ALTINDAĞ’DA GÖÇ VE KENTLEŞME: LİSANSÜSTÜ TEZLER ÜZERİNDEN BİR META-SENTEZ ÇALIŞMASI

Abstract

This study examines socio-spatial change shaped by gecekondu settlements, urban transformation and Syrian migration after 2011 in Ankara’s Altındağ district by exploring relationships between qualitative studies conducted in different periods. Fourteen qualitative graduate theses identified through a systematic search covering 2000-2025 in the Council of Higher Education National Thesis Centre were examined using meta-synthesis. Thesis findings were analysed in MAXQDA following Thomas and Harden’s thematic synthesis approach, yielding nine analytical themes. The conclusion and discussion sections were compared to identify converging, contradictory, and complementary interpretations of residents’ experiences. The theoretical framework is based on Lefebvre’s approach to the production of space and Harvey’s conceptualization of the right to the city. The findings indicate that some households experienced urban transformation through indebtedness, rising living costs and repeated displacement. The weakening of neighbourhood relations, trust and the continuity of everyday life alongside changes in the physical environment is conceptualized as a “socio-spatial void”. This condition was observed in both vacated gecekondu areas and Housing Development Administration (HDA) housing. While low-cost housing employment opportunities, and networks of acquaintances played a prominent role in Syrian migrants’ settlement, insecurity and discrimination were prominent in their housing and employment experiences. Some migrants sublet rented properties to newcomers at higher prices or earned income by acting as intermediaries in finding housing, demonstrating that solidarity networks could also generate profit-seeking relationships. A pattern similar to the practices of “gecekondu entrepreneurs” (individuals who built and sold gecekondu dwellings or facilitated their construction for profit during the early stages of gecekondu development) was also observed among Syrian migrants many years later. The shared experience of poverty among host and migrant communities did not automatically lead to solidarity. Instead, tensions over the distribution of limited social assistance in the district deepened ethnic divisions. Local women’s everyday lives were confined to the home and its immediate surroundings, whereas some migrant women gained greater spatial mobility after migration despite continuing gender-based challenges. For young people and children, stigmatization and insufficient safe communal spaces hindered participation in urban life. The absence of any thesis directly focusing on the urban experiences of people with disabilities and older adults among the theses examined highlights the need for further research on these groups. Future studies examining their experiences of transportation, the use of shared spaces, and access to urban services could help fill this gap and contribute to creating liveable cities for all.