URBANIZATION PROCESSES OF NORTHERN ISTANBUL IN THE 2000’S: YAVUZ SULTAN SELIM BRIDGE AND THE NORTHERN MARMARA HIGHWAY

Abstract

Abstract: Istanbul of the 2000’s is a striking example of urbanization through mega projects. It is clear that the mega infrastructure projects that have come to the fore in the North of Istanbul, especially in the last decade, will have large-scale and irreversible effects on the ecological systems and growth dynamics of the city. This study focuses on Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge and Northern Marmara Highway (YSS-NMH), being the first of the mega projects aiming to move the transportation infrastructure and center of gravity of Istanbul towards North, passing through the Northern forests. YSS-NMH and the subsequent mega projects, being the Istanbul Airport and Kanal Istanbul can be seen as parts of a strategy to expand the city towards North and transform it into a global transportation hub. In this article, a critical reading of the project is provided through the problematization of neoliberal urban space production mechanisms of the 2000’s. While doing this reading, Ananya Roy’s (2009, 819-30) “informality” and Bent Flyvbjerg’s (2014, 6-19) “four categories of sublime” are taken as key concepts forming the theoretical framework. The study adopts discoursive analysis as a qualitative research method. First of all, the legal inconsistencies in the emergence and implementation processes of the project are discussed through Roy’s concept of “informality”. Then, through the processing of structured open-ended interviews with the senior executives of the project and the examination of promotional project materials and related newspaper articles; the neoliberal discourse in the public presentation of the project is analyzed through Flyvbjerg’s “four categories of sublime”. “Informality”, meaning the manipulation and violation of laws and regulations by the administrative authority, has been an instrumental mechanism in the realization process of the YSS-NMH project. During the execution process, starting from the selection of the project route to the construction stages, a number of laws and regulations, especially the 1/100,000 Istanbul Upper Level Land Use Plan and the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, were inactivated. Moreover, the technological, aesthetic, political and economic sublimation discourses, which are the “four categories of sublime”, have been a discursive strategy frequently used in the promotion, legitimation and implementation processes of the project. The aim of this dual analysis is to reveal the neoliberal execution and affirmation mechanisms of the YSS-NMH project during the emergence, implementation and public presentation stages. Through the dual analysis of YSS-NMH, this study intends to bring a critical account to the dynamics of neoliberal urbanization through mega projects in general, drawing parallels between similar processes that are experienced in many of the metropolitan cities of developing countries in the 21st century. © 2022