Change of Daily Life Practices in Disadvantages Groups Settlement through Urban Regeneration

This paper looks into how daily life and identity of Roma people in Turkey are faced of altering by the urban regeneration projects. As a disadvantage group, Roma communities have been faced with urban development projects due to economical, social and physical deformation in their neighborhoods. Consequently, Roma neighborhoods get into subject of urban development plans which are aim to transform existing neighborhood into improved standards of life in the name of generating a decent and healthy social and physical environment for residents, to overcome problems of unemployment and social exclusion. None of projects achieved thoroughly to its aims. Therefore, this paper will focus on two urban regeneration projects on Roma settlements in Turkey which are located in Izmir and Istanbul. While analyzing the completed project in Istanbul, its experience will guide to evaluate ongoing urban regeneration project in Izmir. In so doing, we will voice the demands’ of Roma people in Ege district by an in depth analysis of field work which is consist of interviews, authors’ observations and surveys. Lefebvre's notion of right to the city movement will stimulate framework for analyzing fieldwork findings. The paper ends with a discussion on how the project cause altering Ege neighborhood's culture and how we can contribute to protect existing daily life of Roma citizens.