Continuities in policy change: The case of squatter housing redevelopment strategies in Türkiye

Abstract

The introduction of the neoliberal agenda in the 1980s marked a milestone for urban studies, where the neoliberal framework became widely accepted as both given and explanatory for understanding urban phenomena. This tendency often obscured policy continuities rooted in the historical and social contexts of specific geographies. Squatter housing policies in T & uuml;rkiye were no exception, and redevelopment of squatter houses has increasingly been associated with neoliberal restructuring. Although new mechanisms were introduced in squatter housing policies in the 1980s, this study posits that these policies evolved incrementally and in an ad hoc manner, shaped by path dependency and extensions of earlier approaches. From a historical institutionalist perspective, two key continuities were detected through an analysis of legislative changes and policy documents in the squatter housing transformation. First, urban policy has consistently relied on past policy failures rather than radical reforms, as seen in the extension and refinement of amnesty laws and redevelopment regulations. Second, these policies have institutionalized practices that blur the boundaries between legal and illegal redevelopment, reinforcing a concession-driven urbanization model that has persisted since the mid-1940s. Above all, the underlying principle has consistently been the promotion of private property ownership and the expansion of the housing supply since the first attempt to remedy the squatter housing problem. Based on these observations, this study challenges perspectives that rely on the neoliberal conceptualization of urban redevelopment; instead, it positions neoliberalism as a contextual framework that reinforces existing policy paths, while highlighting the enduring continuities in policymaking. 20(sic)(sic)80(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)20(sic)(sic)80(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)20(sic)(sic)40(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic).(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic);(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic),(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic)(sic). La introducci & oacute;n de la agenda neoliberal en la d & eacute;cada de 1980 marc & oacute; un hito para los estudios urbanos, donde el marco neoliberal se acept & oacute; ampliamente como un hecho y como una herramienta para comprender los fen & oacute;menos urbanos. Esta tendencia a menudo opac & oacute; las continuidades pol & iacute;ticas arraigadas en los contextos hist & oacute;ricos y sociales de geograf & iacute;as espec & iacute;ficas. Las pol & iacute;ticas de vivienda okupada en Turqu & iacute;a no fueron la excepci & oacute;n, y la reurbanizaci & oacute;n de viviendas okupadas se ha asociado cada vez m & aacute;s con la reestructuraci & oacute;n neoliberal. Si bien se introdujeron nuevos mecanismos en las pol & iacute;ticas de vivienda okupada en la d & eacute;cada de 1980, este estudio postula que estas pol & iacute;ticas evolucionaron de forma gradual y ad hoc, moldeadas por la dependencia de la trayectoria y la extensi & oacute;n de enfoques anteriores. Desde una perspectiva institucionalista hist & oacute;rica, se detectaron dos continuidades clave a trav & eacute;s del an & aacute;lisis de los cambios legislativos y los documentos de pol & iacute;tica en la transformaci & oacute;n de la vivienda okupada. En primer lugar, la pol & iacute;tica urbana se ha basado sistem & aacute;ticamente en los fracasos de pol & iacute;ticas pasadas en lugar de en reformas radicales, como se observa en la extensi & oacute;n y el perfeccionamiento de las leyes de amnist & iacute;a y las regulaciones de reurbanizaci & oacute;n. En segundo lugar, estas pol & iacute;ticas han institucionalizado pr & aacute;cticas que difuminan los l & iacute;mites entre la reurbanizaci & oacute;n legal e ilegal, reforzando un modelo de urbanizaci & oacute;n basado en concesiones que ha persistido desde mediados de la d & eacute;cada de 1940. Sobre todo, el principio subyacente ha sido consistentemente la promoci & oacute;n de la propiedad privada y la expansi & oacute;n de la oferta de vivienda desde el primer intento por remediar el problema de las viviendas precarias. Con base en estas observaciones, este estudio cuestiona las perspectivas que se basan en la conceptualizaci & oacute;n neoliberal de la reurbanizaci & oacute;n urbana; en cambio, posiciona el neoliberalismo como un marco contextual que refuerza las pol & iacute;ticas existentes, a la vez que destaca las continuidades persistentes en la formulaci & oacute;n de pol & iacute;ticas.