Analyzing Urbicide Through The Lens Of Gentrification

The destruction of urban life has manifested in different forms across time, ranging from overt violence to institutionalized urban policies. This study examines gentrification and urbicide through selected cases, focusing on both their similarities and differences. The gentrification example is the transformation of Sulukule in Istanbul, Türkiye, while the urbicide example is the destruction of Mostar’s Stari Most. The study asserts that the displacement of long-standing communities, the eradication of cultural heritage, and the normalization of exclusion reveal that gentrification is not merely a spatial transformation but a systematic form of urbicide. By situating gentrification within the discourse of urbicide, this study argues that contemporary urban development has institutionalized destruction, turning policy and planning into instruments of annihilation. The methods of urbicide manifest through various physical and systemic channels. These include warfare (specifically when it exceeds the principle of proportionality), urban planning initiatives, and legal or administrative processes. Furthermore, the demolition of perceived terrorist strongholds is often utilized as a justification for the destruction of the urban fabric. In the context of gentrification, these legal and planning frameworks serve as a 'bloodless' method of urbicide, displacing communities through systemic restructuring rather than overt military force. Using case analysis and literature review, the research assesses how defining gentrification in the context of urbicide. The study highlights the term of urbicide not as a closed historical event but as a continuing process that intersects with gentrification, producing new geographies of inequality; thus, contributing to the literature by reframing gentrification as a mechanism of urban annihilation beyond the physical.