The Character of Diyarbakır’s Suriçi Quarter is Changed from Residential to Commercial (original) (raw)
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Post-conflict urban transformation projects: the re/de-construction of Suriçi, Diyarbakır
PhD Dissertation, 2023
This research seeks to study the post-conflict urban transformation projects in the historical centre (Suriçi) of Diyarbakır/Amed, the biggest Kurdish city in Turkey. The armed conflict between the Turkish Army and the Kurdish movement erupted in 2015 in seven cities in South-eastern Turkey and ended a year later in 2016. In these cities, significant parts of the conflict areas were urgently expropriated and demolished while remaining restricted by police and the army for a long time. An array of urban policies and development projects were initiated and implemented, aiming to redesign and reconstruct the city for the economic and social benefit of the Turkish state but also to limit and oppress the Kurdish movement. This research examines how urban planning policies become tools of power and sovereignty in the urban space in addition to spatial strategies of dislocation and dispossession introduced by warfare, focusing on Suriçi, Diyarbakır’s old centre. Surrounded by a Roman fortress and enlisted as a cultural heritage monument by UNESCO, Suriçi comprises of historical buildings that have been severely damaged or demolished and were replaced by new constructions. The case study area was populated in the last decades by Kurdish lower classes and consists of 15 neighbourhoods. Since the end of the armed conflict in 2016, the urban fabric has been violently eradicated in almost half of the Suriçi area and shaped anew. The widened avenues and new building blocks built on top of the old narrow alleys and neighbourhoods are dedicated to commercial land uses, thus transforming the area into a tourist park. The urban transformation projects in Suriçi have displaced the previous residents and deprived them of their houses and properties by turning the area into a profitable field for private and public investments. As will be analysed in the following chapters, the conflict sparked in late 2015 in seven big cities in Southeastern Turkey. Unlike some other war-torn cities like Nusaybin and Şırnak, this case study involves a historical monument and thus the potential of extracting value from the area that was demolished and later developed. The case study of Sur is a very different one, and the corresponding outcomes of this thesis should not be generalised; however, they should be examined and processed thoroughly in order to (possibly) identify common patterns with similar cases where the tool of urban reconstruction is used as a very powerful and deeply political instrument to shape the social structure of the city anew. The research includes a fieldwork study that took place in Diyarbakır (in 2019 and 2022). The methods employed during the fieldwork include interviews (thirty in-depth semi-structured interviews), personal observations and informal discussions, as well as collection of data like policy reports and maps. In addition, the methodology also employs spatial analysis methods such as analysis of spatial registry and (aerial and in-field) photo observation supported, on-site architectural observations, as well as analysis of policies and legal documents (master plans, regulations, declarations of party representatives, parliamentary minutes, supplementary reports and literature). This thesis aimed, through a deeper examination, the transformation projects in Suriçi affected in multiple ways the collective memory, the social, political, economic, cultural, and historical life. While financial gains and imposing control appear to be the primary two aims of the transformation project, the discursive and visual representation of the ‘rebranded’ Sur and the planned projects with their security and assimilative objectives illustrate a desire and anxiety for pacification. The undisclosed master plan for the re/de-constructed area leaves the long-term future development uncertain and creates grey zones of informal negotiations and political leverage. The new Sur is being transformed into a tourist park through violent demographic shifts. The deregulated legal framework has escalated prices, resulting in permanent displacement. The project reflects a case where catastrophe presents financial opportunities for the upper classes and reveals the complex interplay of class divisions, Kurdish identity, colonialism and spatial hegemony.
STUDIES IN URBANIZATION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN BALKAN COUNTRIES, 2021
Diyarbakır's Suriçi region, which came to the fore with the 2015-2016 trench conflicts, is an important urban area that has experienced periods of development and decline at different times with the influence of different elements from ancient times to the present. In its history dating back to ancient times, Suriçi hosted great civilizations over time, became one of the most important urban centers of the region, and recently lost its importance in connection with the differentiation process in urban policies and turned into a depression region. In order to understand the use of Suriçi as a base by the terrorist organization during the trench conflicts, this urban development process needs to be analyzed in detail. In this study, first of all, the foundation process of Suriçi and its importance for Diyarbakir are discussed, then the entry of the region into the depression process in modern times and the urban policies to prevent this process are explained.
Urban planning and post-war reconstruction under transitional administrations : the case of Mostar
2009
This thesis investigates the role of urban planning in the reconstruction of war-tom cities, particularly under the aegis of international transitional administrations, and the impact of the approaches adopted on long-term development, sustainability and reconciliation between communities. Postwar reconstruction initiatives at the city level have been examined previously in only a handful of cases, and mostly from an architectural and urban conservation point of view. Mostar, which is the main case study for this research, has also been studied in the past from these perspectives. This thesis, however, attempts to shed light on the role urban planning has played in Mostar over the past fifteen years, and how it has been understood and used by local interest groups and various international actors, especially the international administration-the European Union Administration of Mostar. This research straddles the worlds of urban planning, state-building, governance, postwar reconstruction and peace building. Based on an in-depth review of literature in these areas, and an extensi\:,e qualitative field study, it concludes that although urban planning has his'torically played an important role in urban (and indeed, national) recovery after conflicts, it has been marginalised in more recent postwar reconstruction efforts due to the overarching emphasis on building a liberal peace, in particular, the efforts of the international community on less stateand more market-oriented approaches; and the unwillingness to acknowledge that postwar reconstruction is a long-term effort which requires thinking beyond one's own mandate. Busting the myth that Mostar was the ideal multi-ethnic Yugoslav city prior to 1992, this study demonstrates that a thorough understanding of the context is vital in order to establish (and achieve) realistic postwar reconstruction goals. It suggests that in postwar environments, incremental efforts at reforming institutions, from the bottom-up, can have a greater impact than radical, one-size fits all prescriptions for reform. In this process, urban planning can playa significant role, both as a lens to understand the historical socioeconomic , institutional and political context, fissures and fault-lines, and as an instrument to effect change and begin to 'reenvision' a more positive future for war-ravaged cities and countries. Yet, so often, it remains 'the road not taken', as 'short-termist', humanitarian approaches continue drive reconstruction processes all over the world.
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities
This paper explores the governance of a state-led urban renewal project in a politically contested area in the aftermath of a major armed conflict. Building on the ethnocratic regime theory, we explore the governance of the urban renewal process in the historic district of Suriçi by focusing on the political, spatial, and governmental underpinnings of displacement and dispossession in the context of the unresolved “Kurdish Question” of Turkey. We argue that this exclusionary and state-led urban renewal project is shaped around the ethnocratic state interests with limited real estate returns that aims to sanitize and dehistoricize the historic core of Diyarbakir given its political and socioeconomic significance for the Kurdish Movement. The rhetorical formation of a “renewed” historic core epitomizes the racialized governance that intensifies the race-class realities sitting at the center of the decades-old ethnic conflict in Turkey. The central government authority's use of gen...
Urban Destruction and Redevelopment as Counterinsurgency: The Void, The Limbo and New Face of Sur
The Commentaries, 2023
This commentary explores the relationship between counterinsurgency strategies, urban destruction, and redevelopment via their impacts and manifestations on urban space through an ethnographic case study in Sur, the old town of Diyarbakır. Sur has been home to working class, marginalized and low-income Kurdish families, thousands of which have been displaced during and after the urban warfare between the Turkish state and the PKK in 2015-16. I discuss how urban destruction and redevelopment are used as counterinsurgency strategies under the AKP regime to subjugate the Kurdish cities, which have been the center of collective resistance and grassroots opposition. My grounded conceptualization follows the physical fractions in Sur: The void focuses on flattened and emptied areas of Sur. The tools for emptying involve curfews, deliberate destruction of the built environment, depopulation of the area, urgent expropriations, and the extension of horizontal and vertical visibility in the redevelopment process for security purposes. The limbo focuses on parts of Sur where all land and properties are urgently expropriated but not demolished yet and unveils the temporality of displacement as a constant threat for the residents. It also discusses the everyday life of the displaced people who still couldn’t be able to establish a stable life. Lastly, New Face focuses on the newly built environment in Sur and exposes the tools of state-led tourism/commercial gentrification; securitization; and depopulation during the neoliberal redevelopment process.
Urban protection and renewal dilemma: İzmir Mezarlıkbaşı Abstract
2021
At the beginning of the 21st century, efforts to preserve cultural heritage in historical settlements is a highly problematic and multi-faceted issue in Turkey. Although conservation legislation dates back to 60 years ago, heritage conservation has not been internalized and accepted in the wider part of society, and, has not established a sound political foundation. On the other, however, there is also a lack of integrated land-use planning and management. The purpose of this study is to present the difficulties of dealing with the conservation, renewal, and regeneration for heritage areas in the historic core of İzmir, Mezarlıkbaşı-Kemeraltı, as well as to discuss the intrinsic physical qualities, dynamic characters and diversity of community groups with a view of new spatial agenda. The objective of the study is therefore twofold: 1) documentation of the physical characteristics and values for understanding the place; 2) to evaluate incorporating integrated strategic planning and management approach pointing the need for incorporating, leadership, partnership, integration and inclusion as a policy guideline for the safeguarding the heritage area. Our findings show that the Municipality of İzmir has made a significant attempt as TARKEM’s leadership position, which has succeeded in attracting national and international interest in Kemeraltı and creating opportunities for the future, but partnership (operation), management (structure) and inclusion (its processes) still lack. Community groups are not seen as part of the planning activities and planning has been remote, fragmented and exclusively missing an integrated planning management approach.
Urban protection and renewal dilemma: İzmir Mezarlıkbaşı
Urban protection and renewal dilemma: İzmir Mezarlıkbaşı, 2021
At the beginning of the 21 st century, efforts to preserve cultural heritage in historical settlements is a highly problematic and multi-faceted issue in Turkey. Although conservation legislation dates back to 60 years ago, heritage conservation has not been internalized and accepted in the wider part of society, and, has not established a sound political foundation. On the other, however, there is also a lack of integrated land-use planning and management. The purpose of this study is to present the difficulties of dealing with the conservation, renewal, and regeneration for heritage areas in the historic core of İzmir, Mezarlıkbaşı-Kemeraltı, as well as to discuss the intrinsic physical qualities, dynamic characters and diversity of community groups with a view of new spatial agenda. The objective of the study is therefore twofold: 1) documentation of the physical characteristics and values for understanding the place; 2) to evaluate incorporating integrated strategic planning and management approach pointing the need for incorporating, leadership, partnership, integration and inclusion as a policy guideline for the safeguarding the heritage area. Our findings show that the Municipality of İzmir has made a significant attempt as TARKEM's leadership position, which has succeeded in attracting national and international interest in Kemeraltı and creating opportunities for the future, but partnership (operation), management (structure) and inclusion (its processes) still lack. Community groups are not seen as part of the planning activities and planning has been remote, fragmented and exclusively missing an integrated planning management approach. Keywords Safeguarding cultural heritage, Conservation planning and legislation, A strategic management of cultural heritage, Policy guideline for management of cultural heritage.
Sulaimani Journal for Engineering Sciences, 2019
Abstract It is widely accepted, that historic urban quarters are coherent entities, which are clearly identified by their traditional character and architectural values and meanings. These areas have been described as critical areas in the city, because they hold and kept in the same time the identity of the city, and been more decayed day by day due to obsolescence phenomenon which faced these areas continuously. In this regard, Sulaimani city center showed many kinds of developments, which are totally not exceeds the individual buildings oriented. The way that these individual buildings had become as a landmark of the city, because of its richness in holding many historical, architectural, heritage values. The last was the rehabilitation of Sulaimani - Saray building. Examination of successful examples of revitalization projects for historic urban quarters in different cities shows that, aside from the application of effective organizational, legal, fiscal, financial tools, correct identification of the contextual attributes during the analytical stage plays a key role in determining the appropriate strategic approach to revitalization. From this point of view, the problem research derived as the lack of contextualism perspective in revitalization projects in historical traditional areas in the city center leads to what known as building based instead of area-based protection. The study tries to achieve objectives underlying as necessity of treating these areas as one integrative unit which are participating in drawing the context of urban scene, and any effort to separate building from its context leads to fragment the urban tissue specially in the urban center, and of course this whole view can pave the road to re-define these decayed areas in the way described as more widely and sustainable method.