An inquiry into socio-spatial segregation: case of Syrian urban refugees in Turkish border city

Abstract

Massive influx of displaced people into urban areas reshapes cities’ economic, social, political and spatial structures. This research creates a broader understanding of the displaced person phenomenon as one of the main drivers of the urban transformation through analyzing formation of urban marginality in the case of Syrian refugees in a Turkish border city, Gaziantep. This paper uses the findings from the fieldwork that I conducted in Gaziantep including in-depth interviews with both refugee and host communities, and a series of mapping exercises showing the spatial distribution of urban refugee in the city. The urban marginalization explored in the research reveals that the city itself as a social and physical entity is as important as policy interventions in the integration process of refugees.