Production of Space and Social Cohesion: Roma, Iraqis, and Locals in the Ankara Neighborhood of Demirlibahçe

This research investigates the relationship between social cohesion and the production of space through the socio-spatial transformations that four specific streets of Ankara's Demirlibahe neighborhood have been experiencing. The primary aim of focusing on these four streets, which have been appropriated by three communities (Roma, Turkmen migrants from Iraq/Telafer, and locals) is to scrutinize how the production of space in particular streets hampers possible social cohesion at the local level. These streets have seen ongoing and contentious spatial practices since the massive influx of Iraqi migrants in 2014. Thus, a second aim of the study is to investigate to what extent immigrants' spatial practices become the basis of their sense of belonging, while in return creating differential spaces within the streets where preexisting social cohesion between the locals and Roma is reshaped. Through the use of a total of 60 in-depth and group interviews, which have been conducted using convenience and snowball sampling, the aim is to both describe, and critically engage, with relevant social cohesion studies and projects. The study presents the ongoing socio-spatial transformations within the Demirlibahe neighborhood, through tracing three groups' social cohesion processes in/to space and community.