Yaratıcı şehir kapsamında bir yaratıcı kümelenme örneği olarak Yeldeğirmeni

Knowledge was not considered a driving force for economic growth and better standards of living in the past, whereas today, the economies of all developed countries are based on knowledge, with societies having realized its importance in the 20th century. According to John Hartley, creation of knowledge is a human process and this constitutes a basis for creative industries. Built upon individual creativity, skills and talents, creative industries serve as a source of welfare and employment opportunities, and constitute a basis for creative economies. Driven by this active nature of knowledge and creativity—the primary source of today's economies—a creative environment has started to pervade all societies and all aspects of life. These environments, where technology is the engine for economic growth and where a climate of tolerance and openness to new ideas and people prevails, are used by the creative class who generate economic value with their creativity. Composed of, inter alia, artists, writers, designers and software developers, the creative class form clusters in these creative environments, which consequently turn into an attraction for innovative enterprises and new economic activities and turn into creative cities or islands. As a creative city, Istanbul has many creative areas where the creative class is clustered. Kadıköy Yeldeğirmeni district, today, is one of these areas, and faces the risk of gentrification due to the likelihood of creative industries to support urban transformation. Recently, receiving migration of creative clusters—who are generally based in the European side of Istanbul—as a result of the social, economic and cultural change and evolution in the country, Yeldeğirmeni is an important district as it sets a creative clustering example in the Anatolian side. As part of this study, the literature will be scanned and culture/creative industries defined, and emphasis will be made on the concept of creative cities that evolve as a consequence of cultural policies centered on creativity. This study will also identify clustering trends and criteria for creative cities and industries, while examining the areas creative industries center around, driven by the evolving culture and arts scene in Istanbul as a creative city. The last section of the dissertation will elaborate on demographic changes in Yeldeğirmeni, one of the first creative clustering examples in the Anatolian side, based on the data derived from the literature, as well as the consequent change and transformation the district has undergone throughout the years. The settlement criteria sought by the creative class who moved to the area; the threat of gentrification the area faces as a result of the renewal efforts undertaken; as well as the developments arising from the presence of creative industries based in Yeldeğirmeni will also be examined.