subjects: displacement; neighborhood; sarigol; social belonging; social exclusion; urban transformation.
• Online Access: https://jag.journalagent.com/z4/download_fulltext.asp?pdir=megaron&un=MEGARON-97658

Urban redevelopment primarily occurs in shantytowns and the squatters are the most affected by it. The redevelopment projects can potentially lead to countless problems within the neighborhood due to the spill-over effect it has on the social fabric of a community. The main objective of this article is to analyze one of the redevelopment site, Sarigol, in Istanbul and three of those problems caused by the urban redevelopment: loss of social belonging, displacement and social exclusion. According to numerous studies, the fundamental cause of social exclusion, regarded as loss of the sense of belonging and physical displacement, is that prior to urban redevelopment, the members of various socio-cultural and economic social classes were living together without any social integration. The town of Sarigol, which was chosen for fieldwork, was established as a shantytown in the 1950's and today, urban transformation continues there at full speed. In this research, in-depth interviews have been conducted in Sarigol and the effects of a changing social dynamic were analyzed with regard to residents' responses on urban redevelopment within the context of those concepts. To absorb the negative effects of the process, innovative changes have to be presented both for physical and social fabric of the neighborhood. In order to provide the social and economic integration, social bonds which allow new comers to gain their sense of belonging and enable stabiles to overcome their socio-cultural and economic differences have to be built.