gecekondu

thumb|right|A gecekondu region in Sincan, Ankara|Ankara before demolishing. '''''', meaning 'put up overnight' (plural ''''''), is a Turkish word meaning a house put up quickly without proper permissions, a squatter's house, and by extension, a shanty or shack. '''' is a neighborhood made of those gecekondular. neighborhoods offer an affordable alternative for shelter for many low-income households who can not afford to purchase or rent formal housing.

Before the gecekondu phenomenon, (tin-can neighbourhoods) constituted the main pattern of informal housing starting from the late 19th century. The term gained popularity with the construction of informal settlements by migrants from rural Turkey in the 1950s when the mechanisation of agriculture created a significant surplus population in villages. The immigrants, including Roma, who fled Bulgarian and south Romanian cities after the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War, were the earliest founders of teneke mahalles in different parts of Istanbul such as Kumkapı and Nişantaşı. However, the inexpensive housing option provided by teneke mahalles soon became attractive for local poor such as Kurdish and Armenian immigrants.