Rantlaştırma: Hong Kong’daki Kamu Konutlarının Metalaşması ve Finansallaşması ve Bunun Türkiye Bağlamındaki Önemi

2014 yılındaki bir makaleyle Ley ve Teo (mekânsal) rantlaştırma (gentrification) kavramının, Hong Kong’daki alternatif mülk kültürü ontolojisi nedeniyle kamusal söylemde yer almadığını iddia etti. “Küresel Güney”den akademisyenlerse rantlaştırma kavramının Küresel Kuzey/Batı’ya ait olduğunu ve bağlam farklılıklarından (başlıca kurumlar) dolayı Küresel Güney’e ve Hong Kong’a uygulanamayacağını savundu. Yukarıdaki tartışmaya istinaden yürüttüğüm araştırmada Hong Kong’daki Devlet Destekli Kamu Konutlarının (rant farkı kuramı açısından) rantlaştırma sürecindeki mekanizmalar nelerdir?” sorusunun cevabını aradım. Genel çerçeve açasından bu yazı ile iki amacım var. İlki, batıya ait bir kavramı, kendi anadilimde ele alarak Küresel Güney bağlamında tartışmaya açmak ve kuramsal tartışmaya katkı da bulunmak. İkicisi ise Küresel Güney’i kendi bağlamı üzerinden okumaya çalışmak. Başka bir ifadeyle, bu iki noktayı birlikte ele alırsak, alternatif bir ontolojiden ziyade alternatif bir epistemoloji ile bu tartışmaya katkı da bulunmaya çalıştım. Bunu da ‘gentrification’ kavramını Türkiye’deki politik-ekonomik konjonktüre Türkçe, Hong Kong’daki bir vaka üzerinden tartışarak ve bu şekilde yerelleştirmeye çalışarak denedim. Bu yazı sadece bir teşebbüs; bir yanıt değil, aksine sadece bir başlangıç. Çalışmanın omurgasını, kapitalizmin eşitsiz gelişim yasasının sonucu gerçekleşen sermaye hareketlerine odaklanan rant farkı kuramı oluşturuyor. Mevcut rantlaştırma kavramı üzerine literatürdeki iki tartışma noktasına odaklandım: talep taraflı ve arz taraflı açıklamalar; Küresel Kuzey ve Küresel Güney. Bu araştırmada nicel ve nitel yöntemlerden faydalandım. Çalışmanın öncelikli nicel kaynakları için resmi istatistikleri kullandım: Konut Türüne Göre İstatistikler, Büyük Toplu Konut İstatistikleri ve İkinci El Devlet Destekli Kamu Konutları Satın Alanlarla İlgili Anketler. Ayrıca araştırmayı iki ay süren saha gözlemleriyle destekledim. Bunun için 2018’in Mart ve Nisan aylarında Hong Kong’da 10 metrekarelik bir nano stüdyo kiraladım. Bu süre zarfında 12 farklı Devlet Destekli Kamu Konutu alanını ziyaret etmeyi başardım. Çalışmanın sonucu olarak şu iki nokta öne çıkmaktadır. Öncelikle, kamu konutları ve kamu alanları kullanım değeri öne çıkan alanlardır. Yaşanan krizler neticesinde uygulanan neoliberal politikalar ile kamu konutları ve ilgili kamu alanları, adım adım piyasaya entegre edilmiş ve böylece kullanım değerinden değişim değerine geçiş yaşanmaya başlamıştır. Bu geçiş, rant farkını tetiklemiş ve sermayenin kamu konutlarına doğru hareketi başlamıştır. Bunun sonunda, daha üst gelir grubundan şahıslar kamu konutlarına yerleşmeye başlamıştır. Bu devam etmekte olan bir süreçtir. Bu yüzden de gelen ve gidenlere odaklanmaktansa, günümüzdeki rantlaştırma çalışmalarının da dikkat çektiği gibi, kalanlara odaklanmak ve bu değişimle başlayan zorlukları çözmeye yönelik çalışmak çok daha önemli bir sorun olarak öne çıkmaktadır. Sonuç olarak rantlaştırma süreci (rant farkı kuramı ile), eşitsizliğe karşı bir duruş ve kamusal alanın savunması olarak araştırılmalı ve rantlaştırma sürecini topyekûn kabul eden veya reddeden yaklaşımlardan uzak durulmalıdır.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Rant Farkı, Hong Kong, Rantlaştırma, Küresel Güney, Soylulaştırma

A Gentrification Story: Commodification and Financialization of Public Commons in Hong Kong

An article noting the absence of the concept in Hong Kong published by Ley and Teo raised a series of criticisms from scholars in the same journal, questioning the applicability of gentrification, as a Western concept, in the Global South. Inspired by the discussion, this research investigates Subsidized Sale Flats in Hong Kong, which are part of the public housing system exposed to neoliberal policies since the mid-1990s. The study analyzes relevant statistics and is supported by two months of field observation in Hong Kong. In other words, in this study, mix-methods are used. Statistical data are Statistics by Household Types” and “Major Housings Statistics” based on “The Quarterly Report on General Household Surveys” and “Population By-Censuses.” Moreover, the process is supplemented with the data from the “Survey on Buyers of Second-hand HOS Flats.” The data is finally visualized with ArcGIS. The study areas for field observation are public housing estates and courts in Hong Kong, a total of twelve estates and courts. The findings are as follows. The survey results indicate that significant number of tenants moved into subsidized sale flats by means of the Open Market. Most of the newcomers have a greater income and they are younger. Furthermore, great number of new tenants have high mortgages, with long payment periods. Findings on the major housing estates confirm that the survey results indicate a geographical representation of major housing estates. The income increases are highly centered by the city center in Hong Kong and the border with Shenzhen. The younger new tenants are located by city center of Hong Kong. There is a higher median mortgage increase in Hong Kong’s inner districts. This indicates that capital moves inland. Overall, the data indicates the transfer of ownership from the public to the market through nonlinearization. Thus, the real clash here is between those who have been left behind – not in public rental houses and in subsidized flats – and the government’s initiatives to commodify and privatize public housing. More importantly, this study is intentionally re-generated in Turkish, as an attempt to localize a so-called Western concept of ‘Gentrification’ into Turkish (within the context of Turkey) by engaging with the concept in a native thinking set. Therefore, this study is intended to be read in Turkish by considering the relevant context. In other words, there is also an epistemological attempt, in addition to publishing original data and producing knowledge in Turkish.

Keywords:

Gentrification, Rent Gap, Hong Kong, Global South, Localization,

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