How Households with Different Social Vulnerability Levels Experience the COVID-19 Outbreak and Expectations for the Near Future: The Case of Istanbul

With the research, it was aimed to understand how households with different levels of social vulnerability determined by the previous study in the province of Istanbul are experiencing the current COVID-19 epidemic. One of the first and most fundamental results of the study is that the epidemic experience is shaped by pre-epidemic conditions. The second main finding of the study is that the most important category that determines the epidemic experience and gives its color to the experience is the economy category. There is a close relationship between the experience of the epidemic and the living space; households living in poor neighborhoods are crowded, they live in the same or close buildings with their close relatives; It has been seen that it is difficult to meet the increasing needs of poor households in populated neighborhoods. It has been determined that some neighborhoods that are not socio-economically poor are fragile in terms of demographics. Although they live in areas that are not spatially fragile, it has been observed that the age group over 65 has become socially vulnerable due to the weakness of their use of technology and their isolation (combined with the difficulties experienced psychologically). Another important finding of the study is that the existing public support mechanisms and aids for the epidemic are made by considering the pre-epidemic conditions, but the systems that can detect the groups that have suffered sudden income loss with the epidemic are not sufficient. It was seen that the most important demographic category that experienced the epidemic negatively was the elderly groups. It has been concluded that the non-economic needs of this group have become more important with the epidemic, the low technological and digital literacy levels and the increase in the special needs of the elderly living alone have significant effects on the governance of the epidemic at the neighborhood level, so they should be considered as a priority group. The epidemic has produced new social vulnerabilities and led to the emergence of vulnerable groups. It was concluded that it is important to establish effective mechanisms that will provide access to these groups. The results of the study showed that both households and neighborhoods were not uniform. The measures to be applied need to take this diversity into account and, in some cases, prioritize.