A Research on the Urban Commons and Commoning Practices in İzmir

Abstract

Today, all over the world, the struggles of the communities which protest the commodification of the common life sources and urban spaces have become more visible in the urban stage. These struggles of the urban users aim to organize alternative channels to criticize the existing production and re-production processes of the common sources. They bring into together different approaches from various disciplines such as architecture, planning, economy, sociology, etc. This situation provides us a chance to explore new forms of relationalities between different approaches and practices from different disciplines. In this regard, it becomes necessary to evaluate all these applications in a more general framework. Within the scope of this study, these efforts of urban actors to seek and discover what is called "common" are considered within the commoning discussions. It is believed that this kind of approach to such practices can have a more holistic and alternative ways of understanding while examining them. In line with all these concerns, this study conducts a case study that examines the commoning practices that question the production and reproduction process of the common space in İzmir. In this regard, Kapılar as an open and free common space has been chosen as a case. This common space and the spatial practices which are performed here are evaluated within the framework of commons/commoning concepts. It is believed that this framework is important for thinking about the relationship between space and politics. With this case study, following critical questions are tried to be questioned, such as; how commoning practices can find a response in concrete physical space, how they operate within the potentials and limits of the city of Izmir and finally what kind of conditions make this particular common space possible. In order to achieve that, semi-structured interviews have been conducted with the participants of these practices. The voice record taken in these interviews has been converted into a written transcript. This written transcript has been analysed with the context analysis method. And finally, with the evaluation of the results of this context analysis, the mentioned practices of common space and the practical structure of these commoning practices have been tried to be deciphered.