Creation: Istanbul & Paris / 2013

Photos: Coline Robin / © Pham Thu Trang

Publication: Master thesis available here

Basibüyük: rehousing of the inhabitants, effects of global policies on local communities

The research work for this thesis were realised in collaboration with the IFEA, the French Institute for Anatolian Studies in Istanbul, where I worked for two months. The urban policies of the ruling political party in Turkey, AKP include massive scale projects of urban renovation. One key question of my thesis was to understand the architectural and sociological effects that would bring one of this project in the particular gecekondu(“slum”) neighbourhood of Basibüyük. Through my research, a second main question arose: what kind of political project is standing behind the urban renovation of established popular neighbourhood in Istanbul? More generally isn’t Basibüyük an example of the political will to make of Istanbul a global city?

Structure of the thesis:

• Basıbüyük, evolution of a gecekondu

1.  Locate Maltepe in Istanbul, the Turkish megalopolis
2. The urbanisation of Maltepe and the history of Turkish migrants
3. Reading Basıbüyük through maps

• TOKI, buildings built in one night & AKP urban policy

1. Basıbüyük, urban struggle & conservative mahalle
2. TOKI, growth engine for urban transformation projects
3. TOKI, fake solution to social housing problem

• The new Basıbüyük as an example of the upcoming city

1.  Housing: towards a normalisation of ways of living
2. Neighbourhood: from a DIY approach to a poorly planned city
3. City: the standardisation logics of global cities

The publication was presented during the exhibtion « Bienvenue en zone à risque (Welcome in the risk zone) » between the 25 April and the 5 May 2017, at the Architecture School of Paris-Belleville. https://www.architectesdesrisquesmajeurs.com/expositions