| This dissertation analyzes the efforts since the mid-1980s to regenerate Istanbul's centrally located waterfront area on the Golden Horn, in Turkish Halic. More specifically, it investigates this transition by focusing on the key actors involved and their power dynamics in the process. The main argument develops along two lines: From one perspective, the developments on the Golden Horn are similar to the experiences of cities in other national settings. They reflect attempts to transform this part of the city according to the newly rising demands of the global economy. From another perspective, however, the case of the Golden Horn presents a different picture. Concepts such as "public-private partnerships," "urban entrepreneurialism," and "gentrification"---which are employed to describe the transformations in various North American and Western European cities---are not completely adequate for comprehending this case. More specifically, this dissertation contends that the presence of structural arrangements having explanatory value in the existing literature cannot be taken for granted in the case of the Golden Horn. In the latter, we witness an absence of relatively powerful market mechanisms, a lack of private sector involvement, a gap between the interests of a significant segment of public sector actors and the demands of the market, and the effectiveness of electoral politics at the district level. Therefore, the fate of the Halic area has been shaped by various public sector actors' intermittent attempts to transform the area into Istanbul's center of culture and arts by the absence of major private sector actors in the form of developers, construction firms, and potential urban gentrifiers and finally by local communities reluctant to implement and participate in the transition. At a more general level, the study argues that, through their specific ways of interrelating with global forces, different localities display different manifestations of macro-level transformations. Therefore, this dissertation seeks to make an empirical and conceptual contribution to critical studies on urban regeneration, by pointing to the significance of the local structural conditions under which such projects are undertaken. |
