Neoliberal urbanism restructuring the city of Ankara: Gated communities as a new life style in a suburban settlement

• Gated communities in Turkey are associated with the elements of neo-liberal urbanism.
• Urban land has become the main source of capital accumulation in Turkey.
• Demand and supply mechanisms are mutually operating to define an urban coalition.
• Planning acts as a state apparatus in facilitating the power of urban coalitions.
• The aim of legal regulations is to clear away obstacles for neo-liberal urbanism.

Development of gated communities in Turkey is associated with the neo-liberal restructuring of the economy towards urban-focused economic strategy-making, the rise of new urban consumer groups, and the diversion of capital to assist markets and property development with state taking an active role in securing markets and defining the elements of place-marketing via a socio-spatial and -economic reorganization of metropolitan space. The case study held in Beysukent, Ankara reveals this structure where the combination of the interests and actions of the state, local governments, real estate developers, the media, and consumers suggest that prevailing structural conditions assure the future proliferation of gated communities. Gated communities in Turkey provide one example in clubbing together for increased individual benefits with the aim of protecting an élite local lifestyle as a consumer practice with the main objective of revaluing prime urban land. This can be achieved through a planning environment in which planning follows demand and plan conditions are determined according to the area to be invested in, increased demand expectation being decisive. Thus this study demonstrates how patterns of neo-liberal urbanism have collaborated to transform a suburban area with elements of élite consumption patterns, gated communities being the primary factor in the transformation of the area.