From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants
Abstract This article seeks to position Istanbul through the practices of everyday life of middle-class, skilled migrants from both the Global North and South and their perceptions of urban safety and precarity. It examines individuals’ processes of migration to Turkey, revealing their initial impre...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Comparative Migration Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-025-00432-4 |
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| author | Ezgi Tuncer |
| author_facet | Ezgi Tuncer |
| author_sort | Ezgi Tuncer |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract This article seeks to position Istanbul through the practices of everyday life of middle-class, skilled migrants from both the Global North and South and their perceptions of urban safety and precarity. It examines individuals’ processes of migration to Turkey, revealing their initial impressions of Istanbul as a safe city of opportunities, and then analyses their everyday urban lives, highlighting hidden forms of precarity and discrimination. Through in-depth interviews with 45 women and 34 men—more than half of whom are North American and European—and participant observation in people’s living environments and at various social events, I argue that Istanbul, while perceived as a ‘safe haven’ at first, becomes a ‘zone of precarity’ where most of the participants have experienced intersectional forms of precarity, latent patterns of discrimination, and insecurities that belie the common perception that skilled migrants are privileged. To substantiate this argument, this ethno-spatial study presents an analysis of qualitative data as well as an online subjective mapping of Istanbul, where perceptions of urban safety and spatial precarity are displayed through socio-spatial experiences encountered in neighbourhoods, workplaces, and public spaces. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a08930290e1c41fc8069115fa77ac084 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2214-594X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Comparative Migration Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-a08930290e1c41fc8069115fa77ac0842025-08-20T03:04:01ZengSpringerOpenComparative Migration Studies2214-594X2025-02-0113111910.1186/s40878-025-00432-4From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrantsEzgi Tuncer0Department of Architecture, Kadir Has UniversityAbstract This article seeks to position Istanbul through the practices of everyday life of middle-class, skilled migrants from both the Global North and South and their perceptions of urban safety and precarity. It examines individuals’ processes of migration to Turkey, revealing their initial impressions of Istanbul as a safe city of opportunities, and then analyses their everyday urban lives, highlighting hidden forms of precarity and discrimination. Through in-depth interviews with 45 women and 34 men—more than half of whom are North American and European—and participant observation in people’s living environments and at various social events, I argue that Istanbul, while perceived as a ‘safe haven’ at first, becomes a ‘zone of precarity’ where most of the participants have experienced intersectional forms of precarity, latent patterns of discrimination, and insecurities that belie the common perception that skilled migrants are privileged. To substantiate this argument, this ethno-spatial study presents an analysis of qualitative data as well as an online subjective mapping of Istanbul, where perceptions of urban safety and spatial precarity are displayed through socio-spatial experiences encountered in neighbourhoods, workplaces, and public spaces.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-025-00432-4Skilled migrationPrivilegeSpatial precarityPractices of everyday lifeIstanbulUrban safety |
| spellingShingle | Ezgi Tuncer From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants Comparative Migration Studies Skilled migration Privilege Spatial precarity Practices of everyday life Istanbul Urban safety |
| title | From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants |
| title_full | From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants |
| title_fullStr | From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants |
| title_full_unstemmed | From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants |
| title_short | From ‘safe haven’ to ‘zone of precarity’: locating Istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants |
| title_sort | from safe haven to zone of precarity locating istanbul through the perceptions and everyday urban practices of skilled migrants |
| topic | Skilled migration Privilege Spatial precarity Practices of everyday life Istanbul Urban safety |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-025-00432-4 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ezgituncer fromsafehaventozoneofprecaritylocatingistanbulthroughtheperceptionsandeverydayurbanpracticesofskilledmigrants |