Urban biopolitical inclusion and exclusion in the regeneration of urban riverbeds: the case of Şanlıurfa City, Türkiye

This study examines how biopolitical governance materializes through uneven riverbed regeneration in the rapidly urbanizing city of Şanlıurfa, Türkiye. Focusing on the Karakoyun, Cavşak, and Çayıçi riverbeds, it argues that these interventions operate as differentiated strategies of inclusion, hydraulic control, and selective neglect rather than as a uniform model of urban improvement. Methodologically, the study combines municipal and DSİ documents, technical drawings, satellite imagery, field observation, and semi-structured interviews. It shows that urban water infrastructures are not merely technical systems, but political spaces through which public health, environmental quality, and urban life are unevenly governed in contemporary Şanlıurfa.