Change and Continuity: An Analysis of the Socio-Spatial Fabric of Tesuvikiye-Nisantasi, 1945-1960

The 1950s was a time of intense change in Istanbul which transformed family, household structure and built form. The Democratic Party, led by Adnan Menderes, launched and developed a new spatial image for the city marked by the building of apartments for nuclear families in place of the existing urban fabric consisting of extended families living in wooden or concrete houses and large Ottoman mansions. Based on informal interviews, this research explores how people, through their socio-spatial practices, transformed their neighborhoods and appropriated and adapted for their own needs. Conversely, I assess the extent to which new spatial relations affected individuals and families during the 1950s. I emphasize the changes as well as continuity in everyday practices, structure of family and household and kin relations to show the changing social fabric of the city during the decade when major transformations were taking place in the name of modernization. This dissertation also examines the impact of Turkification policies in Istanbul, namely in an upscale neighborhood, Tesvikiye-Nisantasi, by using testimonies of the locals regarding social relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, daily interactions, and narratives of traumatic events. Its goal is to clarify the historical and political context of the time period that envisioned homogenization of the population and thus changed the conditions for long-established minority groups. My study takes large-scale political events that affected all of Istanbul (and all of Turkey) and asks how the residents of Tesvikiye-Nisantasi, some of whom were minorities who remained behind rather than joining the mass emigration from Turkey, dealt with these major historical episodes and their aftermath.