Cities, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 271–280, 2001 Pergamon PII: S0264-2751(01)00019-1  2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0264-2751/01 $ - see front matter www.elsevier.com/locate/cities Viewpoint Spontaneous Settlements in Turkey and : Preconditions of Emergence and Environmental Quality of Settlements and Bustees

Shihabuddin Mahmud* Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey Umut Duyar-Kienast Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Spontaneous settlements are common phenomena in many third world countries. Although the differ- ent geographical locations, along with morphological factors, play an important role in shaping up different physical settings, dynamic social factors have similar consequences in such settlements. Ankara’s gecekondu and ’s bustees are in continuous change and adaptation into the structure of the cities in which they exist. Both remain as popular housing in the respective capitals of Turkey and Bangladesh. The aim of this paper is to find similarities and dissimilarities among gecekondu and bustees, giving an emphasis to five fundamental issues. Those are location of the settlement within the city, appropriation of land and ownership patterns, economic possibilities of the inhabi- tants, cultural and local dynamics of formation and uses of space, and last, the transformation of the settlements. Despite all physical and social dissimilarities, ownership patterns are perhaps the key factor in the development of such settlements both in Ankara and in Dhaka. The main commonality is that those settlements provide not only shelter but also possibilities to satisfy other needs for their inhabitants.  2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: informal settlements; Ankara; Dhaka; comparative research

Introduction exploitation of building rights, are typi- tutions and solutions for their prob- Informal settlements, which are irregu- cal of the developing countries. They lems, they have to create their own way lar in their physical settings and illegal are results of the high rate of migration to survive in the city. They have to in the appropriation of land and/or from rural areas into the big cities. maintain relations among their rela- Those migrants aim for a better life and tives, which enables them to find a job better job opportunities. However, in and shelter. They build their own *Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 312 290 2255; fax: +90 312 266 4053. e-mail: mah- urban areas there are neither enough houses within a network of people hav- [email protected] umutduyar@hot- jobs or proper housing waiting for ing similar experiences. They use their mail.com them. Due to the lack of formal insti- own labor and local or second-hand

271 Viewpoint: S Mahmud and U Duyar-Kienast materials in the construction of their ation and growth potential of the settle- and Izmir (Eight Five Year Plan, 2000, houses. According to McTaggart ments. p 172). (1988) the primary characteristic of a Ankara’s gecekondu and Dhaka’s Dhaka, on the other hand, faced a spontaneous settlement is its construc- bustee are ubiquitous in their presence number of different political phases.2 tion, essentially by the residents. The in the respective cityscapes. Today, the Dhaka City has been a capital off and people of such settlements do not rapid growth of these settlements has on since the period of the Mogul depend on the regular housing market become a critical issue, as they are a Emperors. Dhaka was one of the but they act in an informal market with dominant way of housing lower and important centers during British rule its own builders, suppliers and contrac- low-middle income groups in both cit- and became the capital of East Pakistan tors, in which the owners also use their ies. Ankara’s have existed in 1947 when the British left. In 1971, own labor and skills. extensively since the 1930s and 1940s.1 after the formation of Bangladesh, Although the appearance of such Highly limited access to land for legal Dhaka still was the capital and the most spontaneous settlements is different in housing, the high cost of housing important economic and administrative each country, there emerge under simi- materials, coupled with the rapid center. Although bustees existed before lar conditions and they have some growth of population mainly through the war in 1971, a massive migration characteristics in common. Mainly, the migration of the rural poor, have towards the capital took place right squatter settlements are places which caused rapid proliferation of innumer- after the war (Rahman, 1999). The enable their inhabitants to survive an able urban gecekondus. Although the population of Dhaka has been esti- urban life. While gecekondus and bus- emergence of such settlements has dif- mated as 7 million and 3 million of this tees have very different spatial charac- ferent backgrounds and conditions, population is living in varieties of bus- teristics, we argue that these settle- there exists a common hope for a better tees that spread all over the city (Gono ments fulfill similar functions for their living for these people and to integrate Shahajjo Shansta, 1995). The most inhabitants. They are spatial manifes- with urban life style. striking feature of Dhaka’s bustee is its tations of similar needs and appropri- Ankara was planned as a capital city residential pattern; 70% of the city’s ation processes which change in time with a population of only 300,000 by population is forced to squeeze on to and adapt new tactics in order to exist Jansen, a German architect and planner, 20% of the city’s residential areas in the labor and housing markets and mainly for bureaucrats and government (Islam, 1996). officials. It would be an example of a to get acceptance by the local auth- planned modern city for the mod- orities. We are going to bring out the ernized elite of the republic. However, commonalties in two examples of such Location and the spatial the urbanization process did not follow illegal and spontaneous settlements in distribution in the cityscape the estimates. Since the 1960s, more Turkey and Bangladesh, by studying than half of Ankara’s population live in Ankara’s gecekondus are usually on their environmental context. The illegally and informally built gece- illegally subdivided land on the fringe environmental quality of a neighbour- kondu settlements, mostly located on of the city where there is steep topogra- hood enables it to fulfill a wide range the fringe of the city. In 1990 the per- phy. They are places that were never of functions and gives clues about the centage of the gecekondu dwellers in planned for development. These areas social and economic structures there. Ankara’s total population was 58.3% belong either to public institutions or to The concept of environmental qual- (Keles, 1993 cited by O¨ zdemir, 1998, private owners. The land there is cheap ity in any settlement mainly involves p 84). Official statistics provide little because there are no building codes or the density, quality of materials used, relevant information about the recent any infrastructure. Gecekondus were physical infrastructure and civic ser- development of gecekondu housing in originally homogeneous and com- vices. But there exist other important Ankara (or in any other cities in pact,composed of physically similar issues. Those are variety, multi-func- Turkey). However the State Planning housing units built with similar pro- tionality and flexibility of space, as Organization estimates the number of cesses and occupied by low or lower- well as the ability of the environment illegal housing to be around 2,000,000 middle income groups. However, since to satisfy human needs and to make the in the three big cities, Istanbul, Ankara the second half of the 1980s, in some socialization possible. For example, the of those settlements apartment houses intensive use of public spaces enables have appeared between houses, or people to interact and to help each some small gecekondu houses are other. The discussion of squatter settle- 1One of the important publications from the placed between newly built apartment ments and their environmental quality 40s and 50s is a series of interviews in a can be classified under the following newspaper by Fenik, A. “Altindag Ro¨por- tajlari”, Zafer, Mayis 1949 cited by Baydar topics: (i) location of the settlement Nalbantoglu (1998, pp 153–167). It gives within the city, (ii) appropriation of information about the way of housing and land and ownership patterns, (iii) econ- living in the oldest gecekondu settlement in omic possibilities of inhabitants, ie Ankara. Another study on gecekondu from ¨ 2 occupation and income groups, (iv) 1950s is that by Ogretmen, I. Ankara’da 158 A comprehensive mapping of the physical Gecekondu, Ankara: Ankara U¨ niversitesi appearance of bustee was conducted by cultural and local dynamics of forma- Siyasal Bilgiler Faku¨ltesi, 1957 cited by CUS for ICDDR,B, Dhaka in 1990, under tion and use of space, (v) transform- Tekeli (1996). the supervision of Dr Nazrul Islam.

272 Viewpoint: S Mahmud and U Duyar-Kienast houses. This follows a series of that the peripheral zone of the city has of protection money from such settlers amnesty laws and Improvement Plans.3 a larger number of bustees compared to (Huq-Hussain, 1996). Unlike gecekondus in Ankara, bus- the inner zones. Bustees on the periph- In most cases, the land in gece- tees can be seen anywhere in the city, ery are comparatively compact, con- kondus is public land either bought both on unauthorized public or semi- tiguous and large and those in the inner from the previous occupants (52%) or public land or on the lands of private city are mostly small and scattered at squatted by the current inhabitants owners. They can also be seen in the various locations, although in some (34%). A smaller part of it is privately vacant land in the most expensive areas areas a linear pattern has been owned land (12%) (Alpar and Yener, of the city. In Ankara, the better trans- developed, especially along the railway 1993, p 111). Most commonly, bustees portation network4 with strong connec- line and some roads. flourished on land belonging to private tions to the city center allows the gece- individuals or households (65%). A kondu dwellers to reside in the fringe significant proportion of the settlements areas. Whereas the bustee dwellers in Appropriation of land and (29%) were set up on government and Dhaka prefer to stay in near proximity ownership patterns quasi-government lands. These settle- of the center, as it is easy to get a job ments are mostly squatted and they in the marginal sector and as they are The word gecekondu means “con- have developed land owned mainly by not ready to spend extra money on structed overnight”. Actually gece- the Departments of Railways, Public transportation. However, a recent trend kondu houses are the result of a very Works and Roads and Highways. A for bustee dwellers is that they are complex procedure and small number of clusters (3%) were moving towards the periphery of the building over a period of years, constructed on disputed land city to find shelter mainly on lands although the rough structure of a house (MOL/GOB, 1989). which are owned by private individ- is, in fact, built very quickly. The own- In Ankara’s gecekondus 28% of uals. Today, 60% of the total lands ership pattern is also very complex. are rental and 72% are owner covered by bustees are concentrated in The land is either squatted by the occu- occupied (Alpar and Yener 1993, p the fringe area in Dhaka.5 Bustee settle- pants or squatted by unauthorized 108). The rent per unit of gecekondu ments can be seen with different shapes people and then sold. In addition, the does vary according to the location and and sizes and are usually rentals with Improvement Plans made after the proximity to the city center. Houses are very limited floor space. As most land- amnesty of 1985 increased the com- generally owner occupied or a portion owners wanted to profit from their vac- plexity of the ownership pattern in of the house may be rented out, ant land, these settlements are distrib- gecekondu. The occupants get some whereas private bustees are mostly con- uted in a very irregular manner kind of title confirming their ownership structed for rental purposes. At this throughout the city. It is also evident on land. This gives the inhabitants the point, gecekondus are typically owner rights of tenure on a building plot in the occupied and the quality of and invest- same area defined by the Improvement ment in such settlements depends on 3 Through the Amnesty Laws from 1983, 84 Plans, with new building codes. the legal title of the land. On the other and 86 and Improvement Plans firstly intro- duced in 1983 (with law no: 2085) a trans- Mostly, they are gathered together with hand, construction of bustees on pri- formation process of gecekondu houses into their neighbors into a new plot and vately owned land has become a high- apartment houses and the provision of a their existing plots and houses are still income business for many rich land- basic technical infrastructure were foreseen illegal. Although gecekondu houses are owners in Dhaka, who are bustee in order to integrate these districts into the regular city. Usually the Improvement Plans mostly built for self-use, they have also owners but not bustee dwellers. In proposed higher building codes and a an exchange-value in the housing mar- addition, rents per unit area of floor redevelopment in those areas. So the prob- ket, as thus constitute social and econ- space in bustees can be sometimes lem have been solved by transforming the omic security for their owners. higher than the housing areas of middle houses of the urban poor on squatted or The definition of bustee is also class in some areas of Dhaka. A survey illegally subdivided land into objects of speculation. As a result there occured some ambiguous, as it is does not clearly tell conducted in Dhaka showed that a apartment-house districts or individual anything about the ownership pattern. great majority of bustee respondents examples of this kind of transformation in Usually bustees are constructed either are tenants, as the poor migrants do not previous gecekondu settlements on the on unauthorized government land or on have the money to buy a bustee struc- rather rentable plots. 4Ankara does not have proper functioning the land provided by private owners. ture and have to be satisfied with the public transportation. But a parallel devel- For the last two decades, making bus- rented one. The only way to change or opment to the emergence and extension of tees on private land has become very to shift to a better structure, with better gecekondu was the institutionalization of popular, as bustee owners are private facilities, is if their economic condition another transportation mode called dolmus. entrepreneurs who want to make improves in time (Haque, 1989). It consists of a whole fleet of small buses with fixed routs but flexible stops and sched- money with a cheap investment and a In both of the cases we observe a ule. It connects the settlements on the fringe high return, as there exists a tremen- trend of commercialization and specu- of the city to the city centers. dous demand for such housing. More- lation. Therefore, access to the land for 5There are three resettlement areas of bus- over, in both cases (gecekondu and the urban poor is getting more difficult. tees which were built in 1975 and they are Vashantek (Mirpur), Dattapara () and bustee) there exist some illegal compo- The ownership pattern and security of Chanpara (Demra) relocated on the outskirts nents such as land Mafia’s or Mastan tenure is very important, in that they of Dhaka City. (muscle men) who take regular “taxes” determine the quality of the built

273 Viewpoint: S Mahmud and U Duyar-Kienast environment. If there is no danger of cated also get jobs in the garment fac- normally of a single storey. A small being demolished by the officials of the tories. It is obvious that gecekondu and garden or courtyard can be seen easily local government, the houses can be bustee settlers have similar back- within any gecekondu household but in built to a better condition, with stable grounds which determines how they bustees it may be a rare case. The resi- materials over a longer period of time. work in their respective cities. A large dential densities of gecekondus are not The additional rental units in the houses portion of the Bangladeshi male popu- as high as bustee; the former neighbor- help to increase the income of the fam- lation works as a rickshaw7 puller hoods are more spacious than any ily but if the owners do not live there, (tricycle) as it is well paid and also easy middle income or upper middle-income the area can easily decay due to the to get. The majority of male workers settlement in Ankara City for instance. lack of investment and maintenance of are involved in these irregular jobs. According to the study by Alpar and the existing structure. Vendors or hawkers (selling food or Yener (1993, p 116) 45% of the gece- clothing) are the most lucrative job for kondu houses in Ankara are between 75 men in the city centers. It has been and 99 m2 and the family size is Economic potential of the noted that in any low-income settle- approximately five persons. In addition, inhabitants ment there is a tendency to see more most of the gecekondus in Ankara have The economic possibilities of both earning members in the family and they gardens or courtyards; mostly, 30–70% gecekondu and bustee inhabitants show may also have two or three occupations of a plot is built up and the rest is left similarities. The gecekondu dwellers in simultaneously. Although religious non-built. Therefore we can say that the Ankara are usually low-income, and obstacles encourage the women to density is almost 300–500 persons/ha. work in marginal services or the pro- remain within their household, econ- As more bustee means more return for duction sector or as unqualified labor omic necessity forces them to come bustee entrepreneurs, there can hardly in the administrative sector (Alpar and outside and work with the opposite sex be found empty open spaces in such Yener, 1993, p 125).6 Senyapili (1983) in both cities. Using homes for income settlements. Today, bustees can be addressed gecekondu women as a new generation is both common in gece- claimed as one of the densest areas, commodity in the economic sector of a kondus and bustees. 2471–6178 persons/ha (Islam et al, city, insofar as they usually bear two In the regular housing market, it is 1996). With regard to household floor different identities, one as a domestic impossible to find a solution for the space, a national report indicated that worker and another as an earning mem- housing question for the urban poor the average floor space per household ber of the family. However, the labor with an irregular income. The informal in urban areas of Bangladesh is 109 m2 of women is perceived as gendered market, on the other hand, enables whereas it becomes 30 m2 for bustee domesticity rather than productive some possibility of credit for them. The dwellers (Huq-Hussain, 1996, p 100). work. Gecekondu women are mostly craftsmen organize the purchase of The physical shapes of gecekondus employed in the marginal service sector materials and rates of payments for and bustees mainly differ according to or in home-based activities and they do them as well as the size and plan of the the construction type and materials not call their income-producing activi- house. The relatives and fellow coun- used. In both cities, locally made and ties “work” (White, 1996, pp 32–35). trymen (hempehri) help to get credit. In cheap materials are preferred. In Tur- Eraydin and Erendil (1999) differen- the end, with all these networks, the key, the ardiye, ie specialized supply tiate between first generation females squatter settlements are not only a par- yards have an important role in the con- and a new generation; the type of job tial solution for the housing problem struction of gecekondu houses. They opportunities also varies from city to but they provide a kind of social secur- have been supplying, since the mid- city in Turkey. ity for their inhabitants. They are also 50s, cheap construction materials, eg Although female workers working as the only possibility of finding accom- salvaged materials from the buildings cleaning women or maidservants in modation for tenants with limited demolished in the redevelopment pro- upper or middle-income neighborhoods income. cess in the regular parts of the city are common in both cities, construction (Payne, 1982, p 121). Bustees are mostly made of bamboo mat, tin and and textile sector jobs are available to Formation and use of space female bustee workers. In Dhaka, the dry grass. According to a government bustee dwellers constitute most of the The gecekondus and bustees differ in report, 66% of the bustee houses in low-income population of the city as their physical outlook. Physically, Bangladesh are made of poor construc- well. A big portion of the latter, (both gecekondus with their one or two storey tion materials. Another government male and female) works in the con- structure, are more permanent when survey indicated that nearly 18% of the struction sector on a daily basis. compared to bustees. However, in gen- bustee dwellers in Dhaka live in Women work in home-based pro- eral, a bustee can be characterized as extremely poor housing termed Jhupri.8 duction and those who are little edu- having kutcha (temporary) or semi- About 38% of the bustee population pucca (semi-permanent) structures, 6Working sectors vary widely in different 8The survey authority defined jhupri struc- cities, like Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. This 7Rickshaw is the most popular transpor- ture as one with a height lower than normal reflects on the spatial structure and charac- tation mode in Dhaka and alleviates the (2.5–3.5 m) and a roof made of pieces of ters of the settlements in those cities respect- unemployment problem of the bustee tin, bamboo, straw, leaves or polythene ively. people. sheet.

274 Viewpoint: S Mahmud and U Duyar-Kienast live in bamboo sheds with normal is in continuous change, within very accommodation is usually in the squat- height and a bamboo roof which is complex processes. The spontaneous ter areas or simply as pavement dwel- comparatively better than the jhupri, additions on each plot bring an organic lers. It takes a few years for them to while 42% live in tin shed structures spatial structure for the whole settle- find a place or to rent out a room in the having normal height and a tin roof ment, at the end with 1 or 2 storey bustee. They experience a shrinkage in (Huq-Hussain, 1996, p 100). In con- houses within gardens, irregular and their housing spaces compared to their trast, the main material for a gecekondu narrow streets and cul-de-sacs. The village huts. Along with the changes in is usually brick where the roofs are emergence of a house with its garden space, their economic dimension also wooden with either tin or roof tile. is based on the relations among the change. Bustees can be classified as In the case of gecekondu areas, one neighbors, who are also often relatives. mainly two different structures, (i) the can easily judge from the provision of Power relations, for example that rental houses, which are most common municipal services whether or not it emerged within the hierarchy in the and predominant, and (ii) the rental been recognized and is tolerated by the family, determine the density and the “mess” units (or single person cheap authorities. Water, sanitation and elec- unique spatial structure, like the exist- lodging). The tenants range from the tricity are used by almost every gece- ence of small paths, short-cuts between very poor to the lower-middle income kondu. In the first phase of emergence, the gardens, and so on. earner. While the rented houses are infrastructure, especially electricity, is Unlike this process, another way taken by poor families, the mess units used illegally via precarious connec- developing a neigborhood has been accommodate numerous single men, tions. The households do not have sep- experienced in Aksemseddin Mahal- particularly the rickshaw pullers and arate access to water. However, in the lesi, in early 1990s. It may be not typi- small hawkers (Islam, 1983). Since later phases of consolidation, they cal but very interesting in that the most of the land, especially in the receive all these services and pay for changes in the strategies of gecekondu fringes of metropolitan Dhaka, is low them. In their study on the infrastruc- dwellers towards official interventions and liable to annual flooding, the indi- ture provision Leitmann and Baharoglu and political approaches of local vidual household, which buys the land, (1999, p 205) also conclude that administrative units and the state could also develops it, generally by earth fill- “access to basic infrastructure and ser- be observed. This unique process of ing. Due to financial limitations this vices in gecekondus is generally good emergence of a gecekondu was filling may be done incrementally over but there are problems with the afford- organized by an individual man with many years. Housing are also done ability, quality and quantity of specific political abilities and relations as well gradually. Sometimes the whole pro- services”. The environmental quality of as his experiences as a former gece- cess of land and bustee development illegal bustees, on the other hand is kondu owner. He had a role like a con- may take 10–15 years. As bustee low, as they have little or highly inad- tractor in building the houses, as well inhabitants reside as tenants, they can equate provision of sanitation, pure as organizing the squatting process on hardly change the spatial organization. drinking water or other utilities. the land. They built their houses in a Space in a gecekondu can be seen as The sequence and the emergence of way that the settlement should already more adaptable than in bustees since such settlements are based on similar seem “finished” and “regular” at the most of these settlements are owner factors. Both gecekondus and bustees beginning. The division of land and occupied and thus the type of buildings are spontaneous in their development construction process were very well are transformed or extended according as they both are constructed and shaped organized and “proper”, as if it was a to the social or spatial needs of inhabi- according to the necessity of spaces for “planned settlement”. Therefore the tants. In addition, the unfair structure of different purposes and this changes spatial structure of this settlement is residential land and housing in Dhaka over time. Gecekondu houses do not different from those from early becomes obvious, in that that although have any plan and most of the time — examples (see Fig. 2). the poor constitute the vast majority of especially in the early examples — any Gecekondu dwellers are rural the population, they have access to only long term goal of how the completed migrants moving to urban areas. They a very small fraction of the city’s resi- house might look. The spatial layout of are firstly settled as tenants in gece- dential land (Islam, 1986). a house changes according to the needs, kondu areas who probably later try to A typical housing unit in a bustee financial possibilities and individual buy or occupy a plot for their own consists of a multifunctional space concepts. Gu¨rcinar (1988) defines the house. There is also the second gener- (courtyard) in front. Verandas connect spatial development of a gecekondu ation of gecekondu inhabitants who both indoors and outdoors and play a house in sequence. First of all a cell- built their own house — mostly in the role as a transition space. In some bus- unit is built with a toilet outside of the garden of their parents — when they tees, water and sanitation can be seen living place within the garden. Then are married. In this process of settling as common spaces for the whole bustee other rooms are added and the first in the city the most important help neighborhood. Because of limited room will be used as the entrance, as a comes from the relatives, the land men spaces in bustees, privacy is often small hall. The addition of other rooms and the circle of acquaintances. The ignored and certain private activities depends on the economic possibilities inhabitants of a bustee come across a are done in public such as cooking, and needs of the family, as mentioned number of different shelters as they first washing or bathing. The roof of these above (Fig. 1). move from the village to the metropoli- bustees is also used for drying different The spatial structure of gecekondus tan cities. The first phase of their food and clothing. The space is

275 Viewpoint: S Mahmud and U Duyar-Kienast

Figure 1 (a, b, c) Typical views from the bustee (Dhaka); (d) the gecekondu (Ankara)

tees that the living space in such settle- ment is within the domain of women. Therefore the immediate environment of the houses is not open to strangers, although they are usually open to the street. In addition, in both cases reli- gion and tradition play an important role as many people live by the values of Islam, where the separation of sex and privacy are reflected in the physical organization of such settlements. There is a gender-based distinction in public spaces. Coffee houses belong to men in gecekondus, which are similar to tea stores in bustees. On the other hand, women can appropriate the immediate environment of the houses and move there freely although they are still under the social control of other women (Erman, 1998). The expression of “Women’s place is at home” Figure 1 continued changed for the migrant women in Ankara and became “Women’s place is both at home and in the neighborhood” organized spontaneously and exten- the limited space in bustees, paths are since there exists a complete informal sions or transformations take place in used for different activities as well. relation with neighbors as they share the course of time, as the family gets Both in gecekondus and in bustees, common spaces for different social bigger. As far as the space organiza- spaces can be divided either for private activities (Kumbetogˇlu, 1992). In the tions are concerned, bustee settlements or communal use. Although physical case of bustees, it goes one step further can be seen mostly as clusters. Three boundaries on space are not very dis- as women’s place is at home, in the kinds of spaces, which can be called tinct, the uses of them — especially by neighborhood and also at different enclosed, semi-open and open, satisfy women — create such boundaries as localities, as they try to integrate with the separate spatial needs for different private, semi-private or public spaces. the new urban setting and involve activities of a single household. Due to It is true for both gecekondus and bus- themselves in economic activities in

276 Viewpoint: S Mahmud and U Duyar-Kienast

Figure 1 continued

They produce food for family con- sumption or sale in the market. The garden has another important function in that it provides a living space and the only space for entertainment and leisure. In the case of bustees, because of the space limitation such dwellers also per- form most of their daily activities out- doors. Instead of the garden, the court- yard can be seen as a multi-purpose space, especially in the fringe areas. In Figure 1 continued the inner district where outdoor spaces within the households are limited, people occupy and use the path as part of their living spaces. It may be asked why people of both settlements like to perform their daily activities outdoors? Is it because they have a lack of adequate indoor spaces or because they still like to continue their tradition as a part of their culture? The issues of cul- ture, tradition, ritual, social, political and economic conditions similarly effect the spatial organization in both cases, although the physical manifes- Figure 2 Aksemseddin gecekondu settlement Ankara tations and characteristics differ wide- ly. both formal and informal sectors. between houses belong to women For people in such settlements, outer where they gather informally, sharing Transformation and space means the social and physical local news or the concerns and tasks of extension possibilities of the environment, which they share with daily life (Erman, 1998). Kumbetogˇlu settlements relatives, neighbors, and close friends. (1992) pointed out that the garden plays In a sense, they are the extensions of an important role in gecekondus as they Although the physical appearance of houses. Here women carry out various are open to the neighborhood in which the gecekondu and the bustee are differ- household duties. The common spaces women carry out most of their work. ent, transformations or self-initiated

277 Viewpoint: S Mahmud and U Duyar-Kienast extensions are common phenomena in can be observed. However, in some to other results or spatial manifestations both. Usually, transformations take other areas there is a decay in the exist- in the end. place slowly and the degree of such ing structure and no new investments, Ankara’s gecekondus and Dhaka’s changes depend on the security of ten- because the inhabitants do not invest in bustees are complex and also unique ure and the ratio of owner-occupancy their houses due to the expectations for settlements in their contribution to in the neighborhood. For gecekondus transformation. However there exists dealing with tremendous housing the extensions are done on a more per- no potential to attract the interests of deficiencies in two Third World capi- manent basis as most of such dwellings investors or builders (Fig. 3). tals. Both settlements have different are owner occupied, whereas very tem- For bustees, transformation and physical appearances and conse- porary extensions can be seen in bus- extension take place in two different quences. As far as the uses of space is tees as most of such inhabitants are ten- dimensions. Owner occupier bustee concerned, a gecekondu house may ants and they don’t have rights to dwellers make self-initiated extensions have more open space than a middle extend or transform.9 Tipple and when the family gets bigger and when income household in the urban area in Ameen (1999) supported such pro- they are in need of more space. More- some Turkish cities, whereas, bustee cesses of extension and transformation over, some parts of the bustees are dwellers pay more rent than any middle in the low income housing as an sometimes transformed into small class family if the amount of rented upgrading activity. They help to shops or income-generated enterprises. floor space is considered. improve living conditions without pub- A survey done by Tipple and Ameen In the gecekondu, squatting on unau- lic support; create more room within (1999) showed that extensions are usu- thorized land and making shelter give the limited space; and also provide ally done in public housing or in an assurance for such dwellers to be spaces for home-based enterprises as a resettlement camps where controls are landowners in future and also give free- source of income generation (Sinai, loose. The tenant in a bustee may not dom to mould the physical shape as 1998). have the right to make permanent they require. Both settlements are the In addition to the typical consoli- changes without the permission of the only housing supply for the urban poor dation and extension processes in gece- owner. Transformation on the other who are unable to integrate into the for- kondu areas, there are very important hand is attractive for bustee owners mal housing market, in both countries. interventions with consequential effects who want to make multi-story high-rise However they are both the result of an on the phenomenon in Turkey. Those apartments by clearing the existing market. Unlike gece- are the amnesty laws and improvement temporary bustees. Opportunities for kondu dwellers, bustee dwellers are plans from 1984.10 During the periods the poor to find land on which to house mostly tenants who have less freedom of electioneering, there is always an themselves are becoming scarcer. Entry in shaping the physical setting. More- amnesty proposed for new gecekondus. into bustees is getting extremely diffi- over, the tenancy is often totally uncer- By means of these Improvement Plans, cult since these are fully occupied. The tain and the residents, particularly of the gecekondu areas are transformed latest trend is the real estate developer illegal bustees, are under constant into objects for land speculation who buys bustee land or marginal land threat of being evicted from their because of the high building codes in the central areas and builds multi- present site, so they remain as very applied there. A transformation process story apartments for the upper income temporary structures (in contrast to the of gecekondu settlements into regular groups (Yasmin, 1988). The poor living gecekondu). It is obvious that owner apartment-house areas — so called in the fringe areas of the city are also occupancy is the primary factor in “built-and-sell” method — was fore- threatened. Now even these locations organizing space in such settlements. seen by the contractors with small capi- are becoming inaccessible to them as The security of tenure brings stability tal investment in those areas by build- the large real estate developers have and raises the quality of the construc- ing according to the new codes. These extended their commercial interests to tions. But owners, especially if they do improvement plans made in the 1980s these areas. not live there and only rent housing raised hopes and expectations about the units, look for speculative gains and try redevelopment of these settlements. In to maximize their profit. This is very some gecekondus which were close to Conclusion crucial in its policy implications. prestigious housing areas of the city, Of course, different climatic con- this process of transformation has func- This paper has been constructed on five ditions and everyday habits influence tioned very well. A rapid development basic issues, which are the location of the physical characteristics of respect- the settlements in the city, appropri- ive settlements, as well as economic ation of land and ownership patterns, aspects. Cultural backgrounds, social 9 In Dhaka, several studies shows that these economic possibilities for the inhabi- and kin relationships, and religious processes of extension and transformation mainly take place in low class public hous- tants, formation and use of space and beliefs are also inevitable issues. ing and in resettlement camps provided by lastly transformations in these settle- Despite the similarities and dissimi- the government since the control of such ments. It is argued that the emergence larities, the emergence and the negoti- dwellings is loose and the dwellers believe of these settlements and formation of ation for existence in these settlements that they won’t be evicted easily. 10A detailed list of several amnesty laws can their spatial structure mainly depends have a very similar basis. Although be found in TMMOB Sehir Plancilari Odasi on some similar factors, which are cen- gecekondus and bustees are illegal, and et al (1997). tral for both cases, although they lead under public threat, they are both possi-

278 Viewpoint: S Mahmud and U Duyar-Kienast

Figure 3 (a) Transformation of the gecekondu into an apartment building; (b) a bustee extension

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