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The formation of a "model city in the Anatolian steppes":Leapfrogging effects of spatial fix in Eskişehir, Turkey
Civelek, Cansu
Civelek, Cansu
Title / Series / Name
City and Society
Publication Volume
36
Publication Issue
2
Pages
Author
Editors
Keywords
Turkey
leapfrogging
local governance
secularism
spatial fix
urban repositioning
urban restructuring
Geography, Planning and Development
Urban Studies
SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
leapfrogging
local governance
secularism
spatial fix
urban repositioning
urban restructuring
Geography, Planning and Development
Urban Studies
SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
Files
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Civelek-Cansu_2024.pdf
Adobe PDF, 3.72 MB
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14018/28797
Abstract
The prevalence of neoliberalism has produced varied effects on cities ranging from rapid growth to gradual disempowerment. Instead of considering neoliberal urbanization as a fixed, predetermined process, I discuss the possibility of leapfrogging in urban repositioning. Particularly, I examine Eskişehir's repositioning process in response to disempowerment, placing particular emphasis on the “spatial fix.” Rather than being passive recipients of neoliberalization, local ruling elites might develop political agency to not only counter but also capitalize on disempowerment. To overcome financial and political constraints vital for the spatial fix, Eskişehir's mayor leveraged multiscalar networking strategies and symbolic revitalizations at particular historical conjunctures. Accordingly, Eskişehir's municipality, ruled by the center-left opposition party, sought to redefine the city as a stronghold of secularism with the claims of Europeanization and modernization. They introduced the “Eskişehir model” as a contrasting narrative to the ruling AKP's urban vision rooted in Islamist-nationalist agenda. These mechanisms reveal that ideological-political clashes at the national level can serve as windows of opportunity for local ruling elites to counter disempowerment. As the ethnographic research shows, these mechanisms had leapfrogging effects not only on repositioning and fostering political power but also dissembling existing inequalities, disparities, and segregation beneath the celebrated Eskişehir model.
Topic
Publisher
Place of Publication
Type
Journal article
Date
2024-07-13
Language
ISBN
Identifiers
10.1111/ciso.12493