The political economy of reorganization of urban space and interventions on the urban land tenure - the case of Istanbul-MHA in post?2000 era

This thesis intends to explain the spatial reflections of the neoliberal transformation Turkey has undergone in the post-2000 period, with an urban political economy perspective. Accordingly, David Harvey's theory of Spatio-Temporal Fixes and Accumulation by Dispossession approach were taken as the primary reference point for this explanation.The course of the process after 2000-2001 economic crisis causes the capital holders require new profitable investment locations for `large scale projects?. Large - unfragmented lands suited for such scale of investments are relatively easy to find at the urban periphery, however, these raw lands are not fit for profitable investments, which as results necessitates these lands to be developed with increased height limits and made available to the investors through a zoning process.Consequently, a regulatory instrument equipped with qualifications and intervention power to perform these functions is needed.The projects completed in Istanbul by the Mass Housing Administration (MHA), which was restructured to posses these necessities in the post-2000 period were evaluated in this context. 2002 ? 2011 period have been examined in a typical location, where MHA investments are concentrated.The results obtained, indicate that the outlook of the investments demonstrate a composite land ownership structure. However, a closer look at the land ownership structure and property relations reveals, in contrast, that the projects implemented by MHA are in fact mere interventions to the land ownership structure, causing the state and less powerful players `lose? property in effect while the powerful players `acquire? them, which yields an inequitable distribution of wealth.