ABSTRACT
The regeneration story of Fener and Balat represents a ‘transforming community’ in Istanbul. It started in the late 1990s with an EU-funded project. Targeting the poor community living in the area with its community focus and an unusual participatory approach, this project stands out as distinctive from several regeneration projects in deprived historic neighbourhoods of Istanbul. In 2006, Fener and Balat, together with their neighbouring district of Ayvansaray, were designated as an urban renewal site, and included within the scope of a property-led regeneration project. This chapter, presenting the unique tale of these two successively initiated regeneration projects, explores how far these regenerative endeavours were successful in sustainable community development, as well as sustainable regeneration and conservation in Fener and Balat. It also exemplifies collective action and mobilisation of the community against the state-led gentrification project, and underlines the challenges and conflicts that these projects and the community confronted throughout this transformation process. It demonstrates a community where powerful groups are sustained, while powerless ones are continuously displaced and replaced in the ongoing regeneration processes.
