New Housing Trends in Istanbul

Abstract

Externalization that became prominent in 1980s with the globalization brought along dramatic changes in social and spatial areas. The social, cultural and economic events that took place on an international level thanks to globalization made the impact of change felt which was reflected on the urban space and, therefore, on the house, resulting in an increase in the importance of the residential sector. Externalization and developed economic structure enabled more investments into houses which introduced a concept of housing populated in urban fringes starting from the city centers. The housing concept which was shaped by the impacts of the urban transformation after 1980 turned into a new emerging lifestyle in Istanbul in 2000s. Accordingly, the study aims to establish the position of housing in Istanbul and new meanings formed by the socio-cultural changes. In this sense, housing before and after 1980, globalization, gentrification, urban transformation, spatial segregation, socio-economic and cultural aspects were discussed based on the structural benchmarks, and 4 different housing forms, namely the “Loft”, “Residence”, “Terraced House”, and “Gated Communities”, with individual structural examples. This study, thus, aims to question the form of tenancy of these houses created through varying concepts and concerns today. The results obtained showed that the housing as an indicator of cultural life in Istanbul has turned into a lifestyle that is shaped by similar aspects and commercial concern, despite different approaches or production forms, eliminating the traces of the cultural life of the society.

Citation

Özker, S. and Karsli, U.T. (2016), "New Housing Trends in Istanbul", Open House International, Vol. 41 No. 4, pp. 89-97. https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-04-2016-B0012