Urban identity, belonging and urbanization processes in Balkan immigrants: Buca case study

Urban life consists of the sum of spatial clusters separated by cultural, social or economic reasons. Social groups with common social characteristics that form spatial clusters have a common memories, identities and cultural practices shaped by group's memory, which are built and rebuilt within a certain historical process in the place they live in. The collective memory, identity and cultural practices of the group shape the place they live in and are also shaped by the place they live in. Another spatial cluster that shapes the place in which it is located on the axis of identity and culture; having a sense of belonging to the place; building social, cultural and economic relationships, is located in the Buca district of Izmir, where Balkan immigrants live densely. Balkan immigrants, who migrated to Buca in masses approximately in the first quarter of the 1900s, continued to migrate to the region with the status of settled immigrants and with the support of the state until the 1950s. From the 1950s to 2000s, they continued to migrate to the region at regular intervals as free immigrants and in smaller groups. In line with the explanations, this research aims to explain the urbanization processes of Balkan immigrants (Bosniak, Pomak, Albanian, Thessaloniki Immigrant); the coexistence of urban identity and Balkan immigrant identity in the place where they live and the opportunities it creates; the reproduction processes of ethnic identity and cultural practices in the space; the social relations and belongings they establish with the place, in a certain historical context. These themes were analyzed descriptively through the data obtained in line with the requirements of the mixed research design and the concepts of urbanization, spatial clustering and collective memory, which constitute the theoretical framework of the research. As a result, it has been concluded that Balkan immigrants continue to maintain their identities and cultural practices in Buca district, and that this continuity is possible through the social advantages and collective memory provided by the Balkan immigrant identity in the region where they are spatially clustered. Keywords: Spatial Clustering, Balkan Immigrants, Memory, Identity, Culture