Children's digital space: the re-emergence of cybercafe, the case of Istanbul (Esenler)

Digitalization is fundamentally transforming social life in many areas, such as education, media, economy, entertainment, and work. It creates new opportunities by eliminating spatial barriers. Therefore, it is an important research area for the discipline of geography. Digital geography studies typically focus on topics that concern people in developed countries. However, a significant portion of people in developing and underdeveloped countries do not have access to digital technologies. Therefore, how these people interact and relate to digital culture should be included in the scope of geographical research. This thesis examines cyber cafes as a space for interaction with digital technology in disadvantaged geographies. The proliferation of smartphones and the increasing use of computers at home have led to the loss of function of cyber cafes. However, cyber cafes continue to exist in Istanbul and their numbers are increasing. In order to reveal the causes and dynamics of the reproduction of cyber cafes, analyses have been carried out through interviews, field studies, and ethnographic methods in the Esenler district of Istanbul. The findings of the studies are summarized in four categories. Internet cafes are regaining importance as household purchasing power declines and can no longer afford the high-end equipment required for digital entertainment industries such as digital games and e-sports. Accordingly, 83% of internet cafes in Istanbul are located in low-income and low-education neighborhoods, indicating a class-based form of urban digital inequality. Cybercafes, which were previously predominantly used by adults, have become a Third Place where children can meet their peers and engage with digital culture such as Esports. As a space for Generation Z, internet cafes are deviated from the dominant culture of the neighborhoods in which they are located and creating heterotopia for an alternative public culture that interacts with Global culture. The exclusion of girls from cybercafes, which are dominated by men, reveals the spatial roots of gender-based digital inequality. In conclusion, the re-emergence of internet cafes reveals that digitalization is still dependent on the public space in disadvantaged geographies and that digital gender inequality is constructed spatially.