23 June 2026
Asst. Prof. Dr. Gökçe Uzgören's article examining short-term housing rental regulations has been published!
Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU), Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA), Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design (ICM) faculty member Asst. Prof. Dr. Gökçe Uzgören's article titled "The Right to Housing in the Shadow of Authoritarian Neoliberalism: Short-Term Housing Rental Regulations in Turkey" met with readers in the 71st issue of the Praksis journal. The study analyzes the short-term housing rental law enacted in 2023 and the commodification process of housing through a critical theoretical framework.
The article titled "The Right to Housing in the Shadow of Authoritarian Neoliberalism: Short-Term Housing Rental Regulations in Turkey", authored by Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU), Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA), Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design (ICM) faculty member Asst. Prof. Dr. Gökçe Uzgören, was published in the 71st issue of the Praksis journal. The study discusses Law No. 7464 on the "Rental of Residences for Tourism Purposes and Amendments to Certain Laws" enacted in Turkey in 2023, and its related regulation, from the perspective of Marxist political economy and authoritarian neoliberalism.
From the right to shelter to a sub-branch of the tourism sector: The reconstruction of housing
The article points out that on a global scale, short-term housing rental (STHR) activities have moved away from the "sharing" discourse and transformed into a professional business model. Unlike empirically-focused studies in the literature, Asst. Prof. Dr. Uzgören treats the legal text itself as an object of discursive and ideological analysis; questioning the ontological reconstruction of this regulation, which removes housing from being an object of the right to shelter and defines it as a "sub-branch of the tourism sector." While it is stated that the lack of legal oversight created by Airbnb and similar platforms, along with sectoral reactions, paved the way for the legal intervention in 2023, how the state deepens the commodification process of housing through authoritarian neoliberal intervention methods is also revealed.
A comprehensive study produced from a TUBITAK-supported doctoral thesis
This article was produced from the doctoral thesis completed by Asst. Prof. Dr. Gökçe Uzgören at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Department of City and Regional Planning, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Binnur Öktem Ünsal. Based on the thesis titled "Housing in the Grip of Platform Capitalism: Airbnb-Driven Hyper-Commodification of Housing in the Cihangir Neighborhood," which was also supported by the TUBITAK 2214-A International Research Fellowship Programme for PhD Students, the article was presented to the literature by being expanded with new theoretical discussions and a critical analysis of current legal regulations.
We congratulate Asst. Prof. Dr. Gökçe Uzgören for this valuable contribution she has offered to the literature and wish her continued success in her academic studies.
From the right to shelter to a sub-branch of the tourism sector: The reconstruction of housing
The article points out that on a global scale, short-term housing rental (STHR) activities have moved away from the "sharing" discourse and transformed into a professional business model. Unlike empirically-focused studies in the literature, Asst. Prof. Dr. Uzgören treats the legal text itself as an object of discursive and ideological analysis; questioning the ontological reconstruction of this regulation, which removes housing from being an object of the right to shelter and defines it as a "sub-branch of the tourism sector." While it is stated that the lack of legal oversight created by Airbnb and similar platforms, along with sectoral reactions, paved the way for the legal intervention in 2023, how the state deepens the commodification process of housing through authoritarian neoliberal intervention methods is also revealed.
A comprehensive study produced from a TUBITAK-supported doctoral thesis
This article was produced from the doctoral thesis completed by Asst. Prof. Dr. Gökçe Uzgören at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Department of City and Regional Planning, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Binnur Öktem Ünsal. Based on the thesis titled "Housing in the Grip of Platform Capitalism: Airbnb-Driven Hyper-Commodification of Housing in the Cihangir Neighborhood," which was also supported by the TUBITAK 2214-A International Research Fellowship Programme for PhD Students, the article was presented to the literature by being expanded with new theoretical discussions and a critical analysis of current legal regulations.
We congratulate Asst. Prof. Dr. Gökçe Uzgören for this valuable contribution she has offered to the literature and wish her continued success in her academic studies.