JOURNAL OF PLANNING EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, 2020 (SSCI)
This article examines two urban redevelopment projects in Istanbul in an attempt to address the gap between literature and real-life planning practice in their understanding of power relations and imbalances in collaborative forums. Based on insights from informed practitioners, residents, and activists, it presents the realities-project stories, actors and their perceptions, motives, influences, and lessons-faced in gecekondu renewal and earthquake-based regeneration processes. It suggests a set of redevelopment strategies and responses that highlight democratic and collaborative criteria to overcome power-related challenges and foster a more just redistribution of power.