The “Middle Class” and Gated Communities in İstanbul

Yıl 2012, Cilt: 3 Sayı: 6, 96 - 123, 20.04.2018

Seda Aydın

Öz

In broad terms, this article deals with the
expansion of the once-exclusive gated communities in İstanbul to the large
segments of the middle class especially following the 2008 economic crisis. It
analyses how the characteristics of this housing form and its meaning for the
city change with the inclusion of new segments of the middle class to the
target mass. It also examines what the discourses of the residents about their
gated communities, their fellow residents and the city reveal about the
category of “middle class”. Based on 19 in-depth interviews with the residents
of the gated communities addressing larger segments of the society, and
discourse analysis of the advertisement material and other media coverage, it
shows how the ideal types of neoliberal housing and the neoliberal middle-class
urbanite are drawn, It also argues that the category of “middle class” is a
political one with malleable boundaries (re)drawn according to the present
regime of capital accumulation with these ideal types.     

Anahtar Kelimeler

middle class, new middle class, gated communities, neoliberal urbanization, housing

İstanbul’da “Orta Sınıf” ve Kapalı Siteler

Öz

Bu makalede, 1990’larda ve 2000’lerin başında sadece
kentli seçkinlerin yaşadığı kapalı sitelerin, özellikle 2008 krizi sonrasında,
orta sınıfın daha geniş kesimlerine hitap eder hale gelmesi incelenmektedir.
Hedef kitleye orta sınıfın yeni bölmelerinin dahil edilmesiyle bu konut biçiminin
kimi özelliklerinin ve bu özelliklerin kent için anlamının nasıl değiştiği
araştırılmaktadır. Ayrıca buralarda yaşayanların konut pratiklerine dair
söylemlerinin orta sınıf kategorisiyle ilgili nasıl bir tablo çizdiği
tartışılmaktadır. Hedef kitlesi genişleyen kapalı sitelerin pazarlanmasında
kullanılan dilin söylem analizinden ve site sakinleriyle gerçekleştirilen
yapılandırılmış mülakatlardan beslenen çalışma, kapalı sitenin neoliberal
konutun ideal tipini, kapalı site sakinininse neoliberal orta sınıf bireyin
ideal tipini oluşturduğunu savunur. Bununla birlikte, “orta sınıf”ın sermaye
birikim modelinin dönemsel özelliklerine göre sınırları tekrar ve tekrar
çizilen siyasi ve ideolojik bir kategori olduğunu bu ideal tipler üzerinden
göstermeyi amaçlar.

Anahtar Kelimeler

orta sınıf, yeni orta sınıf, kapalı siteler, neoliberal kentleşme, konut

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