Defne Kadıoğlu, Ph.D., is an urban researcher focusing on the nexus between social inequality and neoliberal urban governance, more particularly on the relation between racism, class and gentrification. She was a 2015/16 Mercator-IPC Fellow. During her fellowship she conducted a study in Beyoğlu’s Tophane neighborhood on the impact of the gentrification process on the urban social fabric.

This seminar will address the cultural dimensions of urban transformation by addressing the question of how tourism and gentrification are connected. Moreover it will discuss the impact of the gentrification process on the urban social fabric, the way gentrification is perceived by residents and the forms of social exclusion and conflict occurring in gentrifying neighborhoods. Last but not least the seminar will debate how a decline of the tourism industry affects local populations and why sustainable urban planning is vital for both - residents and tourists.