The Failed Housing Cooperative Project of the Oriental Savings Association: Housing and Urban Rent in Istanbul in the 1880s and 1890s

Abstract

The role of housing cooperatives in the urban history of late Ottoman Istanbul has not been examined. This study examines the foundation and activities of one such cooperative, Arewelyan Dndesagan Miutiwn / Cemiyet-i Tasarrufiyye-i Sarkiyye (Oriental Savings Association), a company established by a group of Armenian entrepreneurs in 1886. The company aimed to purchase a large tract of waqf land in extra mural Istanbul, divide it into plots, and then sell them to its members through installments for the purpose of building residences. As the land gained value through the years of the company's operation, an increasing number of people from across different communal, occupational, and gender backgrounds subscribed to the project. However, the company remained an Armenian enterprise in the eyes of security-minded bureaucrats and, eventually, the activities of the company were put to halt due to the criminalization of Armenians in the 1890s. The short history of Arewelyan Dndesagan Miutiwn reveals the ways in which urban rent turned into a lucrative investment cutting across different social groups.