ABSTRACT
Ankara was established as a planned capital city in 1923, yet in the 1960s over half of its population lived in informal settlements. This study questions and outlines the mutual influences between different governmental policies and the rights-seeking strategies of the inhabitants of informal housing and explores the consequences for the social and political organization of the city. This chapter demonstrates that through this process of mutual bargaining, informal housing turned into a highly commoditized and politicized product. Governments adopted clientelistic approaches when they recognized informal dwellers as a voting power and as source of cheap labor for the developing economy. Moreover, starting from the 1980s through the 2000s, redevelopment in those areas was seen by developers as an easy way to increase profits. As a consequence, informal housing dwellers managed to gain legitimate rights and managed also to negotiate multiple development rights and economic gains, in exchange for their votes. This has in turn led to the persistence of informality in Ankara. This study indicates that informality is not a realm outside the state, but completely interwoven with it.
