RETHINKING CRAFT NEIGHBOURHOODS AS AUTHENTIC URBAN PLACES FOR PRODUCTIVE CITIES OF THE FUTURE: THE CASE OF GALATA


Desticioğlu Y. H., Pulat Gökmen G.

30th Urban Design and Implementations Symposium / 5th International Urban Design and Implementations Congress Future of Urban Design + Urban Design of Future, İstanbul, Türkiye, 25 - 27 Mayıs 2022, cilt.1, sa.906, ss.168-201

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Tam Metin Bildiri
  • Cilt numarası: 1
  • Basıldığı Şehir: İstanbul
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Türkiye
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.168-201
  • İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

ABSTRACT

Neoliberal restructuring has affected cities worldwide, accelerating the fact that the service sector has taken the place of the manufacturing sector in city centres. Therefore, developing alternative urban policies to capital-oriented neoliberal ones is necessary, promising cities an equal, sustainable, and resilient future. This article focuses on the problems with current urban transformation policies implemented in the old city centre. It discusses a new urban space approach based on the concept of "authenticity" as a solution for maintaining traditional small production in three craft districts in Galata, Istanbul.

Urban discourses that are produced by a politician or an institution and spread by highlighting communication channels are a suitable field to apply the Critical Discourse Analysis method. Considering urban discourses and urban history together has revealed that urban discourses create a fictional reality for implementing urban policies. Furthermore, it has been determined that today's discourses, in which Galata is defined as a tourist, art, and culture centre, ignore the existence of workshops in the region. While this situation strengthens the perception that the workshops do not belong there, it creates displacement pressure on the crafters. For this reason, making the productions in Galata visible through semi-structured interviews, drawing plans, sketching, and mapping is an essential part of the research. Then, three craft districts, Perşembe Pazarı, Şişhane, and Kuledibi, were analysed according to economic, cultural, spatial, and functional changes. These changes are discussed and explained one by one. As a result of these, suggestions were developed in order to sustain these authentic urban places.

Keywords: authenticity; right to the city; urban discourse; craft neighbourhoods; Galata