A conversation between Ayşe Çavdar and Şevin Yıldız, New City Reader “Industry”

After the removal of its heavy industry, Istanbul has adopted no strategy to manage its relationship with “light” industry. The number of housing estates is multiplying and they are expanding to include the organized industrial sites built on the periphery to make space for new formations in the city centre.

Şevin Yıldız: When you were researching Başakşehir, did you observe the relationship of new housing estates built in and around Başakşehir to the industrial areas between the Avrupa Motorway down south and Atatürk Boulevard in the east?

Ayşe Çavdar: In fact, I had to. Because the very reason for Başakşehir’s survival and sustainment lies in this area. Back in the days of (mayor) Dalan, Başakşehir had already begun to take form as a social housing project for the workers to be employed in the İkitelli Organized Industrial Site. Under Nurettin Sözen’s administration, this project was developed further. But it was only in the days of Tayyip Erdoğan that the financial resources were found and the project was finally realized. Therefore, the very point of emergence for the housing stock in this area was this industrial site. What made Başakşehir’s leap to its current high profile status possible was the emergence of the industrial sites in Bayrampaşa and Bağcılar as well as İkitelli, and the public trying to escape the post-slum settlements in pursuit of new and decent housing accommodation. To simply sum up, the positive value emerging out of these industrial sites was transformed into a housing investment in a district like Başakşehir. But if you ask me about the content of these industrial sites, I haven’t yet had a chance to look. I only know as far as it touches on Başakşehir.

ŞY: And what about the social housing projects for the workers? Are they still there and what kind of changes are they going through?

AÇ: The situation is a little complex. Başakşehir had begun as a social housing project but today it is one of the regions of Istanbul with the highest housing prices. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the fact that Başakşehir – or Başak Konutları as was originally named – could not fulfill its social function because of ideological stigmatization. The estate had adopted the “ear of grain” symbol which was at the time the official symbol of Refah Party. Even though the housing prices were very low, it was mostly the middle classes and the municipality employees who invested in the area with an aim to support the Party. The area was thus labeled as a ghetto project built by this political party (RP) especially for its voters. In 1997, the area was by now called Başakşehir and the Islamist population growth was interrupted to a certain extent in tandem with the after-effects of the post-modern coup. In 2002, İkitelli had emerged better off from the economical crisis of 2001 having accumulated lots of capital. To top it off, Islamist policies had undergone a change in both attitude and direction. Today it is an area populated by middle and upper-middle classes. There are also areas inhabited by workers. But the methods employed to market this area are usually aimed at keeping the profile high.

ŞY: Did you observe that the infrastructure of the industrial site had been used in an opportunistic manner in order to make space for new housing? Because the required investment for the infrastructure of an industrial site and the infrastructural needs of a housing area do not necessarily overlap. And considering various environmental criteria, careful planning is more than necessary.

AÇ: It is possible to say that for the second phase. But in the first phase, due to conflicts between the central administration and the local administration, what you’ve just described seems to have not occurred. For example, KİPTAŞ authorities relate that they had to struggle hard to receive infrastructural services like water and electricity for these housing estates. They even go as far as to say that the electricity and highway boards told them that they would provide this infrastructure only on the condition that KİPTAŞ build them lodgings. Considering Turkey’s circumstances, this seems quite likely to me. In the second phase, after 2012, the housing project in Başakşehir gained a firm footing. The earthquake of 1999 also had a role to play. As far as I understand, the city administration decided to use housing areas like Başakşehir in order to speed up the measures that could be taken against the earthquake. Their objective was to encourage the public with cheap housing prices to relocate to these areas, thus decrease the population density in the city centre which would facilitate the transformative operations there. To sum up, this housing area which was initiated through industrial investment has now reached its completion in the wake of the transformative storm caused by the earthquake. But yes, generally speaking, the industrial investment in the region is now being presented as the primary motive behind the housing initiative. And yes, the economic concentration in the area along with the earthquake hazard seem to have provided a driving force behind the expansion of the city towards this region.

ŞY: Similar situations can be observed also in the axis of Kartal, Yakacık and Tuzla. So actually, these relationships are very important in terms of the formative changes inflicted on Istanbul and the ways and means of expansion. These newly formed housing areas seem to be infiltrating the monofunctional regions and the natural resources in the north.

AÇ: You are absolutely right! First industry, then housing. And then the argument is: If we didn’t do it, if we didn’t make it accessible for development, the slum dwellers and constructors would come invading anyway.

ŞY: Because in the transformation project for Kartal, factories and organized industrial sites were the first areas to be negotiated.

AÇ: The fear or abhorrence of off-the-record operations is used as justification for a kind of growth whereby all the formality involved is the fact that it is managed by the hand of the State. The demolition of some industrial sites around Başakşehir and the building of new housing blocks is also a case-in-question at the moment. The oldest of the sites to be demolished is 30 years old. Consequently, no one can argue that there is much planning involved.

ŞY: And what is the direction these small-scale, “light” industrial sites are headed towards? Or how is that they are absorbed into the system? They had already been moved to the periphery. And now with the changing centers of gravity, they are moving again.

AÇ: Some of them are not needed anymore because the sectors-in-question are finished. For instance, the site dedicated to textile manufacturing is one of the greatest sites but it’s only full by 40 percent. Naturally it will gradually shrink even more until one day it completely ceases to be in effect. One of the strangest stories I have wittnessed is a site called Trikocenter. It was opened to welcome investments by machine-knitwear producers; comprises of three storey, 1000-1500 square meter workshop spaces. But during the building phase, the future evolution of knitting machines was not taken into consideration. These spaces cannot be used any longer because the machines can’t fit inside. No other sectors will invest in thse workshops because it is not advantageous. Some of them are waiting to relocate to other cities. Again, production may move outside the city or to other cities altogether. The automobile spare parts manufacturers, for instance. And the furniture zones are the most active areas. They are benefiting also from the growth in the housing sector. Therefore it look as if they are going to focus more on marketing than manufacturing. Production may again move to the suburbs or even to the other cities. I don’t really believe that these issues have been fully considered. It is more a case of devising solutions as problems arise. I don’t really think that these issues are given much thought by anyone.

ŞY: In a sense, these housing areas also determine the direction those producers who manage to stay in the industry will take. For exampla, even if the textile sector survives, manufacturers of home curtains may be left out. Like manufacturers of furniture and kitchen appliances.

AÇ: Absolutely. The sectors in the region only have a chance to survive insofar as they can relate themselves to the housing sector. Currently, the circulation is very fast. But of course, we don’t know what will happen in the future. There are also problems arising from the fact that these areas do not have an established relationship with regions that provide employment opportunities. For example, even though Başakşehir is the closest area to İkitelli, noone living there could possibly be a labourer. On the other hand, the surrounding slum-settlements where labourers could live are already transformed into areas of investment for luxury housing. It all proves the existence of serious planning deficiencies.