The Labor Motivation of Rural Women in Newly Developed Urban Satellites: The Case of Izmir, Turkey

While urban developers plan to mobilize residents by reinforcing middle-class values, including settling them into urban satellites and offering career development courses, residents feel pleased with the housing opportunities but do not express interest in career advancement courses. From fieldwork observations and in-depth interviews with 35 female residents in a low-income urban satellite neighborhood (Zubeyde Hanim) in Izmir, Turkey, and by focusing on residents’ reactions to career development courses, in this study the residents’ experiences, connections, and desires in the urban renewal process were interpreted. It is argued that the aims of the urban renewal projects were not aligned with the residents’ needs. It was found that urban relocation is a communal process. If the official communication between authorities and the resettled population are designed in such a way that the daily life struggles and needs of the targeted population are taken into account, then the urban renewal programs can be designed and implemented more effectively.