Abstract
Government and real estate sector is utilizing “disaster risk discourse” as an ideological tool to legitimize the ongoing rush for urban redevelopment in Turkey. This article aims to explain “how” “disaster risk discourse” is institutionalized and became the primary tool in reproducing urban space. We argue that, the ongoing “disaster risk discourse” defining the neoliberal urban transformation in Turkey is a versatile tool serving for state’s ideological, political and economical interests. These interests include defining redistributive and social policies, organisation of land-based interest groups, managing conflicts related to attempted urban strategies and centralisation of the power. Istanbul clearly illustrates the institutional dynamics of urban redevelopment policies and formation of “disaster risk discourse”. Therefore, in this article we will analyse the urban political processes in the areas subject to “Law no. 6306, for the Regeneration of Areas under Disaster Risk” in relation to aforementioned dynamics. The article is based on the findings of the research carried for the PhD Thesis on “Dynamics of Reproduction of Urban Space in Istanbul”.
