Istanbul and conceptual transformations: A micro-utopic reading

Cities, like living organisms, are in a state of constant transformation and change. Throughout history, ruptures triggered by multiple crises such as pandemics, disasters, and migrations have profoundly altered the physical, social, and economic structures of cities. These ruptures have led to transformations not only on a spatial level but also on a conceptual one. The COVID-19 pandemic added a new layer to recent urban ruptures, revealing how cities adapt and develop new spatial practices. In metropolises such as Istanbul, the pandemic had deep impacts on areas such as economy, health, education, and social life, and within this process, new concepts and practices have emerged. In times of crisis, cities produce imaginaries of the future. Utopias are the most concrete expressions of these imaginaries. However, utopias are not solely projections of a distant future; they are also realities rooted in today's practices. This thesis focuses on the micro-utopias that emerged in Istanbul during the pandemic—such as digital and temporary public spaces and capsule environments—as tangible instances of this reality. The pandemic is not the only rupture that has transformed urban space; on the contrary, cities have historically undergone a series of disruptions due to industrialization, migration, economic crises, and natural disasters—each prompting the development of new spatial practices. This research positions the pandemic as one link in a historical chain of ruptures and focuses not only on its short-term effects but also on the ways it has created both continuity and disruption in the long-term transformation of urban space. By drawing conceptual connections between the post-pandemic new normals and earlier processes such as the Industrial Revolution, neoliberal urban transformations, and post-crisis spatial restructurings, the study argues that post-pandemic urban practices are not merely temporary but serve as critical determinants in shaping future urban forms. This thesis approaches the city as a dynamic entity and examines the micro-utopian formations (new normals, digital public spaces, temporary spatial interventions) that emerged in Istanbul particularly during and after the pandemic, through a phenomenological lens. Within the scope of this research, four micro-utopian axes identified in Istanbul—autopoiesis, freedom capsules, rural-urban hybrids, and virtual bodies—have been analyzed to understand the transformation of urban space. This study, which centers on the insufficiency of traditional urban concepts in explaining the changes observed during the pandemic, utilizes emerging conceptual tools such as "micro-utopia" (Bourriaud, 1998), "rural-urban" (Wirth, 1938; Woods, 2011), "autopoiesis" (Maturana & Varela, 1980), "capsule space" (Sloterdijk, 2005), and "virtual body" (Hayles, 1999) to analyze the fluidity of urban experience. In conclusion, this research proposes an alternative perspective that focuses not on large-scale utopian projections, but on micro-utopias embedded in everyday life, to understand how cities transform during crises. It aims to discuss new ways of producing urban imaginaries beyond the pandemic, and how these imaginaries find their spatial expressions in the evolving fabric of the city.