Kentsel Dönüşüm Mekanlarında Sosyal Adalete İlişkin Nitel Bir Çalışma: Konya Örneği

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to comparatively examine the meaning attributed to the concept of "social justice", which has been considered as one of the ways of establishing the social integration, over the individuals who are affected by the applications of urban transformation. The results of the practices within the scope of the urban transformation process are determined by addressing how the experiences of the Gypsy people -who have the characteristics of being an ethnic group- and other individuals -who have been going through a social dynamism process under the name of urban transformation- in education, business and official institutions in their new habitats are perceived. In this context, in the study, how a social integration in urban transformation areas will be achieved is evaluated through the views of 31 participants residing in Küçük Aymanas Neighbourhood of Konya Meram District and Mengene and Tatlıcak Neighbourhoods of Karatay District by discussing the socio-economic and socio-cultural effects created by urban transformation projects on the axis of social justice theories. In this study, in which the qualitative research method based on the theory was used, the interview technique was chosen as the data collection method. The study was carried out in Küçük Aymanas Neighbourhood of Meram district and in Tatlıcak and Mengene neighbourhoods of Karatay district of Konya. The reasons for choosing these three neighbourhoods is the fact that the urban transformation applications in Küçük Aymanas Neighbourhood have been carried out by the municipality, while those in Mengene Neighbourhood have been executed by private contractors (build-and-sell enterprises). Additionally, the reason for the selection of the Tatlıcak Neighbourhood is the fact that the Gypsy people who handed over their real estates for the urban transformation are intensively inhabited in this region. In this context, the answers to the questions of "how are the reflections of the urban transformation in the community when the executor is the municipality or a contractor" and "how the effects of the urban transformation are shaped when the residing group in the rea are the Gypsy people, who are regarded as disadvantaged groups" are searched from the perspective of social justice. As a result of the study, it was seen that in all three neighbourhoods, the definition of justice and social justice was shaped by the positive and negative experiences of the individuals. Additionally, considering the experiences of the participants, the perspective regarding the transformation project in the neighbourhood is negative if the urban transformation is carried out by the municipality, while positive if the transformation projects in the neighbourhood are carried out by the contractor. The institution that carries out the urban transformation has no importance for the Gypsy people, what is important for them is receiving the worth of their real estates. The most striking finding regarding the transformation projects is the fact that "the social fabric" is disturbed.