Spatial (in)equality as a social (in)equality problem: Impacts of urgent expropriation decisions to implement mega projects in Turkey

Par

Akyıldız, S. (IFEA)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68127-2_386-1

Publication d'un chapitre d'ouvrage dans The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Problems, Palgrave Macmillan (2024): "Spatial (in) equality as a social (in) equality problem: Impacts of urgent expropriation decisions to implement mega projects in Turkey".

Abstract

Spatial inequality generally emphasizes the spatial or geographical aspects of justice and injustice. According to Soja (2009), “this involves the fair and equitable distribution in space of socially valued resources and the opportunities to use them” (p. 2). There are spatial manifestations of inequality, but it is also crucial to note the processes that produce spatial inequalities. In Turkey, political authorities often resort to urgent expropriation decisions to overcome obstacles in the construction of megaprojects, as exemplified by the Istanbul-Izmir Highway Project. Urgent expropriation is a state seizure of private property by paying its value. Urgent expropriation, which renders the boundaries of public interest and property rights debatable, divides space into industrial or agricultural land. In the case of Ulucak in the Kemalpaşa district of Izmir, where the Istanbul-Izmir Highway passes through, urgent expropriation decisions have been made. In this spatial segregation where the majority of the population consists of farmers, workers, or retirees, the value assigned to industrial land is 175 TL (Turkish Lira) per square meter, while agricultural land is valued at 6 TL per square meter for expropriation. The unequal distribution process created by prioritizing industrial land over agricultural land results in the unequal segregation of property owners. This spatial division created over space leads to a division among landowners as “winners-advantaged” and “losers-disadvantaged.” As a result, urgent expropriation operates as a process where industrial landowners accumulate wealth and gain, while agricultural landowners are dragged into poverty and loss. This study, based on the unequal distribution of space, focuses on the expropriation decisions in Ulucak for the Istanbul-Izmir Highway. Ultimately, it is observed that the unequal distribution of space deepens societal inequalities.

This chapter is compiled from a part of the author’s doctoral thesis titled “Les effets socio-spatiaux des mégaprojets: L’exemple de l’autoroute Istanbul – Izmir en Turquie.”