Migration, urban space and diversity: a case from Istanbul.

• Author: Biehl, Kristen Sarah
• Position: COMMENTARY - Essay

As the publication of this special issue indicates, international migration to Turkey is a field attracting growing academic interest by researchers across disciplines. While the field expands, numerous dimensions informing migrants' experiences in Turkey are becoming more visible, such as ethnicity, (1) religion, (2) gender, (3) race (4) and their intersections with differences in the employment sector, (5) migration motive (6) and legal status. (7) However, while most migration to Turkey is predominantly urban in nature, the city and/or spaces migrants inhabit often appear only as context and are rarely considered as factors that shape and are shaped by migration. (8) Similarly, the unit of analysis is often determined through an "ethnic lens", (9) focusing on particular ethnic and/or national groups with minimal analysis on the relationship between the diversity of migrants and non-migrant groups inhabiting shared spaces. (10) Given these limitations, in this brief commentary, I will present some key points on the intersections between migration, urban space and diversity in the Turkish context, based on ethnographic research I have conducted as part of a doctoral project since October 2010 in a migrant hub in Istanbul. (11)

1. Urban Localities of Migrant Settlement are not Accidental

   Since the 1990s, Istanbul been impacted by the increasing movement of international migrants moving to and through the city, who have come with the intention of settling and/or working, seeking asylum or transiting to a third country. In this process, Kumkapi, a neighborhood located on the historical peninsula, has emerged as one of the main hubs for these groups. In tracing the geographic and historical context of Kumkapi's socio-spatial transformation to the present day, it becomes obvious that neither internal nor international migrant settlement is accidental, being variably and uniquely shaped by local histories of migration, economic restructuring and rescaling processes, as well as emergent local practices.

   For several centuries, Kumkapi was considered a residential quarter for Greek and Armenian citizens of the Ottoman state, then the Turkish Republic. Following the 1950s, however, the demographic profile and spatial function of Kumkapi began changing quite substantially due to forces were also impacting other minority quarters of Istanbul. (12) This is the period during which large segments of the religious minority populations of Kumkapi emigrated abroad, in the face of discriminatory state policies and growing nationalistic public hostility. Those who stayed, on the other hand, began moving to other districts, becoming increasingly discontent with the combined effects of growing internal migration and commercialization, (13) such as a diminishing sense of intimate and familiar neighborly life. In return, for the exponentially growing number of internal migrants arriving in Istanbul from the 1970s onwards, Kumkapi emerged as an attractive first place of settlement due to centrality, housing availability and proximity to jobs.

   Indeed very similar reasons can be observed for the international migrant population of Kumkapi today. The neighboring district of Laleli has changed quite radically from the late 1970s onwards in the face of successive new transnational economic opportunities, catering initially to Arab tourists and traders, then to "suitcase traders" from Russia, (14) which has expanded to include numerous countries in Central Asia and Africa today. Consequently, almost all its buildings have been converted into malls, hotels, restaurants, storage and shipping companies, while neighboring Gedikpasa and Beyazit have emerged as its manufacturing counterparts, home to countless workshops that offer plenty of informal job opportunities. Hence, these areas have become well known by most foreigners arriving in the city, whether for trading or employment seeking purposes.

   Kumkapi, on the other hand, appears to have emerged as the residential counterpart, with an increasing number of properties being rented to foreigners, in the form of entire flats, rooms in shared households, and even as sheds in basements or rooftops. Some buildings are even fully refurbished for these purposes, with flats being converted into studio rooms with shared kitchen/bathroom facilities. The density of this type of housing is very high, as several people often share a single room. The turnover of people is also extremely rapid, as most do not arrive with the intent of settling. Also, many older "native" residents of Kumkapi, meaning those who are territorially rooted and are citizens of the Turkish state, have started moving out of the locality to other districts...