Abstract:

The study has focused on II. Inönü neighbourhood, an everchanging area in Narlıdere District in İzmir Metropolitan Area. The neighbourhood, has undergone an urban regeneration process called NARKENT (Narlıdere Urban Transformation Project) since the mid-1990s. By this transformation process 342 families from gecekondus were moved into the NARKENT housing estate in the same area, to blocks which was built for gecekondu residents. The study aimed at understanding urban regeneration process, the relation between social exclusion and urban regeneration projects, at generating a discussion on how to struggle with social exclusion by using this process and finally making a discussion about development of urban area in question. The basic concepts framing the theoretical background of the study are urban regeneration and social exclusion. Social exclusion as a multi-dimensional fact is searched in the area. The positive and negative effects of urban regeneration project on social exclusion pro- cess is scrutinized. The results of the case study show that the failure in participation process based on dialog and negotiation rushed up dissatisfaction of the residents; urban regeneration did not go beyond intervention to physical environment; social, cultural and economical dimensions have been ignored; there were not sufficient effort for adaptation of the residents of regeneration area to the city life. The case study revealed that all these conditions magnified the problems.

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