Transformation of Perception of the Gecekondu Phenomenon

The aim of this paper is not to redefine the gecekondu phenomenon, nor to describe its historical development, but to discuss and explore the transformations it is socially perceived with through time. Academic approaches are generally reviewed in a more pronounced manner. Within the frame of this paper gecekondu phenomenon is conceived according to different time periods well-known in gecekondu studies; i.e. from the 1940s to 1970 as the ‘period of innocence and marginalisation’, the 1970s as period of ‘politization’ and ‘first benefits of speculation’, and from 1980 onwards as the period of the “varoş”, of full speculation and complete illegalisation. It is considered a priori that, its perception changed in line with the above mentioned periods through which the phenomenon itself has materially and considerably changed.