Socio-Spatial Exclusion in the Urban Peripheries: A Case of Availability and Accessibility of Public Goods and Services in Yapracık

Date

2026-8-18

Author

Erdem, Eyüp Emre

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This thesis investigates the everyday lived experiences of residents in the Yapracık Mass Housing Area, a peripheral settlement in Ankara transformed by neoliberal urban policies from a low-income shelter into a speculative real estate hub. The thesis explores how the availability and accessibility of public goods and services across five key fields (healthcare, transportation, accommodation, education, and consumption) shape socio-spatial exclusion and reproduce class inequalities. Drawing upon Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory, the study conceptualizes the urban periphery as a dynamic socio-spatial battleground of power relations between multiple actors. Mobility capital is central to the analysis since it dictates a resident’s ability to navigate spatial deprivation and access centralized urban opportunities. Methodologically, the research employs a qualitative case study design, utilizing one month of participant observation and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a diverse demographic of residents, including students, workers, retirees, and homeowners. The findings reveal that physical co-presence in a heterogeneous periphery does not equate to social equality. Instead, Yapracık functions as a “liminal storage zone” where marginalized populations endure forced mobility and a systemic theft of time. At the same time, privileged residents utilize private vehicles to bypass local infrastructural deficiencies effortlessly. Ultimately, this thesis argues that contemporary peripheral urbanization actively spatializes class differences, forcing residents to constantly negotiate their structural exclusion through unequal residential strategies dictated by their habitus and capital.

Subject Keywords

Socio-spatial exclusion, Urban periphery, Urban mobility, Urban sprawl

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/120064

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis