Urbanisation under Neoliberal Conservatism in Turkey

International audienceIn the past two decades, cities in Turkey have become central to the reproduction and continual development of neoliberalism itself, constituting increasingly important geographical targets and laboratories for a variety of neoliberal policy experiments, all aimed at increasing the value of the land. These include the creation of financial centres, the building of shopping malls and tourist attractions, and the construction of protected luxury accommodations. This process is particularly accelerated during the Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule and became even the main tool for economic growth. The AKP decided to restructure the governance of Turkish real-estate markets and urban planning through the implementation of a number of legal and institutional reforms, with significant consequences for the socioeconomic geography of cities and the rural environment. It also combined neoliberal strategies to the conservative-Islamist restructuring of the urban space. This article examines the nature of these policies, the tools permitting their consolidation and finally how they shape city space and everyday life of inhabitants in Turkey