Mültecilerin kentsel bağlamda yerleşme ve mekan oluşturma süreçleri: İzmir'deki Suriyeli mültecilerin çok-ölçekli hareketlilik örüntüleri ve yer seçimleri

Although refugee mobility has been considered as a movement taking place at international/regional scales for different reasons in the literature (i.e., forced displacement, labor migration), it is also an open-ended, multi-scalar process that could be traced at the local/urban level. However, the literature is dominated by methodological nationalist approaches, which do not adequately address the geographic continuity of mobility at different scales (international, intra-national and intra-urban), the local socio-spatial outcomes of international refugee mobility, and the underlying mechanisms that lead to the formation of different mobility/emplacement patterns. In this study, by linking the concepts of multi-scalar approach to mobility, emplacement, and local welfare systems to each other, it is aimed to offer an analytical framework to trace the multi-scalar mobility patterns of Syrian refugees in Turkey and to uncover the mechanisms behind the differential patterns of mobility. Concerning the empirical focus, three-stepped fieldwork was designed to reflect the multi-scalar approach of the study (Turkey – international mobility; Izmir – intra-national mobility, and Basmane, Buca, and Karabağlar – intra-urban mobility). In particular, with the multi-scalar framework adopted in this study, the intertwined relationship between refugees' mobility patterns and strategies to access welfare was uncovered. Secondly, the locational attributes (of destination countries, cities, districts/neighborhoods), the local welfare systems (types of welfare components; types/ roles of welfare providers; dialogue/cooperation/conflict between welfare providers and recipients), and the ethnic background/class positions of refugees were found decisive in the formation of different mobility patterns.