Istanbul 2010 and the Right to the City: Challenges of the European Capital of Culture
The economic globalization of the world has brought about the decentralization of power from central governments to local authorities in terms of different aspects including the Human Rights issues. Thus, fulfilling, protecting and respecting Human Rights has become a central issue for local authorities.
Various charters which had been declared within the last couple of years concerning the Right to the City issue made an effort to illustrate the responsibilities of the local authorities in terms of Human Rights. The major emphasis of these charters is that the span of politic, civil, economic, social and cultural rights is not only limited with the citizens, but includes all of the inhabitants of the city. In addition to housing, health, education, participation, representation, equitable development, clean environment, culture, employment and security rights, the city rights also include the rights to the quality public services, usufruct and accessible public transportation, clean drinking water and cheap heating, transparency in public administration, information and leisure, sports and recreation. These charters also underline the protection and positive discrimination of vulnerable groups within the society.
With opening up to the neo-liberal economy policies at the beginning of the 1980s, it is possible to observe the diminishing command and pressure of the state over the public sphere and the increasing power and voice of private sector, civil societies and the local governments in Turkey. As a result of the adjustment of the legal system in accordance with the European Union candidacy and the harmonization process with the EU, the Human Rights issues has begun to enter the Turkish legal system and the participation of non governmental organizations in the management have been encouraged. Within this context, in years 2004 and 2005, the municipal legislations have been modified with the addition of new laws concerning the human rights issues and public participation.
It is possible to notice the impacts of these developments in the selection of Istanbul as European Capital of Culture for 2010. Accordingly, the process of ECOC 2010 is expected to contribute to the advancement of the democratic movement in Turkey through reinforcing the relationships between the state, private sector, civil society and the local government and decentralizing the supremacy of the central state in Turkey.
Despite its potential dynamics which can contribute to the development of a democratic society, the development and implementation process of ECOC 2010 might also lead to major drawbacks in the city with respect to urban projects which aim to recreate the image of the city in order to attract the mobile capital and investments:
1. The scopes of the urban projects proposed for the ECOC 2010 are short term in essence. However, most of the problems of the city need to be addressed by means of long term projects with comprehensive analysis, careful implementation and feedback. These short term projects might fail to maintain the participation of inhabitants of the city, provide long term and sustainable solutions for the problems that they address.
2. The projects aim to create an image for an international audience and this carries the risk of an ignorance of the real problems of the city.
With these issues in mind, this study will try to evaluate the pros and cons of the urban projects of Istanbul ECOC 2010 from a right to the city perspective. In that, the study seeks to bring about ideas to establish a ground for the safeguarding of human rights in the city.
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