Human societies are unequal since long ago -we almost forgot how long- so we built cities to contain inequality, or, cities that helped to reproduce inequality. However, ‘the city as a container and reproducer for inequalities' is on the way to disappear, as the regime of capital accumulation is changing, a process that started in the core economies already in the 1970s. So today, we no longer produce the inequality and make it dwell in our cities, moreover we produce our inequalities by producing our cities. Or, better: Today, our regime of capital accumulation is rather based on the production of the built environment in order to produce sustainable inequality. Obviously, ‘the city as the producer of inequalities' is on the agenda of history. In Istanbul, that agenda became visible after 2003, when the last ‘national' crisis of the financial sector was overcome, and the development, construction and real estate businesses emerged as the engine of economic growth of the metropolis.
In Istanbul, the intervention of big business into the production of the urban has undergone its preparatory stages since mid 80s and has just recently taken off: recently, however, overwhelmingly. Here, in a city with a remarkable informal sector in housing development, the process of capital transfer within the new accumulation regime would follow its own path.
For particular historical reasons Istanbul had undergone a process of de-elitization in early-, till mid-20th century, hence a classical institution of city-fatherhood could not develop, as the potential for that was destroyed just when it was about to emerge. The agenda to territorialize the nation state just hit that vacuum and helped legitimize a very fragmented model of real estate ownership. ‘Zillions' of micro property units, broadly an outcome of migration, visibly still dominate the urban landscape. They function as niches absorbing small capital accumulated by building up the urban. Strong social relics of an initial ‘housing not-yet-as-commodity' phase 1945-85 still have an impact; what emerges is a picture that does not allow widespread fundisation as a major technique for surplus transfer. Involved capital is mostly shown in connection with or identifiable with ‘a face'. This is often used to explain the ‘relative immunity' towards the recent crisis - still at the moment of drafting of this text.
The realms of both political and civil society are becoming space for struggle between the old and new accumulation regime, or small and corporate capital. Istanbul, through business as usual, is obviously on a secure track to create its new, more sustainable models and spheres of inequalities. Where is the space for intervention? How can Inura help to link with past and present lessons learned from other metropolises? How can the particular Istanbulite story help to understand processes going on elsewhere? ... are among the other questions, which the 19th Inura Conference to be held between 26th June/3rd July in Istanbul will focus on.
Program
26 June 2009
Venue: SantralCampus - Bilgi University
E-3 bdg, room 201
17:00 - 20:00: "Introducing Istanbul ‘in transformation"
Introductory lectures (each 45 mins + 15 min discussion)
- Erbatur Çavuşoğlu: "Planning System and Recent Urban Agenda of Istanbul"
- Orhan Esen: "Istanbul, genesis of urban space"
- Murat Cemal Yalçıntan: "Urban Opposition in Istanbul"
Moderator: Alev Erkilet
29 June 2009
Venue: SantralCampus - Bilgi University
E-3 bdg, room 201
09:30 - 13:45: "The kitchen of urban transformation"
Public panel with implementers from public and private sector in Istanbul
(Public sessions with simultaneous translation)
09:30 - 11:30: Session 1
Gül Deliktaş, Head of the strategy development dept.
TOKI (Mass Housing Admnistration of Turkey)
Aziz Yeniay - Mayor of Küçükçekmece district, western Istanbul
İsmet Yıldırım - Chairperson of Kiptaş, İstanbul Metropolitan Municipalities' Housing corporation
Hüseyin Kaptan - founding chairperson of IMP, Istanbul Metropolitan Planning Center
Moderator: Orhan Esen
11:30 - 11:45: Coffee break
11:45 - 13:45: Session 2
Ahmet Piker - Kartal Kent-Der (Urban Development Association of Kartal)
Faruk Göksu - Negotiation manager. Kentsel strateji (Urban Strategy co.)
Nilgün Kıvırcık - coordinator of urban transformation projects
GAP Insaat (Construction co.)
İhsan Bilgin - Architect, Bilgi university, Head of Grad. School of Architecture
Moderator: Ayşim Türkmen
13:45 - 15:00: Lunch
15:00 - 16:30: Public discussion with 2 keynote presentations
Stephan Lanz (Berlin): Be Berlin. Governing the city through freedom.
Libby Porter (Glasgow): ‘Disinvestment, reinvestment and the politics of urban transformation'
Moderator: Didem Danış
16:30 - 16:45: coffee break
16:45 - 19:00: INURA public forum 1
Field trip presentations, feed back on monday discussions
30 June 2009
Venue: Dolapdere Campus, Bilgi University
BS 1
09:30 - 12:30: Open forum/workshop on International campaigning on Habitat
with CBO representatives
Speakers: Knut Unger, Ingo Bader, Erdoğan Yıldız, Asli Kiyak Ingin
Moderators: Pelin Tan, Ulus Atayurt
(simultaneous translation provided)
12:30 - 13:30: Lunch break
13:30 - 16:00: INURA open forum 2
Field trip presentations, feed back on tuesday discussions
(simultaneous translation provided)