Socio-spatial analysis of urban transformation projects: Example of New Mamak urban transformation project

After 1945s, European countries begin refurbishment movement of cities. Some areas which have been socio-spatially worn in the cities have gone through a rapid transformation process. In Turkey, however, urban transformation projects have been considered as a way of gain economical profits with the effects of neoliberal policies; hence the main goal of those projects, improving the socio-spatial functioning of the areas, has been underestimated. Most of the projects are placed in the squatter settlement of metropolises. It is unavoidable to expect the significant impacts of the transformation process on the areas and the residents. There are dozens of urban transformation project in Ankara. New Mamak Urban Transformation Project has an individual importance over other projects because it locates on the eastern entrance of Ankara and has larger spatial area with the higher resident population. Parallel, the project is launched as the biggest urban transformation project in the world; which highlights the impacts of the projects would remarkable. In the current study, qualitative research methods with three main sample groups were used. Those groups are the residents, officers charged with the project and scholars who make valuable contributions to that issue. They were selected to explain how the project is perceived with different partners. The results showed that the socio-economic conflicts reveal in the area, residents who were moved to the apartment complex suffer from the missing of their past life styles and the project is formed by neo-liberal mindset. Key worlds: Urban transformation, urban space, urbanization, neo-liberal policies