Oznur Yardimci

urban marginalities, citizenship and belonging, urban governance

My research interests are centred on the lived experiences of urban marginalities and how these inform shared understandings of citizenship and belonging in the ‘community of value’. Combining insights from political geography, political sociology, and urban geography through qualitative methods, my PhD explored state-led inclusive urban redevelopment programmes providing insights into their implications for shared understandings of citizenship.  

In 2020, I worked in the ESRC-funded multi-national research collaborative ‘Citizenship Futures: The Politics of Hope’ project (led by colleagues in Politics at York), as the chief field researcher in London-case study. I contributed to this project by collecting data through interviews and observations in the London Borough of Barking, the study site chosen by the research team; and combining my independent initiative that explore the citizenship futures of the recent Turkish-speaking migrants in London using the lens of hope.

From October 2021 to May 2022, I worked on a research project (with Daryl Martin) on urban religious architecture and citizenship in North Yorkshire, which is funded by the Internally Distributed Funding at York. We are looking at the role of urban religious architecture in developing a sense of belonging for their worshippers and opponents in their wider cities by looking at the planning histories of specific mosques in North Yorkshire.

I am currently a research associate at the ESRC Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre co-led by the University of York and Leeds, exploring how shared perceptions of vulnerability inform the work of service providers.