Discrete emergence of neoliberal policies on public space: an informal Business Improvement District in Istanbul, Turkey

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the birth and evolution of a Business Improvement District (BID) in Talimhane, Istanbul, which is the first case of use of this instrument of neoliberal governance in the Turkish city. The distinctive nature of the Talimhane BID consists in the fact that it has been developed through a series of informal and piecemeal arrangements. The article first reviews the evolution, characteristics, and critical aspects of BIDs. It then focuses on the case study of this “informal BID” in Talimhane, analysing its origins, features, and outcomes. The informal nature of this BID is stressed as a key factor in understanding its features and outcomes, and it emerges as a fundamental component of urban neoliberalism in Turkey: it allows a centralized and authoritarian government to maintain complete control over public space and private actors and activities, while promoting a process of devolving powers in favour of the private sector.

KEYWORDS:

• Business Improvement Districts
• neoliberalism
• urban revitalization
• Istanbul
• public space
• informality

Acknowledgments

This article is the result of combined research activity undertaken by Dicle Kizildere and Francesco Chiodelli. The final written version of Sections nos. 1, 2 and 5 can be attributed to Francesco Chiodelli, and that of Sections nos. 3, 4 and 6 to Dicle Kizildere. The initial idea of this paper came from Dilek Darby: we are very grateful for her fundamental help. Some of the findings presented in Section 3 are the result of the master thesis titled “Socio-Economic and Spatial Transformations in the Historical Centre of Istanbul after 1980: The case of Talimhane, Beyoğlu” written by Dicle Kizildere, supervised by Dilek Darby and supported by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

We would like to thank Loretta Lees, as well as the anonymous referees, for their inspiring suggestions on a previous version of this manuscript; we would like to thank also Maddalena Falletti, who drew the maps contained in this article. Obviously, responsibility for errors contained in this article lies solely with the authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. To be stressed is that BIDs in Europe first appeared not in English-speaking countries, such as the UK or Ireland, as one might expect, but in Serbia in 2002 (see Radosavljević, Đorđević, & Živković, 2015; Ward, 2007).

2. In some instances, not all the owners adhere voluntarily to the BID. This is the case of Germany, where the creation of a BID does not need the unanimous consent of all the owners of businesses in the area. A majority of 51% in favour of creating a BID (or less than 30% opposing) is required (Eick, 2012). On the specificities of German BIDs, see also: Kreutz (2009); Michel and Stein (2015).

3. For a different view on the alleged privatization of public space, see for instance: Chiodelli and Moroni (2015); Moroni and Chiodelli (2016); Sisk (2006).

4. The events of September 1955, which were related to disputes in Cyprus, resulted from (false) claims that Atatürk’s birthplace in Thessaloniki had been deliberately damaged by the Greeks. This excuse was used to justify orchestrated anti-Greek attacks on people and property, mostly in Istanbul, leading to ethnic cleansing.

5. The president of the Talimhane Tourism Association declared himself confident about the possibility of resuming close cooperation with public the authorities, also thanks to important association members close to President Erdogan (O. Esmer, TTHIA representative, personal communication, 17 November 2015).