The Role of Micro-communities for Urban Challenges: A Case Study of Mardin
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13133/2532-6562/19024Keywords:
Micro-communities, urban commoning, public spaceAbstract
This article aims to explain the role of micro communities that emerged from local and everyday life in Mardin (Turkey), focusing on social, cultural and participatory production practices. In Mardin, tourism threatens to erode the city’s unique urban fabric and social cohesion whilst public spaces suffer from underinvestment. Citizens struggle with urbanization challenges that prevent them from creating shared memories and experiences in their daily lives. On the other hand, diverse communities are developing innovative social practices and fostering alternative forms of cooperation engagement that offer
promising avenues for commoning. This article aims to examine practices where the approach of urban commoning is used to explore the potential and
limitations of these practices in urban production and organization. Whilst these examples demonstrate various micro-community practices, they also underscore the critical role of spontaneous, open-source knowledge and a participatory approach in shaping the extent and character of commoning processes.
References
Amin A. (2002). «Ethnicity and the multicultural city: living with diversity». Environment & Planning A. Economy and Space, 34(6): 959-980.
Arbell Y. (2023). «The Circle of Commoning: Conceptualising Commoning through the Case of Community-Led Housing». International Journal of the Commons, 17(1): 228-242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/ijc.1210
Çağlayan M. (2021). «Mardin’in UNESCO Dünya Mirası Listesi’ne Alınma Süreci». International Journal of Mardin Studies, 2(2): 7-16.
Euler J. (2018). «Conceptualizing the Commons: Moving Beyond the Goods-based Definition by Introducing the Social Practices of Commoning as Vital Determinant». Ecological Economics, 143: 10-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.06.020
Eynaud P., Juan M., Mourey D. (2018). «Participatory Art as a Social Practice of Commoning to Reinvent the Right to the City». International Society for Third-Sector Research, 29: 621-636. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-018-0006-y
Federici S. (2019). Re-enchanting the World: Feminism and the Politics of the Commons. Oakland: PM Press.
Foster S., Iaione C. (2016). «The City as a Commons». Yale Law and Policy Review, 32(2): 281-349.
Foster S.R., Iaione C. (2022). Co-Cities. Innovative Transitions Toward Just and Self-Sustaining Communities. The MIT Press.
Fournier V. (2013). «Commoning: On the Social Organisation of the Commons». M@n@gement, 16(4): 433. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3917/mana.164.0433
Gruber S., Miller V. (2016). «City of Commons». In: Blimlinger E., Braidt A.B., Riegler K. (Eds.), Spaces of Commoning-Artistic Research and the Utopia of the Everyday. Vienna: Sternberg Press.
Jacobs J. (2017). Büyük Amerikan Şehirlerinin Ölümü ve Yaşamı. İstanbul: Metis. [Or. ed. (1961). The Death and Life of Great American Cities]
Lefebvre H. (2007). Modern Dünyada Gündelik Hayat. İstanbul: Metis. [Or. ed. (1968) La Vie quotidienne dans le monde moderne]
Lijster T., Volont L., Gielen P. (2022). «Cultural Commoning in the City». In: Volont L., Lijster T., Gielen P. (Eds.), The Rise of the Common City, Brussel: Academic & Scientific Publisher, 15-32. DOI: 10.46944/9789461173492.2
Nonini D.M. (2006). «Introduction: The Global Idea of ‹the Commons›». In: Nonini D.M. (Ed.), The Global Idea of ‘The Commons. Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1-9.
Méndez de Andés A. (2024). Becoming-common of the public. Municipalist lessons on urban commoning as alter-planning. (Doctoral thesis). South Yorkshire: The University of Sheffield.
Sennett R. (2013). Kamusal İnsanın Çöküşü (S. Durak & A. Yılmaz Çev.). İstanbul: Ayrıntı Yayınları [Or. ed. (1992). The fall of public man].
Stavrides S. (2015). «Common Space as Threshold Space: Urban Commoning in Struggles to Re-appropriate Public Space». FOOTPRINT. Delft Architecture Theory Journal: 9-20.
DOI: 10.59490/footprint.1.896
Stavrides S. (2016). Kentsel Heterotopya (A. Karatay, Çev.). İstanbul: Sel Yayıncılık. [Or. ed. (2010). Towards the city of thresholds].
Stavrides S. (2018). Müşterek Mekân-Müşterekler Olarak Şehir (C. Saraçoğlu, Çev.). İstanbul: Sel Yayıncılık. [Or. ed. (2016). Common Space: The City as Commons].
Stavrides S. (2022). «Reinventing Community Through Commoning». In: Volont L., Lijster T., Gielen P. (Eds.), The Rise of the Common City, Brussel: Academic & Scientific Publisher, 79-93. DOI:10.46944/9789461173492.2
T.C. Mardin Artuklu Belediyesi (2019). Mardin Artuklu Belediyesi Stratejik Planı 2020-2024. Available on: http://www.sp.gov.tr/ upload/xSPStratejikPlan/files/6n2TQ+Artuklu_Belediyesi_20-24_ SP.pdf
Venugopal V. (2020). «Commoning Practices -Towards becoming ‘in common’». Learning Module, Dakshin Foundation, 1-12. Available on: https://www.dakshin.org/wp-content/ uploads/2021/06/Commoning-Practices-Towards-becoming- %E2%80%98in-common-.pdf
Virani T. E. (2017). «Micro-community engagement in London’s outer suburbs: Examining a practice-led approach to engaging with micro-communities in Redbridge». Available on: https:// qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/handle/123456789/28763.
Virani T.E. (2020). «Micro-community engagement and area- based regeneration in east London: The case of Chrisp Street Market». City, Culture and Society, 22: 1877-9166. DOI: 10.1016/j. ccs.2020.100345
Yekbun Asku E., Altınörs Çırak A. (2018). «Mardin Tarihi Kent Dokusunda Form Değişiminin İncelenmesi». Türkiye Kentsel Morfoloji Araştırma Ağı II. Kentsel Morfoloji Sempozyumu: İstanbul, 725-739.
Sitography and Social Media Accounts of the Micro-Communities
DaraCosmos (@daracosmos) (2024). https://www.instagram.com/ daracosmos/
Demir D. (2022). Hallederiiiz (installation work). Womenstouchmardin. https://www.instagram.com/womenstouchmardin/
Topraktan Tabağa Tarımsal Kalkınma Kooperatifi (2023). https:// www.topraktantabaga.com.tr/
Xlab (@xlabsocial) (2024). https://www.instagram.com/xlabsocial/
Metrekare Sanat Kolektifi (2023). https://13metrekare.wordpress.com/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Zemzem Taşgüzen Polat
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
NOTA DI COPYRIGHT
Proposta di licenza Creative Commons
1. Proposta per riviste Open Access
Gli autori che pubblicano su questa rivista accettano le seguenti condizioni:
Gli autori mantengono i diritti sulla loro opera e cedono alla rivista il diritto di prima pubblicazione dell'opera, contemporaneamente licenziata sotto una Licenza Creative Commons - Attribuzione che permette ad altri di condividere l'opera indicando la paternità intellettuale e la prima pubblicazione su questa rivista.
Gli autori possono aderire ad altri accordi di licenza non esclusiva per la distribuzione della versione dell'opera pubblicata (es. depositarla in un archivio istituzionale o pubblicarla in una monografia), a patto di indicare che la prima pubblicazione è avvenuta su questa rivista.
Gli autori possono diffondere la loro opera online (es. in repository istituzionali o nel loro sito web) prima e durante il processo di submission, poiché può portare a scambi produttivi e aumentare le citazioni dell'opera pubblicata (Vedi The Effect of Open Access).
