Waiting for Regeneration: Temporalities of Gentrification in Izmir Ballikuyu Neighborhood

Abstract

This paper explores the process of waiting in temporalities of gentrification in the case of Ballikuyu neighborhood. For Ballikuyu which is one of the oldest districts at the center of Izmir Turkey local authorities portrayed a shiny future with a regeneration and development plan that they announced in 2014. Since then oscillating between hope and despair the residents of the neighborhood have been waiting for the implementation of this plan under the pressure of displacement due to both gentrification and the gradual decay of their built environment. With a longitudinal research conducted between 2014 and 2021 this paper aims to get insights into the use of this process as a strategy by local authorities into its effects on socio-spatial integrity of the built environment and into the potentials that it may hold for the residents. The research methodology depends on semi-structured interviews and site observations that expand over this time period and integrated with the content analysis of social media posts and news on local newspapers. The study concludes that even though the prolonged waiting process weakens the residents' sense of agency place attachment and energy for collective resistance it is not a stagnant situation but an active condition which perpetually compels the residents to develop new social and spatial tactics not only for solidarity and better communication but also for re-appropriating a more livable environment.