Geographies of children’s play in the context of neoliberal restructuring in Istanbul^*

* This research is completed for MSc in Urban Studies at University College London in September 2015 and has been presented at Third Forum of Sociology of International Sociological Association that took place in 10–14 July 2016, in Vienna.

ABSTRACT

This research analyzes the material and discursive transformations of children’s play in the urban context of socio-economic transformations brought about by neoliberal restructuring in Istanbul. Two new private play centers called ‘children’s cities’ and one public playground are investigated by using observation, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The findings of discourse analysis suggest that processes of privatization, exclusion and securitization underlying the city space deeply structure the new geographies of play. The hegemonic presence of private spaces is reinforced with the municipal neglect of public play spaces and also with particular framing of ‘good play’ as exclusive, secure and instrumental. The important conclusion is that neither the children’s cities nor the public playground observed in this study can fully meet the benchmarks of ‘the right to play’ that encompasses play that is free of charge and play as a right in itself rather than as instrumental for other developmental goals.

KEYWORDS:

• Gentrification
• Istanbul
• neoliberal restructuring
• playground
• the right to play

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank my supervisor Caroline Bressey, for her insightful comments and encouragement. I would also like to thank all my interviewees for their time.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

* This research is completed for MSc in Urban Studies at University College London in September 2015 and has been presented at Third Forum of Sociology of International Sociological Association that took place in 10–14 July 2016, in Vienna.

1 To preserve the anonymity of interviewees, letters and numbers are used (Kidzmondo = K, Minopolis = M, Karkuyusu p. = KK).