Change In Fear Of Crime In The Renovated Old City Center Of Istanbul

Abstract

Beyoglu, which is one of two most important historical centers in the 17 million Istanbul, and where a gentrification process is being implemented since the 1980’s.it has recently been observed that this image of the district is changing and the crime rate and fear of crime are decreasing. In parallel with the aim of the study, the 1998-2007 data, obtained from the Istanbul Police Department, was sorted on the basis of Beyoglu district and related survey data was collected from the inhabitants in the gentrification areas in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2014. The purpose of this study is to map the citizens’ fear of crime in Beyoglu streets andto reveal that the planning and design implemented as part of the gentrification process has contributed positively to the reduction of crime and fear of crime, and tangible evidence was found, indicating the fact that although there has been no displacement of the inhabitants, crime and fear of crime can be reduced with the help of regulations and controls. These findings suggest that similar studies should be conducted for other districts of Istanbul.