Not Just a Place: Emotional Belonging and Class Distinction in Nişantaşı-Istanbul

Authors

  • Zeynep Ceylan Gezer Çatalbaş *

    Department of Architecture, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul 34469, Türkiye
  • Ipek Akpinar

    Department of Architecture, Izmir Institute of Technology, Izmir 35430, Türkiye

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55121/cci.v2i2.841

Keywords:

Nişantaşı, Teşvikiye, Urban Memory, Place Attachment, Nostalgia, Habitus

Abstract

This paper explores how residents of the historic Nişantaşı neighborhood in Istanbul have experienced, remembered, and narrated the area throughout Turkey’s modern urban history. Drawing on in-depth interviews and archival materials from newspapers and magazines, it interprets these sources as subjective memory rather than objective record. By tracing shifts in personal experiences, daily routines, and emotional geographies, the study reveals how urban change is understood beyond spatial transformation alone. Using a periodization framework aligned with Turkey’s urban transformation, it maps recurring themes and emotional tones across time. These include a persistent tension between nostalgic loss and the embrace of modernization, where nostalgia also emerges as a subtle form of resistance to urban change. This diachronic perspective highlights tensions between continuity and rupture, belonging and memory, and the interplay of material and imagined spaces. In doing so, the article emphasizes memory as a multilayered cultural construct, shaped by overlapping narratives of class, modernization, and everyday life, thereby revealing how cultural conflicts and integrations are inscribed in the urban fabric of Nişantaşı. Moreover. the study’s approach also offers a framework that future research can adapt to examine how affective attachments and classed narratives mediate processes of urban change in different cultural settings.

References

[1] Charron, A., 2020. Indigeneity, Displacement, and Regional Place Attachment among IDPs from Crimea. Geographical Review. 112(1), 86–102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2020.1780128

[2] Hagen, J., 2020. Places of Memory, Historic Preservation, and Place Attachment in Nazi Germany. Geographical Review. 112(1), 147–170. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2020.1799711

[3] Nelson, E., Godlewska, A., 2022. Settler Ignorance and Public Memory: Kingston, Ontario. Geographical Review. 113(5), 666–684. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2022.2141631

[4] Myadar, O., 2025. Belong: Intersections of Displacement and Belonging. Geographical Review. 1–12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00167428.2025.2519047

[5] Kaplan, D.H., Moigne, Y.L., 2019. Multicultural Engagements in Lived Spaces: How Cultural Communities Intersect in Belleville, Paris. City and Community. 18(1), 392–413. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cico.12358

[6] Koçak, H., Çetin, S., 2022. The Effect of Spatial Concentration and Segregation on Social Cohesion of Urban Refugees. İdealkent. 13(38), 2934–2952. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31198/idealkent.1134723 (in Turkish).

[7] Pardo, I., Prato, G.B., 2017. Introduction: Urban Ethnography Matters— Analytical Strength, Theoretical Value and Significance to Society. In: Pardo, I., Prato, G. (eds). The Palgrave Handbook of Urban Ethnography. Palgrave Macmillan: NY, USA. pp. 1–19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64289-5_1

[8] Tuchman, G., 1978. Making News: A Study in the Construction of Reality. Free Press: NY, USA.

[9] Connerton, P., 1989. How Societies Remember. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.

[10] Halbwachs, M., 2023. Kolektif Bellek. Pinhan: İstanbul, Türkiye. (other language)

[11] Le Goff, J., 1992. History and Memory. Columbia University Press: NY, USA.

[12] Kirsch, G.E., Rohan, L., et al., 2008. Beyond the Archives: Research as a Lived Process. Available from: https://www.siupress.com/9780809328406/beyond-the-archives/

[13] Newspaper Archive, n.d. Gastearsivi.com. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/ (in Turkish).

[14] Biernacki, P., Waldorf, D., 1981. Snowball Sampling: Problems and Techniques of Chain Referral Sampling. Sociological Methods and Research. 10(2), 141–163. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/004912418101000205

[15] Tekeli, İ., 1998. Urban planning in Turkey as a modernisation project. In: Bozdoğan, S., Kasaba, R. (eds.). Rethinking Modernity and National Identity in Turkey. Tarih Vakfı: Istanbul, Türkiye, pp. 136–152. (in Turkish)

[16] Charmaz, K., 2014. Constructing Grounded Theory, 2nd ed. Sage: London, UK.

[17] Esatlı, M. R., 1944. The New Teşvikiye Neighborhood, a Product of Abdülmecid’s Philanthropic Generosity. Son Posta. pp. 5. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/gazete/son_posta/1944-05-11/5 (in Turkish).

[18] Esatlı, M.R., 1944. The Ottoman Dynasty Had Been Removed Outside the National Borders. Son Posta. pp. 5. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/gazete/son_posta/1944-11-06/5 (in Turkish).

[19] Vedad, M., 1931. The Issue of Istanbul’s Reconstruction. Mimar. 1(2), Available from: http://dergi.mo.org.tr/detail.php?id=2&sayi_id=23 (in Turkish).

[20] Şevki, M., 1932. V. Architekt, 862, 208–209. Available from: http://dergi.mo.org.tr/detail.php?id=2&sayi_id=84 (in Turkish).

[21] Milliyet, 1931. Istanbul Is Being Destroyed for No Reason. Gaste Arşivi. p. 1. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/gazete/milliyet/1931-05-16/1 (in Turkish).

[22] Akşam, 1939. The Mayor Has Started to Deal with Urban Development Works. Gaste Arşivi. p. 6. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/gazete/aksam/1939-01-28/6 (in Turkish).

[23] Haber, 1937. İstanbul Talks. Gaste Arşivi. p. 2. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/gazete/haber/1937-07-12/2 (in Turkish)

[24] Johnson, C.R., 1995. İstanbul 1920. Tarih Vakfı Yurt Yayınları: İstanbul, Türkiye. https://books.google.de/books/about/Istanbul_1920.html?id=Zl7ixgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y

[25] Akşam, 1938. Antiquities Sold by the Oka. Gaste Arşivi. p. 1. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/gazete/aksam/1938-02-02/1 (in Turkish).

[26] Akpınar, İ., Uz, F., 2016. “My Ideal Home”. In: Derviş, P. (Coord.), 3rd Istanbul Design Bienale: “Are we Humans”, curated by Beatrice Colomina and Mark Wigley. Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV): Istanbul, Turkey. pp. 90–113.

[27] Alkışer, Y., 2003. A Research and Evaluation on the Political Context for the Solution of the Housing Problem in Turkey [PhD Thesis]. Istanbul Technical University: Istanbul, Türkiye. Available from: https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/

[28] Bilgin, İ., 2012. İstanbul Projects: Teşvikiye. 5. Available from: https://www.arkitera.com/haber/istanbul-projeleri-5-tesvikiye/ (in Turkish).

[29] Anadol, K., 1974. The Problem of Stagnant Traffic in Cities and Multi-Storey Garages. Arkitekt. 1(353), 30–38. Available from: http://dergi.mo.org.tr/detail.php?id=2&sayi_id=582 (In Turkish).

[30] Bazoğlu, A., 1951. Difficulties and Complaints Encountered in Istanbul’s Reconstruction. Arkitekt. 1(2), 34–38. Available from: http://dergi.mo.org.tr/detail.php?id=2&sayi_id=181 (In Turkish).

[31] Akşam, 1954. Interview of the Day. Gaste Arşivi. p. 6. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/gazete/aksam/1954-06-20/6 (in Turkish).

[32] Milliyet, 1961. Gaste Arşivi. pp. 1. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/gazete/milliyet/1961-01-10/1 (in Turkish).

[33] Hey, 1972. The Boutique Craze in Istanbul. Gaste Arşivi. pp. 31. Available from: https://www.gastearsivi.com/gazete/hey/1972-04-05/31 (in Turkish).

[34] Uluoğlu, B., 2012. On the Ontology of Architecture and Its So-Called Destruction. In: Altun, N.A., Ojalvo, R. (eds.), Arzu Mimarlığı. İletişim Yayınları: İstanbul, Türkiye, pp. 297–307. (In Turkish)

[35] Keyder, Ç., 1996. The Collapse of National Developmentalism. Metis Yayınları: Ankara, Türkiye, pp. 116. (In Turkish)

[36] Yaşar, S., 2011. The High-Heel Detail Has Not Been Forgotten. Hürriyet. Available from: https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/topuklu-ayakkabi-detayi-unutulmadi-16718318 (In Turkish)

[37] Milliyet, 2007. A Nişantaşı Makeover for Zeytinburnu. 10 November. Available from: https://www.milliyet.com.tr/gundem/zeytinburnuna-nisantasi-makyaji-261202 (In Turkish)

[38] Sarıgül, M., 2019. I Regret to See That the Light of Nişantaşı and Şişli Has Faded. Facebook video, 1 January. Available from: https://www.facebook.com/mustafasarigul/videos/283894222311592/ (In Turkish)

[39] Demiröz, D., Öncü, A., 2005. The Role of Hegemony in the Formation of a Market Society in Turkey: ‘White Turkness’ as a Project of Reality. In: Öncü, A., Tekelioğlu, O. (eds.). Şerif Mardin’e Armağan. İletişim Yayınları: Türkiye, İstanbul. pp. 171–199. (In Turkish)

[40] Ergin, M., 2008. Is the Turk a White Man? Toward a Theoretical Framework for Race in the Making of Turkishness. Middle Eastern Studies. 44(6), 827–850. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00263200802425973

[41] Paksoy, A.F., 2018. White Turks: A Notion Produced and Transformed by the Media. Akdeniz Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Dergisi. 29, 35–53. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31123/akil.406176

[42] Scannell, L., Gifford, R., 2010. Defining Place Attachment: A Tripartite Organizing Framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 30(1), 1–10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2009.09.006

[43] Bourdieu, P., 1986. The Forms of Capital. In: Richardson, J.G. (ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Greenwood: New York, USA. pp. 241–258.

[44] Boym, S., 2001. The Future of Nostalgia. Basic Books: NY, USA.

[45] Altman, I., Low, S.M. (eds.), 1992. Place Attachment. Springer: NY, USA.

[46] Hidalgo, M.C., Hernández, B., 2001. Place Attachment: Conceptual and Empirical Questions. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 21(3), 273–281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1006/jevp.2001.0221

[47] Manzo, L.C., 2003. Beyond House and Haven: Toward a Revisioning of Emotional Relationships with Places. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 23(1), 47–61. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(02)00074-9

[48] Relph, E., 1976. Place and Placelessness. Pion: London, UK.

[49] Tuan, Y.F., 1977. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis, USA.

[50] Gieryn, T.F., 2000. A Space for Place in Sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 26(1), 463–496.

[51] Lefebvre, H., 1991. The Production of Space. Wiley-Blackwell: Hoboken, NJ, USA.

[52] Brown, B.B., Perkins, D.D., 1992. Disruptions in Place Attachment. In: Altman, I., Low, S.M. (eds.), Place Attachment. Springer: New York, USA, pp. 279–304. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-8753-4_13

[53] Low, S.M., 1996. Spatializing Culture: The Social Production and Social Construction of Public Space in Costa Rica. American Ethnologist, 23(4), 861–879. DPO: https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1996.23.4.02a00100

[54] Dovey, K., 2010. Becoming Places: Urbanism/Architecture/Identity/Power. Routledge: London, UK.

[55] Aydoğan, C., 2025. From Here to Elsewhere: Migration in Response to an Anticipated Earthquake. Urbanities: Journal of Urban Ethnography, 15(1), 52–71. Available from: https://www.anthrojournal-urbanities.com/vol-15-no-1-may-2025/

[56] Krase, J., 2017. Seeing Cities Change: Local Culture and Class. Routledge: London, UK.

[57] Ahmed, S., 2004. The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, UK.

Downloads

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (December 2025): In Progress

Section

Articles