The distinction between modernity and modernisation: Considering the Case of TOKI at Uzundere,
written in response to Readings of Modernity with Marina Lathouri, Architectural Association.
written in response to Readings of Modernity with Marina Lathouri, Architectural Association.
The mechanization of rural areas and the increased need for industrial labor starting in the 1950s led to massive migrations from rural areas to cities in Turkey. The formation of squatter settlements have been a significant and problematic result of these migrations since then and remains largely unresolved for over half a century. This essay focuses on the responses to this problem in the form of mass housing projects produced by the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKI) since the 1990s. It problematizes the intent of modernising cities by getting rid of the squatter settlements while relocating their residents in new and sometimes culturally estranged built environments. The main goal is to explore TOKI’s housing projects as a case to study the necessary distinction between modernity and modernisation. Here, I argue modernisation as a political notion imposed on people while modernity as an experience that is subjective (Berman, 1988).
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