The perforated metropolis: Enclavisation and the morphological transformation of Istanbul (2000–2026)
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article examines the transformation of Istanbul's urban character between 2000 and 2026 through three interrelated processes: the rise of new suburban gated enclaves on previously undeveloped land; the demolition-led renewal of inner-city districts, encompassing both former informal settlements and established middle-class neighbourhoods; and the conversion of inner-city public land into private residential compounds. Although these processes originate in distinct institutional, legal, and economic contexts, they produce similar morphological outcomes. Using a comparative urban morphological framework, the study analyses changes in street networks, public–private interfaces, scale and grain, and land-use composition across six case studies. The findings reveal that enclaves of all three types erode street life, reduce permeability, privatise public space, and remove spontaneity from the environment. Inner-city enclaves in particular demonstrate how enclavisation now penetrates the core of the urban fabric, replacing established neighbourhoods of street-facing buildings with introverted compounds and importing the morphology of gated communities once limited to the periphery into the heart of the city.,The article argues that these processes are progressively perforating the continuous urban fabric of Istanbul, inserting controlled, inward-facing compounds into a tissue that elsewhere remains permeable, mixed-use, and morphologically rich. Enclavisation in Istanbul is an ongoing process, not a completed condition, and the trajectory is the central concern. The article further argues that this transformation is not simply market-produced but state-engineered, enabled by a specific political architecture in which centralised planning authority and the legislative override of local resistance have been deployed to legitimise enclavisation through earthquake-risk discourse.
Source: Cities
Author: Arda Inceoglu
Institutions: Oxford Brookes University, MEF University
Language: English
Subfield: Urban Studies
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,000
OpenAlex ID: W7204584418