Politics of housing in Hisarüstü: Intergenerational encounters in an İstanbul locality

Official URL: https://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b2579172 _(Table of contents)

This thesis focuses on intergenerational encounters concerning housing between landlords and students in Rumeli Hisarüstü, Istanbul. I argue that the nature of the conflict between two groups goes beyond the basic disagreements of the tenantry. The history of the neighborhood and the public image created on student housing shape their encounters and the dynamics of housing. First, I argue that negative stereotypes of elderly landlords and students are formed on moral grounds. Examining how these negative associations are reflected in housing practices, I argue that negative preconceived ideas are the underlying reason for conflicts about housing matters and landlords employ such moral codes to intrude into the private spaces of student apartments, turning housing into a space to encounter differences in an intergenerational context. Later, I move on to a discussion of the housing economy regarding high rents, access to housing, and the physical conditions of the apartments. In this regard, I argue that, as newcomers to Hisarüstü, students face economic vulnerability in the housing market, whereas long-established landlords celebrate their positions as property owners as a success, claiming their place in the city’s neoliberal transformation.