Social Transformation in Turkey: Rural Migration, Squatter and Urbanization, Book Review

Abstract

The study is fundamentally field research focusing on the social transformation caused by rural-to-urban migration in Turkey, primarily since 1968. The aim of the study is to investigate the socioeconomic background of the migration and urbanization of rural migrants in three squatter settlements located in the northern hills of Istanbul.   In this study, the squatters are considered as part of the quantitative and qualitative transformation of the economic, social, political, and cultural order that occurs in the process of modernization. In other words, the village and the city are interconnected parts of a nation that influence each other and are affected by global developments. This idea occupies a central place within the study. The study is specifically field research that directly examines three significant squatter settlements in Istanbul: Nafibaba, Baltalimanı, and Celalettin Paşa. Both the in-depth interviews conducted with respondents in these settlements and the comprehensive evaluation of environmental conditions have been carefully analyzed to examine the place and significance of squatter housing in Turkey, as well as the patterns of major transformations it has undergone throughout the country. In this book, the author presents to the reader the transformative impact of the squatter class that emerges from the phenomenon of migration in Turkey.

Keywords: Migration, squatter, rural migration, urbanization.