WANA

This piece focuses on the practices of solidarity, how this has shaped people’s experiences of the lockdown in Istanbul, Turkey, and the ways in which the local and national state can—and did—exploit public concerns and confusion that have been evoked by the pandemic to fast-track their controversial urban projects and decisions.

Covid-19, Inequality, and a Place to Shelter

Ayşegül Can is an urbanist and scholar from Turkey. She holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield (UK) and a master’s degree from Istanbul Technical University.

Ayşegül Can is an urbanist and scholar from Turkey. She holds a PhD from the University of Sheffield (UK) and a master’s degree from Istanbul Technical University. Since 2018, she has been working as a lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in Istanbul Medeniyet University. Can has a strong commitment to social justice and the development of socially-sustainable cities. Her choice of PhD topic was motivated by concern for the poor, mainly minority-ethnic, residents of the historic neighbourhoods in Istanbul, particularly those subjected to state-led gentrification.