Here is Boğaçhan Dündaralp’s text for the 7th issue of the New City Reader [Ecology]:

In the last 10 years, perhaps similar to many other cities in the grip of global capitalism and neoliberal policies, Istanbul is a part of a process through which urban landscape is transformed and reproduced. This process redefines and shapes urban segments in social and ecological, not just in physical, terms. It is a context defined by the mechanisms of social segregation and exclusion; a context, which threatens public spaces by prioritizing private property, consumption and authoritarian urban design. Moreover, going beyond intimidation, the process transforms public spaces into private property by using mechanisms such as TOKİ, and destroys the natural resources of the city. In this context that became a source of social and ecological crises, “design” is used as a tool that ignores the realities of the “place”, legitimizes the prevalent through intense aestheticisation and refunctionalization; and the “designer” is used in a passive and reconciliatory role that encourages creativity along these lines.

Without a doubt, the most striking result for a city in which the rights to be an urban resident is violated, a city which is turning into isolated, consumption-oriented, artificial and homogenized landscape fragments, is the gradual annihilation of the possibilities for an alternative urban life and emancipation. Just like the natural resources of the city, multi-layered and productive urban landscapes that have a peculiar rhythm and way of life, in which the feeling of “place” can be experienced, are being ripped off from their sources and destroyed. Cites are losing their cultural heritage that arises from mobility and wealth, their networks based on interaction and their productiveness.

The story of Kuzguncuk Orchard is a resistance struggle that takes place in a context like this. It is the story of the residents of Kuzguncuk who against this hegemonic urban landscape, try to protect their “bostan” which is one of the natural resources of the city and their life, by using their cultural and social values that takes their power from “place”…

Istanbul – Kuzguncuk
Kuzguncuk is perhaps the only village left by the Bosporus, which could protect itself from urban operations such as dense housing, continuous and rapid traffic of transformation, “gentrification” that has been going on for a while under the euphemism of urban renewal, “dislocation”, and “value enhancement”. It experiences a “slow” transformation, and develops while maintaining its authentic existence, texture and character. There are two basic answers to the question “how does it achieve this?” First answer is the topographical position of Istanbul. Located in a valley between Fethipasa grove and Nakkasbaba cemetery, the village, thanks to its topographical borders, could partially isolate itself from the urban development that has been taking place at the rear edge of Baglarbasi. Thanks to its characteristic texture in physical terms and its “historical site” status, it was protected within these borders and it remains as a texture dominated by historical landmarks and low-rises that necessitate a renovation without destruction. Second, because of this texture, beginning with the 1980s, it has received a significant intellectual migration, which regenerates the texture here and creates new neighbourhood relations. This intellectual migration increases everyday and it does not happen through a rapid transformation, but through negotiation, encounters, acceptance, and a process of mutual recognition. As a result, unlike rapid urban transformations induced in neoliberal economies, disintegration that destroys sub-economy, neighbourly relations and economic balances, inter-regional disparities are not observed here. On the one hand, its slow evolution and preservation of its identity in a context like rapidly transforming Istanbul, makes it an example of a life space in which most of the phenomena sacrificed for urban transformation can persevere. And on the other hand, thanks to the TV series and commercials that disclose its identity, it becomes a centre of attraction for tourists.

Kuzguncuk – Orchard
Also known as “Ilya’s Orchard”, the orchard is the last remaining piece of green land within this urban texture, which is a fact that brings it to the agenda every 10 years as a key to rapid urban transformation demanded by local authorities and the economic government. This area, which supposed to be protected as an orchard, could be preserved thanks to the lawsuits for the stay of execution against the changes in the master plan in the second half of the 1980s and to conscious neighbourhood organizations emerged in the 1990s and 2000s. However, in 2010, plans for transformation of the area came back to agenda. In 2012, the General Directorate for Foundations, who holds the property rights to the orchard, designed a project for construction of a private school, which occupied the whole plot and was inharmonious due to its mass and programme. Kuzguncuk residents resisted this project by initiating a legal struggle, organizing social events (including festivals, common production, various workshops and different media productions) and proposing an alternative project.

By generating a new space for a discussion on the structural conditions of the imposed project, the “value” of the area and contemporary models of urban policies and urbanization, they tried to show that the negotiations about the future of the area could not be carried out through a single proposal. Focusing on “right to use”, rather than “property rights”, they aimed to invite the parties in a novel field of negotiation. With this effort, they showed that the orchard could be preserved without losing its richness, alternative models were possible and these models could be pursued through a common endeavour.

While following up on project approval processes and maintaining their communication with related institutions, Kuzguncuk Coalition stays on alert and monitors the developments about the project. On 28.06.2012, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Cultural Heritage Preservation Regional Board, 6th Bureau of Istanbul, decided that the project that stipulates the construction of a primary school on the plot occupied by the orchard was not compatible with the architectural texture of Kuzguncuk because of its programme and structural mass. In addition, the Bureau resolved that the orchard pool detected in the plot was a cultural landmark and should be protected under 2nd group status.

Kuzguncuk residents were relieved with this decision and gained some time, however neither the process, nor the resistance has reached to a conclusion yet…

For further information: http://bogachandundaralp.wordpress.com/?s=bostan