From squatting to high-rise: Could urban regeneration projects redefine everyday life in Turkey?

Abstract

Urban regeneration projects in Turkey reshape not only the physical environment but also the social fabric, imposing different housing lifestyles on former informal settlement residents. This forced transition disrupts subsistence economies, social networks, and established daily practices, often requiring profound adaptation. This study examines these effects through the Yeni Mamak Urban Regeneration and Development Project (YMURDP) in Ankara, focusing on socio-spatial impacts, changes in daily practices, and adaptation strategies. In the research, on the one hand, while trying to reveal the inner face of the project operation through interviews with the key implementers, on the other hand, the changing practices in the daily lives of the local people after their transition to multi-storey houses and the adaptation processes they experienced were revealed first-hand through interviews in the field, presenting a range of approaches in their most current forms. The research reveals that the implementers acknowledge the project’s weak social dimension, yet they also attribute this deficiency to the residents' focus on material gains in the early stages of the project. Interviews with the residents highlight an ongoing tension between a nostalgic yearning for the self-sufficient lifestyle of the past and the adaptation to market-oriented modern daily living habits due to the project’s top-down, non-participatory approach. These shortcomings have led to alienation, isolation, weakened neighbourly relations, and the abandonment of traditional practices as the residents still employ coping strategies to address these challenges in their own ways, as no feedback mechanisms were established. The study thus highlights the often-overlooked impacts of urban regeneration on daily life and transformed practices through up-to-date and real-life examples, emphasizing the critical importance of integrating holistic, participatory approaches in urban regeneration projects.