- Re-evaluating the Impact of Gentrification on local Residents: The case of Galata, Istanbul   500 kb by    Islam, Tolga & Enlil, Zeynep | tolgaislam@hotmail.com    Short Outline The paper aims to document the impacts of gentrification process in Galata, one of the gentrifying neighborhoods in Istanbul. The study relies on qualitative data gained by the interviews with the current local residents and the displacees. Abstract Among the various strategies that cities around the world pursue to increase their competitive powers vis-à-vis forces of globalization is the regeneration of dilapidated historic neighborhoods. Yet, efforts to regenerate such neighborhoods almost always bring about gentrification, and unless some preventive measures are taken, it is largely regarded that they result in the displacement of the current residents most of whom are low-income people with little or no choice in terms of housing. Passing through a new era marked by a range of initiatives to re-profile the city and give it a more competitive edge in the international arena, Istanbul is no exception to these general trends that permeate quite a number of cities with global aspirations. Included among these new initiatives in Istanbul are several regeneration projects for the deprived areas in the city. There are some concerns about the possible implications of these projects, at the center of which lies gentrification with an assumption that it will bring some negative impacts on the local residents, including the displacement of low-income residents who have little alternatives for housing. There is, however, little empirical evidence that these assumptions base on. Through a pilot study, this paper aims to test these assumptions and tries to document the impacts of gentrification on the local residents of Galata, one of the gentrifying neighborhoods in the city that is likely to undergo further gentrification in the following years as a result of public policy of regeneration. Our study attempts to re-evaluate the impacts of gentrification process from the perspectives of the local residents, both the ones who have settled in the area before gentrification takes place (current local residents) and those who have already left during the gentrification process (displacees). Keywords gentrification, impact of gentrification, displacement, Galata, Istanbul, regeneration Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2006: Cities between Integration and Disintegration   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper