Coping strategies for infrastructure: How Turkey's spontaneous settlements operate in the absence of formal rules

Abstract

Spontaneous settlements known as gecekondus, hold more than half of the urban populations in Turkey's major cities. New gecekondu settlements continue to spread because of constraints on the supply of serviced land and affordable housing combined with lax preventive measures. Thus demand for infrastructure and services has increased in both densifying former gecekondus and new peri-urban settlements, as have related poverty and environmental problems. This study examines the formal and informal institutional frameworks for infrastructure provision in Turkish cities. The research discovered that the formal rules governing service delivery are largely irrelevant for infrastructure provision to gecekondus. Nevertheless, access to basic infrastructure and services in gecekondus is not a problem — although they are underserved, and there are real differences in the quality and quantity of services provided to gecekondus and other areas. In the absence of relevant formal rules, coping strategies — which enable the spontaneous settlements operate — are formulated by suppliers and consumers. Several planning implications are derived from these findings.