URBAN MOVEMENTS RELATED TO (RE)PRODUCTION OF URBAN SPACE: DEBATES ON SELECTED PROJECTS IN İSTANBUL A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY PINAR ÇOBANYILMAZ ÖZTÜRK IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING APRIL 2018 Approval of the thesis: URBAN MOVEMENTS RELATED TO (RE)PRODUCTION OF URBAN SPACE: DEBATES ON SELECTED PROJECTS IN İSTANBUL submitted by PINAR ÇOBANYILMAZ ÖZTÜRK in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in City and Regional Planning Department, Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Halil Kalıpçılar _________________ Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Science Prof. Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok _________________ Head of Department, City and Regional Planning Prof. Dr. Serap Kayasü _________________ Supervisor, Dept. of City and Regional Planning, METU Examining Committee Members: Prof. Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok _________________ Dept. of City and Regional Planning, METU Prof. Dr. Serap Kayasü _________________ Dept. of City and Regional Planning, METU Prof. Dr. H. Tarık Şengül _________________ Dept. of Political Science and Public Administration, METU Prof. Dr. Kıvılcım Akkoyunlu Ertan _________________ Public Administration Institute for Turkey and Middle East Assoc. Prof. Dr. S. Zafer Şahin _________________ Dept.of Political Science and Public Administration, Atılım University Date: 03.04.2018 I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last Name : Pınar ÇOBANYILMAZ ÖZTÜRK Signature : iv ABSTRACT URBAN MOVEMENTS RELATED TO (RE)PRODUCTION OF URBAN SPACE: DEBATES ON SELECTED PROJECTS IN İSTANBUL Çobanyılmaz Öztürk, Pınar Ph.D., Department of City and Regional Planning Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Serap Kayasü April 2018, 364 Pages Socially produced urban space is located at the core of contradictions and conflicts. Capitalist mode of production and its special relation with urban space introduced different bases for urban conflicts at every stage of capitalist relations. In the latest stage, market-led urban process has defined new roles for urban space. Particularly, (re)production of urban space on the basis of market demands and with the logic of commodification and privatization has established the foundations of current urban conflicts. And, urban movements as manifestations of urban conflicts, are also directly associated with the process of (re)production of urban space. As of 2000s, over-production of built environment with various projects, defined as privatization-oriented state-led projects in the study, has stimulated a noticeable amount of urban movements in İstanbul. Parallel to the change in urban conflicts in accordance with different stages of capitalist relations, dynamics and formations of these movements have transformed as well. Based on this argument, the study investigates contemporary urban movements together with process of (re)production of urban space. In order to explore dynamics and formations of these movements and v introduce some concepts derived from urban space, various analyses and discussions are conducted over the city and over the selected cases from public space. Key Words: urban movements, (re)production of urban space, privatizarion-oriented state-led projects, privatization of public space vi ÖZ KENTSEL HAREKETLER VE KENT MEKANININ (YENİDEN) ÜRETİMİ: İSTANBUL’DA SEÇİLEN PROJELER ÜZERİNE TARTIŞMALAR Çobanyılmaz Öztürk, Pınar Doktora, Şehir ve Bölge Planlama Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Serap Kayasü Nisan 2018, 364 Sayfa Toplumsal olarak üretilen kent mekanı çelişki ve çatışmaların merkezinde yer alır. Kapitalist üretim biçimi ve kent mekanı arasındaki ilişki kapitalizmin değişen evrelerinde yeniden tanımlanır ve farklı çelişki ve çatışmaları beraberinde getirir. Bu çerçevede, piyasa mekanizması öncülüğünde şekillenen kapitalizmin en son evresi kent mekanı için yeni roller tanımlamakta ve yeni kentsel süreçleri beraberinde getirmektedir. Özellikle, piyasanın talepleri doğrultusunda metalaştırma ve özelleştirme mantığı ile gerçekleştirilen kent mekanının (yeniden) üretimi günümüz çatışmalarının temelinde yer almaktadır. Kentsel hareketler kentsel çatışmaların dışa vurumu olarak ele alındığında, bu hareketler de mekan üretim süreçleri ile doğrudan ilişkilenmektedir. 2000’lerden itibaren İstanbul ‘da çeşitli projeler (özelleştirmeye dayalı devlet projeleri) ile gerçekleştirilen aşırı mekan üretimi, sayıları gün geçtikçe artan kentsel hareketlerin ortaya çıkışına zemin oluşturmuştur. Söz konusu bu hareketlerin dinamiklerinin ve biçimlerinin kapitalist ilişkiler ile değişen kentsel çatışmalara paralel olarak değiştiği gözlenmektedir. Bundan hareketle, bu çalışma günümüz kent vii hareketlerinin mekan üretim süreçleri ile ilişkisini kurarak bu kapsamda tartışmaktadır. Bu hareketlerin kent mekanının kendine özgü özelliklerinden kaynaklanan dinamikleri ve biçimleri bir takım analizler doğrultusunda İstanbul genelinde ve kamusal mekandan seçilen örnekler üzerinden tartışılmaktadır. Anahtar kelimeler: kentsel hareketler, kent mekanın (yeniden) üretimi, özelleştirmeye dayalı devlet projeleri, kamusal mekanın özelleştirilmesi viii To the hopeful new life with my dears ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Serap Kayasü for her continuous support and patience throughout the preparation of my Ph.D study. Her guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. She has always been more than a supervisor with her open minded and friendly attitude. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to members of my doctoral steering committee, Prof. Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok, and Prof. Dr. H. Tarık Şengül for their valuable criticisms, comments and contributions in each committee. I would also like to thank my examining committee Prof. Dr. Kıvılcım Akkoyunlu Ertan and Assoc. Prof. Dr. S. Zafer Şahin for their advice and encouragements. My special thanks go out to Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay, Prof. Dr. Adnan Barlas, and Prof. Dr. H. Çağatay Keskinok and Prof. Dr. Serap Kayasü once again, who have become the role model academicians and urbanists throughout my assistantship. The members of CRP 1 Planning Studio, Assist. Prof. Yücel Can Severcan, Assist. Prof. Olgu Çalışkan and Assist. Prof. A. Burak Büyükcivelek, the instructors Argun Evyapan and Tuğrul Kanık, are acknowledged for their sincere supports and encouragements within friendly discussions. I am also grateful to the following faculty staff: Hayriye Ayhan and Halime Çapan for their endless helps and supports in my tougher times. I offer sincere thanks to the interviwees who facilitate the completion of the case studies with their precious contributions. I would like to acknowledge all the staff of Chamber of Architects who bring into use of their library and all kinds of sources. I also gratefully express my appreciation to Mücella Yapıcı, Gül Köksal and Tugay Kartal for their guidance in the field. x I would like to thank to my colleagues and friends. Nagihan Tuna, Gonca Tunçbilek, Berk Kesim, Ender Peker, Duygu Cihanger Riberio, Onur Tümtürk, Büşra Durmaz Erçetin and Cihan Erçetin, Şule Demirel, Felat Dursun and Yavuz Kaya touched to my ups and downs with friendly and supportive manners. Elif Uğurlu Uyanık and Emre Uyanık also eased to accomplishment of the field research in İstanbul with their welcoming and hospitable faces. Kind helps of my students and their sincerity in this process are quite valuable for me. I would like to express my gratitude to Akın Akçay, Bennur Betedin, Bilen Deniz Uyar, Burcu Ünsal, Candan Kabay, Dilara Sungur, Elif Karagümüş, Emine Yılmaz, Fırat Yıldırım, Göksel Üstündağ, Hasan Fatih Köksal and Ülcan Türkkan for their willing helps during transcription process of the interviews. I offer special thanks to Aylin Aygüneş, Gül Özkuzukıran and Zienab Zalt for their helpful and motivative attitudes and for all the coffees and chocolates. I fully appreciate to my life-coaches, my family: I owe all my mindset, stance and success to them. I would like to express my eternal love and respect to my dears, Hayrettin, Nazmiye and Özgür Çobanyılmaz, and Erdem Öztürk, from whom I have learned to feel free in my own way. Many thanks to my dears who light up my way and give me a boost in this long and difficult way. xi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................. v ÖZ ............................................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... x TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... xii LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xvi LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. xvii CHAPTERS 1.INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Aim of the Thesis and Research Questions