The training, which aims to provide critical thinking skills about the processes of gentrification and displacement, was conducted by Dr. Led by Craig Gurney, it was given online through the Coursera platform. Res. Asst. Gökçe Uzgören, who successfully completed the quizzes held at the end of each week and the final exam held at the end of the fourth week, during a total of four weeks of training, was entitled to receive a certificate. In the first week of the training, it was focused on how the concept of gentrification emerged and how the concept has developed and changed since its first appearance in the 1960s. In the second week, after the different theoretical explanations for the change processes of the concept were discussed, a narrative was given over the questions about who won and who lost in the process. The third week examined the implications of this for a series of international fieldwork (Australia, America, UK, etc.) to understand how gentrification is experienced in different places and how it makes local people feel. The training ended with the last week, which was shaped around questions such as:  “What kind of changes are observed in the space during the gentrification process? How can we measure change? What happens to the displaced people, where do they go? Who are the newcomers to the venue?

Gained Valuable Perspectives

Res. Asst. Gökçe Uzgören, who stated that education provides very valuable perspectives that will enable a better understanding of socio-spatial changes, especially at the neighborhood scale, emphasized that the said education is an important step to develop critical thinking about the interaction of social and spatial changes and the future of the neighborhoods in which they live. Emphasizing that gentrification is a concept that is used to describe the process that leads to the removal of disadvantaged people from the region due to the relocation of wealthier people to an area and increases in rent/housing prices, Uzgören said that the training program's effects on people in different cities and neighborhoods and stated that the effects are important for discussion.

We congratulate Res. Asst. Gökçe Uzgören and wish her continued success.