Papers by Meric Kirmizi
Trafik ve Ulaşım Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2023
One aspect of social inequality in today’s cities concerns transport inequality. This simply refe... more One aspect of social inequality in today’s cities concerns transport inequality. This simply refers to the transport advantages of the rich compared to the poor (Gebresselassie & Sanchez, 2019). The transport inequality intersects with other forms of marginalization as well, based on gender, age, disability, and ethnicity. Yet for the mobile or kinetic elite (Andreotti, Le Gallès, & Moreno-Fuentes, 2013), all places and transport means are readily available. Furthermore, transport-related mega-projects accentuate the existing social inequalities of the neoliberal city. However, urban policy makers have begun to realize the importance of transport inequality and develop inclusive policies, such as “accessibility planning” in the UK (Lucas, 2012). Urban citizens are also forming mobility justice movements to protest against the increasing transport costs, as in Latin America (Díaz Pabón & Palacio Ludeña, 2021) and France. The encompassing mobility research is largely connected to social and environmental sustainability ideals. Hence, this paper will study the relationship between mobility and inequality through a thematic analysis of approximately 100 publications that were selected with certain keywords from the results of Web of Science searches, a few books, institutional reports and other sources. This literature review shows that transport inequalities are a reflection of the capitalist system and one of the main sources of social conflict in contemporary societies. Against the solution suggestions that range from rehabilitating the system to revolution as a process in the related literature, formation of place-based solutions that take into consideration both universal and local conditions is suggested in this study.
Planlama/Journal of Planning, 2022
This paper studies the interplay between shopping street revitalization and pedestrianization in ... more This paper studies the interplay between shopping street revitalization and pedestrianization in Samsun in Turkey. The revitalization via pedestrianization of İstiklal Street-known in the vernacular as Çiftlik Street-was first welcomed by the local shopkeepers who formed a merchants association to support the municipal project. Yet the physical outcome of pedestrianizationled revitalization was the concretization and homogenization of facades throughout the street. The project caused a loss of social atmosphere and an economic downturn on the street. The successors of family businesses on the street criticized the top-down implementation as the main cause of this negative outcome. To answer this criticism and to understand what was done wrong in the revitalization of Samsun's high street, this study analyzed local shopkeepers' criticisms. Fifteen in-depth local shopkeeper interviews, one transnational migrant resident interview, and walking censuses revealed significant issues. These were deindustrialization, suburbanization, and opening of shopping malls in close distances as well as the socio-demographic changes in the city centre finalized by the arrival of Middle Eastern migrants after the 2010s. This research suggests that the simultaneous opening of shopping malls nearby heightened the street's deterioration by pulling away branded shops and customers. Pedestrianization, while being only the 'tip of the iceberg', was used as a scapegoat, and reversed. This study aims to emphasize the idea that conceived spaces might not always overlap with the lived spaces by showing that urban planning practices that are good at face value might create unexpected outcomes depending on the context.
Journal of Planning
It can be argued that as a society, we are in a divided situation with respect to our outlook on ... more It can be argued that as a society, we are in a divided situation with respect to our outlook on trees. On the one hand, there are the supporters of natural ecosystem, and on the other, a viewpoint that sees the tree as a worthless obstacle. In this societal context, although the public garden project that has been on the agenda of our cities since 2018 appears to be a positive attempt, considering the open and green space need in particularly large cities, this project has multiple aspects that should be examined thoroughly. In this paper, the topic of public gardens is evaluated based on previous research with its ecological, economic, political, symbolic-ideological, and socio-cultural dimensions. Following this evaluation, the topic's planning dimension is discussed by drawing on Jane Jacobs' analyses, particularly regarding neighbourhood parks in her work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. In this study, an answer to the question of "What would Jane Jacobs say for the public gardens?" is searched for through interpretations and evaluations, inspired by Jacobs' aforementioned book. In this way, the topic of public gardens on the Turkish cities' agenda is problematized with the same analytical attitude that Jacobs adopted against the traditional urban planning understanding. Anahtar sözcükler: Analitik planlama; Jane Jacobs; kent parkları; millet bahçesi; yeşil alan.
Sosyoloji Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2020
Bu çalışmada “öğrencileştirme” kavramıyla Samsun Atakum’daki Körfez Mahallesi’nin değişimi incele... more Bu çalışmada “öğrencileştirme” kavramıyla Samsun Atakum’daki Körfez Mahallesi’nin değişimi incelenmiştir. Kentin üniversite bölgesi olan Körfez Mahallesi’nde Ekim 2018-Mayıs 2019 arasında, küçük dairelerde kalan dokuz öğrenci, üç emlakçı, iki esnaf ve bir muhtarı kapsayan, toplam 15 kişiyle görüşülmüştür. Mahalle buradaki tütün tarlalarının el değiştirip, yapılaşmaya açılması ve bu tarlalarda çalışanların yerinden edilmesiyle değişmeye başlamıştır. Bu kentleşmenin sonucunda mahalle nüfusu öğrenciler, genç profesyoneller, sayıca az da olsa, aileler ve kırsal kökenli, eski yaşayanlar olarak ayrışmıştır. Körfez Mahallesi’nde eski ve yeni yerleşim yeri olarak ikili bir yapılaşma görülmektedir; deniz kıyısına yakın, yeni yerleşimler öğrencilere yönelik konut alanlarıdır. Mahallede üretilen konut türleri öğrenci beklentilerine göre zamanla değişmiş ve küçülmüştür. Üretilen konutların değerlenmesi burada bir “rant farkı”nın oluştuğunu göstermektedir. Konut alanındaki gelişme “yeni yapı yol...
İDEALKENT, 2019
Bu makalede Wacquant'ın bir araştırmacı olarak kendine iki görev biçtiği ileri sürülmektedir.... more Bu makalede Wacquant'ın bir araştırmacı olarak kendine iki görev biçtiği ileri sürülmektedir. Bu görevlerden birincisi, araştırmacılara Bourdieu’yü anlatmak ve Bourdieu’nün kavramsal çerçevesinin akademik araştırmalarda, örneğin kent araştırmalarında, doğru bir biçimde kullanımını desteklemektir. Bu konuda Wacquant’a bir eleştiri, Wacquant Bourdieu'yle ilgili açıklayıcı bilgiler verir ve iyi örneklerin yanında, onun araştırmacılarca sıklıkla yanlış anlaşılıp, kullanıldığı durumları sergilerken, gerçekte kendi Bourdieu okumalarının da bir dolayım olduğu gerçeğini onun göz ardı etmesidir. Wacquant’ın ikinci görevi ise, cezalandırıcı devlet, ırk ve toplumsal sınıflar arasındaki ilişkiler, beden ve kent etnografisi gibi konularda kendi kuramlarını geliştirirken, yöntembilimsel olarak Bourdieu’nün ayak izinden gitmektir. Bu görevi altında, Wacquant'ın 20. yüzyıl sonuna özgü, iki başlı devlet (Centaur state) izleği birçok çalışmasında önemli bir belirleyici olarak yer aldı. Bu...
UrbanScope, 2016
The aim of this paper is to understand post-bubble urban change in Osaka City, by observing this ... more The aim of this paper is to understand post-bubble urban change in Osaka City, by observing this process at the level of a downtown neighbourhood called Horie in Nishi Ward, Osaka City. With reference to the concepts of post-industrial city, gentrification and neoliberal urbanism, this study comprises an analysis of narratives of long-term residents and people who have been affiliated with the area for a long time regarding changes in the neighbourhood. In the summer of 2013, based on references from a neighbourhood hall in the area, fifteen in-depth interviews were conducted by snowball sampling. Despite its close proximity to the central business district of Osaka City, Horie has a residential character, except for its old shopping street of furniture stores, Tachibana Street, which was renamed Orange Street in the 1990s. The shopping street revitalization was initiated by local business owners, and later developed through the use of outside capital. Consequently, the identity of the area changed, as young people were attracted to the new shops, which sold primarily apparel brands and accessories. Horie's current atmosphere is similar to the Western examples of gentrified neighbourhoods, with up-market condominiums, Western-style cafes, specialty stores, and trendy, young people strolling around. Nevertheless, this new atmosphere is not so welcome for older residents who feel alienated by it.
Keywords: Osaka City, bottom-up redevelopment, loss of place identity, use value of space, place branding
年報人間科学, 2017
The case of the Horie area in Osaka’s Nishi Ward provides an example of how an urban neighbourhoo... more The case of the Horie area in Osaka’s Nishi Ward provides an example of how an urban neighbourhood change was carried out through a collaboration of local actors, individual developers, and capital from Tokyo during the post-industrial era. In this paper, I represent how area businesses related to wood have experienced and are interpreting this neighbourhood change. Based on interviews with local shopkeepers and employees, my research shows that the revitalization of the area’s shopping street, Tachibana Street, represents a case of partial commercial gentrification, centred on the voluntary displacement of some of the former furniture shops. Accordingly, there is less craftsmanship in the more homogenized physical environment that has emerged during redevelopment. I argue that craftsmanship rather than consumption could have provided a guiding spirit for the ideal urban and neighbourhood changes as exemplified by some of the remaining long-established businesses in Horie.
Book Reviews by Meric Kirmizi
The Canadian Geographer, 2022
Sociological Research Online, 2021
Urban Crisis, Urban Hope: A Policy Agenda for UK Cities dwells on the premise that criticality ne... more Urban Crisis, Urban Hope: A Policy Agenda for UK Cities dwells on the premise that criticality needs to harbour hope, despite all the precarity in people's access to food, housing, education, health, communal support, safety, and environment in the existing UK context. The editors argue against 'a dead criticality' (2020: 2) that is confined to criticism without pointing to possibilities for exit from the precarious living conditions. The book's support for 'a critical hope' that is predominantly an urban hope reflects from the chapters' structure. All chapters start with a diagnosis of the existing problematic situation and continue with applicable policy suggestions within their fields. The shortness of each chapter allows one to understand the overall situation of the contemporary UK cities without getting lost in details. First, we learn about the food insecurity in the UK after 2010 due to the austerity cuts, such as in the working-age social security. Growing socioeconomic inequalities lie behind widening food insecurity which is also related to the eroding community and stigma. The paradox regarding the food banks that assume the state responsibility also applies to the topics of other chapters. Most chapters blame the neoliberal state's austerity cuts for the urban crisis. Yet, most contributors also call the same state into action, for example, to end hunger in the UK cities. The Unhomed City chapters deal with the housing crisis as a crisis of affordability due to commodification, privatization, financialization of housing by the market, and the restricted welfare subsidy more than a matter of supply and demand. The UK housing crisis is exacerbated by the threats to council estates and gentrification in the neoliberal city. The emphasis on the city for economic growth versus sociability puts children, youth, and adults at risk physically and psychologically. People's reduced 'sense of mattering' appears as chronic anxiety, 'the Urbanicity Effect' or 'an "epidemic" of urban violence'. The underlying structural causes, such as privatizations, academization, and regeneration or environmental pollution create uneven effects for different city areas. We read that London's economically deprived areas with a higher ratio of Black residents are exposed to higher air pollution. Hence, structural inequalities lead to environmental injustices. People's access to good nature is dwindled in a context of 'landscape decline'. Against the loss of biodiversity and bioabundance due to wrong farming practices and the climate change, examples of good and bad practices from Sheffield, Ghent, and French cities are provided. The policy of 'tidying up' nature that is 'complex, messy, (and) untidy' is criticized. The neoliberal urban policy is about 'tidying up' council estates as much as the 1015812S RO0010.1177/13607804211015812Sociological Research OnlineBook Review book-review2021
The Canadian Geographer, 2020
Sociological Research Online, 2019
İDEALKENT – Kent Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2018
Öz Başlığı Anacadde için Savaş: Perakende Soylulaştırması, Sınıf ve Tiksinti diye çevrilebile-cek... more Öz Başlığı Anacadde için Savaş: Perakende Soylulaştırması, Sınıf ve Tiksinti diye çevrilebile-cek olan Hubbard'ın (2017) kitabı İngiltere'de "High Street" diye bilinen, merkezi alışveriş caddelerinde yaşanan ticari soylulaştırma konusu ile ilgilidir. Hubbard (2017) bu kitabıyla İngiltere kentlerinin anacaddelerinde süre giden değişimin yoğun bir tanımlamasını yapıyor ve kapsamlı bir çözümlemesini sunuyor. Ayrıca, değişen ya da soylulaşan İngiliz anacaddelerindeki toplumsal ayrılıkları, sorunu çevreleyen egemen söylemleri ve bu söylemlerin sorunsallaştırdığı ticari işletmeleri inceleyerek araştırıyor. Yazara göre, anacaddelerdeki işçi sınıfının toplumsal mekânlarını karşısına alan soylulaştırıcı söylem, yalnızca gizli ahlaki duygular barındırmakla kalmaz, aynı zamanda toplumsal temizliğe, sosyal güvenliğe, kamu sağlığına ve çevre korumaya ilişkin açık ya da kapalı göndermelerde bulunur. Kitabın anacaddelerin yeniden canlandırılma-sının buraları, işçi sınıfı kullanımı pahasına orta ve üst sınıf tüketim mekânları yaptığı yolunda-ki savı farklı İngiliz kentlerinden birincil ve ikincil kaynaklara dayalı örneklerle güçlendiriliyor. Bu kitap, genel olarak, soylulaştırma, özel olarak da gelişmiş ülke örneğinde ticari soylulaştırma konusu ile ilgilenen ve bu konuyu bir kez daha sınıfsal, ama yenilikçi bir biçimde, ahlaki boyu-tuyla da incelemek isteyen tüm sosyal bilim araştırmacıları için önemli bir başvuru kaynağıdır.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Perakende soylulaştırması, anacadde, toplumsal sınıf, tüketim ve ahlak, İngiliz kentleri
Not: Bu kitap eleştirisi, yazarın kendi bloğunda İngilizce olarak daha önce yayınlanmıştır. Yazarın eklemeler içeren Türkçe çevirisi ilk kez İdealKent'te yayınlanmaktadır.
In Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution ( ), geographer David Harvey ... more In Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution ( ), geographer David Harvey analyzes both theoretical and practical aspects of urban social movements (USMs) and their potential as starting points for a much wider anti-capitalist struggle. The book is organized into two parts entitled, The
Books by Meric Kirmizi
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Papers by Meric Kirmizi
Keywords: Osaka City, bottom-up redevelopment, loss of place identity, use value of space, place branding
Book Reviews by Meric Kirmizi
Anahtar Kelimeler: Perakende soylulaştırması, anacadde, toplumsal sınıf, tüketim ve ahlak, İngiliz kentleri
Not: Bu kitap eleştirisi, yazarın kendi bloğunda İngilizce olarak daha önce yayınlanmıştır. Yazarın eklemeler içeren Türkçe çevirisi ilk kez İdealKent'te yayınlanmaktadır.
Books by Meric Kirmizi
Keywords: Osaka City, bottom-up redevelopment, loss of place identity, use value of space, place branding
Anahtar Kelimeler: Perakende soylulaştırması, anacadde, toplumsal sınıf, tüketim ve ahlak, İngiliz kentleri
Not: Bu kitap eleştirisi, yazarın kendi bloğunda İngilizce olarak daha önce yayınlanmıştır. Yazarın eklemeler içeren Türkçe çevirisi ilk kez İdealKent'te yayınlanmaktadır.