Discovering the Urban Identity as a Paradox within the Context of Globalization

Paper in proceeding, 2016

The concept of identity could be understood and interpreted as a paradoxical term within the context of globalization. A phenomenological enquiry within the transmodern paradigm is carried out according to the theoretical background in this research. As far as Deleuze is concerned, there can only be an “identity of difference”, thus the urban identity should be reinterpreted as a paradoxical term. The paradoxes of urban identity are discovered through the concepts of becoming, palimpsest and place-memory in Istanbul, here inquired as an exemplar. In three fragments of Istanbul, namely, Beyoglu, Levent-Gultepe and Kuzguncuk the actants (both human and nonhuman), in Bruno Latour’s words, produce unique relations giving rise to a constant transformation. The relations emphasized within the transmodern paradigm are discovered through transdiscursive readings in the chosen fragments. Transdiscursive readings are carried out with a holistic approach and through the relational theory. As a result understanding the urban identity as a paradoxical term could open up new ways of thinking –and acting– in architectural and urban design based on constant transformation.