Immaterial Dimensions of the Right to the City: The Case of Istanbul's Derbent Neighborhood in the Urban Transformation Process

The main objective of this article was to discuss the concept of the right to the city using the example of a gecekondu settlement, sometimes referred to as a squatters' neighborhood or a slum, that is part of a transformation project. The article primarily emphasizes the importance of the immaterial and empirical dimensions of the concept of the right to the city. Within this context, the theoretical part of the article is based on the Lefebvrian concept of the right to the city, which may be explained as the right to live anywhere one wishes to live and/or to decide one's own future. Starting from this point, a study of Istanbul's Derbent neighborhood, a gecekondu neighborhood undergoing an urban transformation process, was conducted. The goal was to seek tangible information on how the inhabitants of the gecekondu neighborhood were currently living and how they wish to live in the future. Additionally, how the urban transformation process is progressing in the opposite direction for this area is illustrated. The findings revealed that Gecekondu inhabitants have a strong sentiment of belonging to the place. They are emotionally attached to the location and to their neighbors. These emotional, intangible, and invisible dimensions of place attachment are very important components of the right to the city.