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Article
Publication date: 1 September 2011

Ebru Cubukcu

This study applied Salama's (2006, 2007) framework for affordable housing research and compared house and neighborhood satisfaction and future house aspirations of low income…

Abstract

This study applied Salama's (2006, 2007) framework for affordable housing research and compared house and neighborhood satisfaction and future house aspirations of low income residents' who are dwelling in two different types of affordable houses; social houses and gecekondus in Izmir, Turkey. The study applied survey technique and 54 residents (27 in social housing area and 27 in gecekondu area) were interviewed. The results showed that residents' family characteristics were different on some issues (education, employment, household size) and similar on others (homeownership, income, duration of residence, and life style). Physical conditions were poor in both areas, but were far worse in gecekondus. Residents' evaluations of the current house and the neighborhood confirmed this argument. Despite such differences in physical conditions, when residents' general satisfaction with the house and the neighborhood was compared, residents of the two areas gave similar positive responses. In fact, majority of both residents reported that the house and the neighborhood had a positive effect on their life. Moreover, both residents' aspirations for future house were similar and limited in two areas. The applied value of these results and areas for future research are discussed.

Details

Open House International, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Cansu Civelek

The chapter aims to discuss the social housing history and urban renewal experiences in Turkey while pointing out similarities to and variegations from the urban policy trends in…

Abstract

Purpose

The chapter aims to discuss the social housing history and urban renewal experiences in Turkey while pointing out similarities to and variegations from the urban policy trends in the global north in the postwar era. To carry out these discussions, the chapter focuses on the Karapınar Project in Eskişehir.

Methodology/approach

The chapter is built on an anthropological case study and a self-funded video documentary research that includes insights from local inhabitants, projects’ authorities, urban experts, and planners in order to show contesting claims and views about the renewal, new housing conditions, and economic consequences.

Findings

The Karapınar Renewal Project is a Mass Housing Administration (TOKİ) project which claimed to be a ‘welfare oriented’, ‘renewal on-site’, ‘social housing project’ aiming to turn gecekondu – squatter settlements – into a healthy neighborhood. Yet, these claims fail to meet their promises and only appear to mask the actual rent-seeking motivations of the project.

Social implications

The chapter shows that large economic profits of the authorities create a significant contrast with economic burdens and dispossessions of the poor residents. The locals’ fears about the payments and concerns about changing living conditions are in sharp contradiction with the welfare claims of the state institutions.

Originality/value

The Karapınar Project uses the concepts of ‘social housing’ and ‘welfare state’ which are normally associated with policies of social democratic ideology. Yet, when looking into the reality, it becomes clear that the Karapınar Project shifted the meanings of these concepts and utilized them to create a space for legitimacy.

Details

Social Housing and Urban Renewal
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-124-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 February 2023

Esra Keskin, Eunhwa Yang, Harun Tanrıvermiş and Ece Erdogmus

This study aims to gain a qualitative understanding of the residents’ perspective on the complexities of built environment management in Turkey. In addition, facility management…

177

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to gain a qualitative understanding of the residents’ perspective on the complexities of built environment management in Turkey. In addition, facility management (FM) is a newly emerging field in Turkey and therefore the paper contributes to the existing knowledge base on the global status of the field.

Design/methodology/approach

In-person surveys with the residents in the North Ankara and Dikmen Valley urban transformation projects were evaluated. The data have been collected from 660 residents through surveys using the random sampling method. Chi-square tests were used to examine the frequency and percentage distributions of the data, as well as the relationship between categorical variables. If the expected values in the chi-square analysis were low/insufficient, the Monte Carlo simulation method was used. A value of 0.05 was used as the level of significance, and it was stated that there was a significant relationship/dependency in the case of p < 0.05, and that there was no significant relationship/dependency in the case of p > 0.05.

Findings

The research identified that there was a prevailing opinion that professional FM services would likely increase the overall cost of maintenance, but satisfaction was lower in areas where management was carried out by a resident management group. It has been observed that there is a significant dependency between the regions with the answers given to the statements “Management by professional management companies causes an increase in costs” and “Management by the homeowners is more advantageous than working with professional management companies.”

Originality/value

The concept of “gecekondu” is unique to Turkey and the operation, maintenance and quality expectations of gecekondu owners and those of the more affluent residents can be significantly different. This fascinating process of illegal housing-to-urban transformation and the current need for many more urban transformation projects in the country distinguished the Turkish urban transformation approach from other countries. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no other study in Turkey regarding the FM of urban transformation areas with data of this size.

Details

Facilities , vol. 41 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2011

Mahyar Arefi

This article explores the relationship between knowledge and sustainable placemaking. Distinguishing between “expert knowledge” and “local knowledge,” it first problematizes…

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between knowledge and sustainable placemaking. Distinguishing between “expert knowledge” and “local knowledge,” it first problematizes expert knowledge, and then traces the local knowledge approach to placemaking. The widening gap between expert and local knowledge prompts understanding their sources and modes of knowing. By viewing place as an organization this article draws from Nonaka's (1994) distinctions of four modes of knowledge creation in an organization, and explores the commonalities between the two. The analogy between place and organization helps gain new insights from the organizational theory literature which links processed information to knowledge creation. Seeking similarities between place and organization arises from how individuals in organizations and places process information to solve problems. Critically examining local knowledge questions the presupposition of a fixed, static mode of knowing, and helps incorporate a range of activities and knowhow associated with different stages of placemaking. The study suggests that local knowledge converts existing knowledge into four types of new knowledge during the placemaking process. Furthermore, compared to the top-down nature of expert knowledge which mainly adheres to the principles of scientific rationality for grand planning and problem solving, the local knowledge approach to placemaking is bottom-up, fosters piecemeal growth, and thus is more adaptable and sustainable. Promoting (social) sustainability through knowledge conversion (i.e., converting tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge and vice versa), social interaction and self-help characterize placemaking in informal settlements.

Details

Open House International, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2017

Şebnem Eroğlu

The purpose of this paper is to examine the key sources of poor urban households’ relative success (or failure) in reducing poverty by income generation activities. It…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the key sources of poor urban households’ relative success (or failure) in reducing poverty by income generation activities. It specifically investigates the conditions of informal employment in order to understand how and to what extent they affect households’ chances of success.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were drawn from interviews with 17 low-income households randomly selected from an informal gecekondu settlement based in the capital city of Turkey.

Findings

The research challenges the dominant viewpoint, which attributes success to having fewer dependants or more resources. It shows that success depends more on the benefit delivery capacity of resources and this depends largely on wider structural factors. Informal employment is found to constitute one key structural factor, which limits households’ chances of success to a greater extent than formal employment not only through condemning them to low pay but also through imposing more restrictions upon their access to state welfare.

Research limitations/implications

The case study has significant implications for poverty research and measurement since it reinforces the idea that an improved understanding of poverty and its causes requires a multi-dimensional approach that takes into account the conditions of work extending beyond pay.

Practical implications

The study shows that substantial improvement upon the lives of poor households requires changes at the macro-level, and the adoption of an employment-centred approach where the priority is given to the creation of jobs with decent working conditions, tighter labour market regulation and effective enforcement of these regulations.

Originality/value

Through a qualitative as well as quantitative exploration of low-income households living in the periphery of the Turkish capital, the study empirically challenges the conventional wisdom about urban survival which overemphasises the resilience of poor people. It also contributes to the less developed parts of the research literature on informal employment through demonstrating its poverty-inducing effects. Furthermore, the study makes a theoretical contribution by developing a new conceptual framework that places informal employment within the wider context of household resources, livelihoods and poverty.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 37 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Abstract

Details

Social Housing and Urban Renewal
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-124-7

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2011

Elmira Gür and Yurdanur Dülgeroğlu Yüksel

An affordability challenge for the governments is the trade-off between cost and quality. The housing gap is a reality for developing countries, and most frequently the gap is met…

Abstract

An affordability challenge for the governments is the trade-off between cost and quality. The housing gap is a reality for developing countries, and most frequently the gap is met by producing large numbers of low-cost housing units for the maximum number of people. Declining affordability is known to adversely affect both owner occupiers and tenants. The needy, due to an uninterested private sector, usually has either to depend on low quality housing mislocated in the city, without supporting infra- and social structures, or on squatter dwelling. The second option, despite being informal is responsive to the spatial and cultural needs of the users who ideally partake in the construction. The article queries and explores the ways in which the process and cultural preferences of the users of squatter houses, as builder-owner-occupants, are harmoniously intermingled in squatter housing; and draw housing policy implications through institutionalising some of their potentials. Considering squatters are at the lowest stratum areas and that their housing constitutes significant portion of the urban stock, government's pareto optimal which claims maximum good for the maximum number of people at minimum cost is seemingly justified with the quite restricted budget of governments of developing countries.

Details

Open House International, vol. 36 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2006

Hülya Turgut Yýldýz

This article aims to explore the changes and continuity in housing patterns of Turkish society comparing traditional and contemporary usage. In this context, the spatial and…

Abstract

This article aims to explore the changes and continuity in housing patterns of Turkish society comparing traditional and contemporary usage. In this context, the spatial and social structures of housing patterns are studied comparatively from an historical perspective. The article is based on research projects carried out by the author that aimed to identify the effects of socio-cultural and psychological factors on the spatial formation, meaning and use of domestic space in different types of Turkish dwellings. Examples chosen from a number of case studies in different housing patterns are mainly those of the Middle Asian Tent, the Traditional Turkish House and Squatter Housing ‘Gecekondu’. The article consists of six sections. In the first two, the aim and the general concept of the paper are defined, the research field is explained and the problem is specified. In the third section, the formation of spatial setting in different housing pattern of Turkish settlers will be analysed by comparing the tent, traditional house and squatter house. The fourth section focuses on related theoretical concepts in environmental behavioural studies with the conceptual model of culture and space interaction system in terms of meaning and use of home space. In the last two sections, the field study is presented and the article builds on the findings of the case studies to offer some proposals for new design principles.

Details

Open House International, vol. 31 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

Gülçin Pulat Gökmen, Yurdanur Dülgeroglu Yüksel, Fatma Erkök, Yasemin Alkiser and Berna Keskin

In Turkey, the process of squatterisation can best be traced to the increase in its urban population from 24 percent in 1950 to 59 percent in 2000. In the periods up to the…

Abstract

In Turkey, the process of squatterisation can best be traced to the increase in its urban population from 24 percent in 1950 to 59 percent in 2000. In the periods up to the present, the prevention, improvement and renewal of squatter settlements were not achieved within the existing legal framework and planning structure; and their urban quality has been degraded.

The aim of this article is to discuss the upgrading of squatter settlements through a mitigation process considering the possibility of an earthquake in Istanbul. The target groups of this upgrading study are the squatter dwellers and their settlements.

In getting prepared for the predicted big Istanbul earthquake, the improvement of squatter housing is extremely important for the existing urban housing stock. With this aim, the undesirable consequences of a possible natural disaster in various squatter settlements in Istanbul were scrutinised. Also, earthquake-forecasting reports were analysed in conjunction with squatter maps to extract data for the purpose of upgrading squatter settlements through rehabilitation, reconstruction and reinforcement at the urban and architectural levels with amelioration of damage after an earthquake. In the article, a model is proposed which includes measures to transform squatter zones into healthy areas by means of simple reinforcement and contemporary solutions.

This article is based on a research project requested and sponsored by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality during 2003-2004.

Details

Open House International, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

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