Rent increases are transforming social structure, shared housing becomes a necessity!

Experts point out that rising rents in Istanbul, combined with the transformation of housing from a basic need into an investment tool, are rapidly excluding middle- and lower-income groups from city centers.

Sociologist Dr. Berat Dağ emphasizes that factors such as inflation, exchange rates, unplanned urbanization, migration, and earthquake risk are driving rents even higher. He stated: “Today, the possibility of both young and elderly individuals acquiring independent housing in city centers has become almost impossible. Therefore, the issue of shared housing as a temporary collective lifestyle is coming to the forefront.”

Although shared housing leads to compromises in personal freedom, Dağ underlines that it carries the potential for new forms of solidarity and cooperation in the city. However, he also stresses that this situation deepens spatial segregation and social inequalities, ultimately weakening the sense of belonging and trust.

Üsküdar University’s Dr. Berat Dağ on the dynamics of shared housing

Dr. Berat Dağ, from Üsküdar University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Sociology, explained how rising rental prices and the commodification of housing, particularly in Istanbul and other major cities, are forcing middle- and lower-income groups out of city centers, making shared housing systems inevitable. He also discussed how this trend simultaneously fosters new forms of solidarity and deepens spatial segregation within the social structure.

Housing has become more of a speculative investment tool than a basic need

Pointing out that rent increases in Istanbul have surpassed even New York and that the growing interest in shared housing reflects not only an economic but also a sociological transformation, Dr. Dağ said:  “The rent hikes in Istanbul are directly related to inflation and exchange rate fluctuations. In addition, the continuity of unplanned and profit-oriented distorted urbanization in Istanbul creates a serious problem in terms of rising rents.”

He further noted that today, housing has shifted from meeting a basic need to becoming a speculative investment tool:  “Moreover, the population’s demand for safe housing due to migration and earthquake risk also creates additional pressure on rents. Therefore, today it is possible to concretize the rent increases in Istanbul in terms of inflation, exchange rates, unplanned and distorted urbanization, and the effects of uncontrolled migration and disaster risks.”

The transformation of housing into an investment deepens inequalities

“The fact that housing has now become an investment vehicle shows that social inequalities and injustices have reached a deeper and more institutional level,” Dr. Dağ said, stressing that it is becoming increasingly difficult for lower and lower-middle classes to live in city centers in a safe, versatile, and holistic way.

“In other words, it is clear that the upper classes are largely able to experience the city by meeting both their basic and even luxury needs. As a result, the majority of the urban population continuously struggles to exercise their right to the city under increasingly adverse conditions. As an outcome of this ongoing spatial segregation process, it can be observed that social trust, sense of belonging, and solidarity are beginning to erode,” he concluded.

In city centers, it has become almost impossible for young and elderly individuals to acquire independent housing!

Highlighting that the housing crisis allows upper and upper-middle classes to accumulate property while making it increasingly difficult for lower and lower-middle classes to live under housing security, Dr. Berat Dağ continued: “Today, the possibility of both young and elderly individuals acquiring independent housing in city centers has become almost impossible. For this reason, the issue of shared housing as a temporary form of collective living is coming to the forefront. At this point, the question of whether this ‘shared housing tendency’, which is not voluntary but essentially a compulsory form of collectivity, can generate a new force of social solidarity remains significant. One could say that the pressure created by deepening class inequalities may also serve as the seed of an alternative solidarity in which individualism is challenged.”

Shared housing system has the potential to become a unique form of urban solidarity!

Reiterating that young people and white-collar workers are forced into the shared housing system because they cannot bear the financial burden of renting due to rising rents and the high cost of living, Dr. Dağ said: “This tendency, often adopted to remain a part of urban social life, inevitably means sacrificing certain individual freedoms. Nevertheless, in cities where isolated loneliness is on the rise, this shared housing system may also enable another form of cooperation, collective living, and solidarity. In other words, within the context of this system born out of economic necessity, there exists the potential to construct a new balance between individual freedoms and social solidarity interactions in the city.”

Dağ emphasized that the shared housing system plays a role in social change processes by paving the way for new forms of solidarity that accelerate the departure from the traditional family-living model: “Still, this system, which increases individual autonomy against the family, requires the redefinition of privacy- and trust-based interactions. Indeed, these shared houses may give rise not only to examples of social negotiation and compromise but also carry the potential to perpetuate conflictual processes. Therefore, it is of great importance that individuals regard the shared housing system as a necessary opportunity to approach social differences with flexibility. Ultimately, the shared housing system has the potential to alter the absolute position of the traditional family structure while also assuming a foundational role in establishing a unique form of urban solidarity.”

Middle-income people are being excluded from Istanbul!

Noting that it is evident middle-income individuals are being excluded from Istanbul, Dr. Dağ said: “When this issue is evaluated from a social and spatial perspective, it is clear that it is mostly the upper and upper-middle classes who can afford to live in central districts.”

He underlined that lower and lower-middle classes, who can no longer afford rising rents and living costs, are losing access to urban rights, which have increasingly become a privilege of a small minority. Dağ concluded his remarks as follows: “Thus, these majority populations are being excluded from the economic, cultural, and political opportunities of the city. This prevents the establishment of geographical, historical, and social integrity shaped through the urban space. Therefore, today it can be said that Istanbul is undergoing a spatial fragmentation dominated by privileged minorities. Meanwhile, the urban majority is largely trapped in an insecure, precarious, flexible, and risky housing and working life, without being able to meet any of their social and cultural needs.”

 

Üsküdar News Agency (ÜNA)