Politics is not about money, we need you! What does Mamdani’s 'Politics of Accessibility' say to Turkey?

As the weight of life in cities increases a little more every day, politics often fails to listen to the real voice of the people. Yet, there is a silent scream echoing in the streets: “We cannot make ends meet.” It is precisely for this reason that Zohran Mamdani’s words, “Politics is not about money — we need you,” turn into a powerful call that points to a deepening social wound rather than just an objection. These words draw attention to lives that have become invisible in the shadow of money; they explain that in a system where rent, transportation, and basic needs are calculated, politics must return to the human element.

Because what keeps cities standing is not concrete; it is the hope, resilience, and determination of the people trying to live in that city to hold onto life. That is why the rise of a young mayor is not surprising: Today’s politics finds meaning in people’s struggle for survival rather than in the clash of ideologies. Perhaps that is exactly why Mamdani’s words sound more like a breath of fresh air than a political discourse: “Our power is not money; it is you.”

FROM KAMPALA TO NEW YORK: A Journey of Hope

Zohran Kwame Mamdani was born in 1991 in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. His family had a multicultural background shaped by migrations from India to East Africa during the British colonial period. His father was Mahmood Mamdani, one of the leading academics of African politics; his mother was Mira Nair, the director known worldwide for “Monsoon Wedding.”

Growing up in this environment steeped in politics, justice, and culture, Mamdani’s life changed direction when his family moved to South Africa and then to New York due to the oppressive political atmosphere in Uganda. After Bronx High School of Science, he studied Africana Studies at Bowdoin College; he became a US citizen in 2018. In 2020, he made a strong entry onto the political scene at just 29 years old by entering the New York State Assembly from the Queens–Astoria district.

He summarized his own struggle in a single sentence: “The struggle to make life possible again in New York.”

THE MAMDANI MODEL: The Rent-Crisis-Hope Triangle

When Mamdani announced his candidacy for Mayor of New York in 2024, he was initially not taken seriously. However, he created a huge wave in a short time by focusing on people’s daily cost of living instead of ideological debates.

He placed the concept of “accessibility” at the center of his campaign. His promises were simple but effective:

• Rent freezes for housing under 100 m²,

• Public transportation strengthened with free bus lines,

• Free childcare and publicly supported food centers,

• Transparent financing through taxes on high-income groups.

With this approach, he both mobilized left-wing voters and caught the attention of the middle class.

Mamdani summarized a global reality in one sentence:

“Living in a city is no longer about loving that city, but about being able to stay there.”

POLITICS OF THE DIGITAL AGE: Human Algorithm, Not Money

What made Mamdani’s rise possible was not expensive campaign tools, but the power of digital communication. He reached millions of city residents with short, simple, and witty videos he shared on TikTok and YouTube Shorts.

He built a volunteer organization model by saying, “We are competing with people, not money.”

This strategy transformed politics into a style that makes people feel rather than explain, and makes lived experiences visible rather than listing promises. Mamdani redefined the political language of the digital age by centering human stories, not social media algorithms.

THE LANGUAGE OF REAL LIFE: Returning Politics to the Street

The essence of Mamdani’s success lay in his ability to leave political jargon aside and establish a language that touches people’s daily lives. His words at a rally, “A city should be a city not only for those who can work, but for those who can live,” captured the feelings of city residents exactly in the face of the growing income gap. This is also why New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg described him as “a politician who turns economic anxieties into a moral language.”

The fact that the average apartment rent in New York has exceeded $3,200 today, and that a minimum-wage worker spends most of their income on housing, clearly shows why these words have found such a strong echo. The same picture appears in London, Berlin, Paris, Istanbul — in short, in all major cities. The fact that rent increases in city centers have exceeded 40% in the last five years has moved Mamdani’s emphasis on “accessibility” to the center of a global debate.

While 2024 OECD data reveals that more than half of the urban population worldwide spends most of their income on housing and transportation expenses, UN-Habitat’s 2030 projections show that living in a city is increasingly becoming a privilege. In this context, Mamdani’s campaign in New York was actually a local response to a global crisis: Being able to stay in cities is now becoming a fundamental part of the demand for social justice as much as it is an economic struggle.

GLOBAL CRISIS, LOCAL SOLUTION: What Cities Are Saying

Zohran Mamdani’s rise points to a transformation that makes visible not only a picture unique to New York, but the common fate of today’s metropolises. New York, London, Paris, Istanbul, Madrid, Berlin… Even though they all have different political structures, they are united around a common problem: the cost-of-living crisis.

Basic items such as housing, transportation, energy, and food have now become the clearest indicators of the deterioration in income distribution in modern cities. In these cities, which have ceased to be centers of production and turned into focal points of consumption, high capital flow practically occupies city centers; the working classes are increasingly pushed to the peripheries. Mamdani became one of the first figures to bring this structural transformation to the agenda of local politics. Practices that seem radical in the short term, such as rent freezes, but defend the “right to stay in the city” in the long term, have opened the door to a new understanding of urban politics.

Different cities around the world are also in search of similar solutions: Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon’s shift toward small and accessible housing with the “Seoul Housing Compact” project, Vienna maintaining the lowest rent rates in Europe thanks to the social housing model it has implemented for over a century, and Amsterdam and Copenhagen making public transportation carbon-neutral with free transfer systems to strengthen intra-city mobility…

While Anne Hidalgo’s “15-minute city” vision in Paris makes daily needs accessible to everyone, Claudia López doubling bike lanes in Bogotá significantly reduced transportation costs. In Helsinki, publicly supported housing programs have caused homelessness to drop to one-fifth of the European average.

These examples reveal a common truth: Accessibility is turning into a new form of urban policy that encompasses not only economic but also environmental, social, and societal welfare.

SOCIAL HOUSING RACE IN TURKEY: The New Calculation of Center and Local

In recent years in Turkey, social housing has become an increasingly prominent topic among the political priorities of both the central government and local administrations. While the central government adopts an approach that prioritizes rapid production with large-scale projects, this strategy carried out by TOKİ focuses more on the production of a high number of housing units at the national level. In contrast, local administrations are trying to take more targeted, socially-based steps: accessible rents, cooperative models, allocating public lands for social housing, and locally focused solutions for low-income citizens…

The difference between these two approaches shows that social housing is not just a housing policy, but also an area that has gained importance in political competition. As society’s expectations grow, both central and local governments are forced to redefine housing as a matter of social justice.

The reason why the social housing debate has become so visible in Turkey is very clear: Rising rent prices, falling purchasing power, and the increasing difficulty of finding housing in big cities are turning housing into both an economic and a political breaking point. For this reason, in the coming period, social housing will be a fundamental criterion that determines the vision of governance, not just a project.

YOUNG VOTERS, NEW POLITICS: From Emotion to Strategy

As the direction of political participation changes rapidly, the expectations of young voters are also transforming the political scene. Although the average age of voters is falling, political campaigns still rely on traditional tools; yet, the real medium where young people follow politics is now digital platforms. Mamdani’s bringing urban policy to the agenda via TikTok is one of the most striking examples of this transformation. He managed to capture the attention of young people by combining humor, sincerity, and empathy in one-minute videos.

According to the Reuters Digital News Report 2024, 72% of young voters follow the news via social media. This fundamentally changes the language of political communication: while the impact of long statements, posters, or rally squares is decreasing, short, direct, and emotional content is turning into the new determinant of the political scene.

Digitalization transforms not only communication but also forms of participation. In cities like Seoul, Barcelona, and Tallinn, systems where citizens can submit suggestions and participate in budget voting via municipal applications are becoming widespread. Mamdani’s digital language represents a political equivalent of this global trend: transparency, accessibility, and participation are now the fundamental principles of new municipalism.

Of course, there are also criticisms of this approach. Mamdani’s limited administrative experience and the financial burden of his social programs are a subject of debate. A similar situation was experienced in Barcelona during the Ada Colau era, and rent restrictions that initially drew reactions managed to reduce the rate of rent increases in the city center by 18% within five years. This example shows that accessibility policies yield positive results not in the short term, but after a planned and disciplined process.

Mamdani is seen as a representative of 21st-century municipalism, along with new-generation leaders like Gabriel Boric and Ada Colau. The common point of this new political line is direct contact with the public, an economy based on social justice, and a language of communication based on hope. The city is now becoming a new laboratory not only for infrastructure but also for equality.

LESSONS FOR TURKEY: Returning to the Heart of the City

Mamdani’s story also serves as an important guide for Turkish politics:

Ideology Gives Way to Reality: Today, the voter’s fundamental question is no longer shaped by ideological boundaries, but by the realities of daily life: “How will I make ends meet?” Rent, transportation, childcare, and food prices have turned into decisive factors that even precede party loyalty. For this reason, the politics of the new era must be built on “micro-life policy,” not “macro-ideology.”

Local Governments Are on the Front Line of Social Policy: In Turkey, metropolitan municipalities are increasingly taking on a role that completes the areas left incomplete by the social state. Cheap transportation, social markets, student support, social aid, cheap bread, city restaurants, affordable food, and public transportation discounts… However, these efforts often proceed in a fragmented structure. Mamdani’s approach reveals the necessity of a holistic “accessible city” vision by combining these pieces.

The Reality of Young Voters and Digital Campaigns: The weight of young voters is also reshaping politics. In Turkey, voters between the ages of 18–35 make up almost one-third of the total electorate. Despite this, political communication still revolves around billboards and rallies. Yet for young people, politics is as close as a video on YouTube, a story on TikTok, or a Reel on Instagram. Mamdani’s success proved that it is possible to reach this generation with sincere, open, and emotional content.

The Balance of Financing and Reliability: The issue of financing is also critical for Turkey. The limited nature of public resources and the high level of expectations make it difficult for social policies to be credible. In Mamdani’s model, financing transparency was decisive: it was clearly explained who the source would be taken from and where it would be spent. For local politics in Turkey to build trust, a similar openness is essential.

All of this shows us that: Turkey’s urban future is evolving from the ideological debates of the past toward practical and human-touching policies that focus on today’s cost of living.

ACCESSIBILITY IS BECOMING A POLITICAL VALUE

Zohran Mamdani’s success shows not only the rise of a left-wing wave but also that a fundamental transformation is taking place at the core of politics. Accessibility is now seen as a democratic right rather than an economic concept. Living in a city is increasingly turning into a fundamental citizenship issue that must be protected, rather than a privilege.

In Turkey, too, the future of cities is being reshaped around this concept. Every area, from rent policies to public transportation, from food supply to urban planning, is now facing the question: “Who can stay in the city, and who is left out?” This question is the most critical threshold that will determine the politics of the future.

The path Mamdani has shown reminds us of this: Politics gains meaning through solution proposals that lighten the burden of daily life rather than through grand projects. Creating cities where people can breathe, make ends meet, and feel safe is turning into the most important political challenge of the 21st century. Accessibility is now becoming a new social value that cities must build together, rather than compete over.

THE MAMDANI EFFECT: The Humanization of Politics

Zohran Mamdani consciously rejected the classic politician image and gave politics a human face again. He existed as a politician who loosened his tie, walked the streets, chatted on the subway, and laughed. This attitude showed the power of connecting through sincere contacts from real life, not through complex political discourses. The meaning of this approach for Turkey is also great: Today’s politics is now shaped not through “grand promises,” but through “small but visible solutions that touch daily life.”

Every step that offers people a tangible solution instead of abstract hope creates its own audience. Mamdani’s success emerges exactly here: A political practice that leans on empathy rather than ideology, and on genuine relationships rather than official language… This is an approach that not only convinces the voter but also makes them feel seen and heard.

His line tells us this: Politics only gains meaning when it centers on the human. A politician’s power comes not from their influence, but from the streets they walk, the people they greet, and the stories they listen to.

CONCLUSION: The Politics of an Accessible Life

Today, the fundamental question of the world’s cities is no longer “who is right?” but “who can survive?” Mamdani’s rise reminds us that politics derives its power from people’s daily struggle for life, not from ideological debates. Topics that seem simple, such as rent, transportation, food, and energy, have turned into the biggest test of modern politics. That is why the real stage of political struggle is no longer the squares; it is kitchen tables, subway stops, and living spaces that are shrinking every day. The powerful actor of the new era will not be the one with the most money, but the one who can lighten the human burden. This is exactly the truth in Mamdani’s striking words: “Our power is not money; it is people.”

Mamdani’s story makes the critical question that has settled at the center of 21st-century politics visible again: “Is it still possible to live in a city?” This question brings not only New York, but all major cities from Berlin to Tokyo, from Paris to Istanbul, from Bursa to Adana, together in a common fate. Rent, transportation, energy, and food have now become not only economic but also political determinants. Mamdani’s rise is a sign of a new era that goes beyond ideological polarizations and focuses politics on how people survive and how they breathe.

The real measure of urban policies should no longer be “how many roads were built,” but the question “how many people can stay in the city.” The right to live in a city must be evaluated together with economic breathing space. For this reason, three basic orientations stand out for an accessible city vision: creating local financing models that ensure a fair distribution of burdens among income groups; strengthening integrated systems that reduce the carbon footprint of public transportation; and expanding the democratic process with digital participation platforms in cities. These steps will form the foundation of not only more livable but also fairer and more hopeful cities.

We are on the threshold of a similar political transformation in Turkey as well. This period cannot be explained by economy alone, nor by the usual patterns of identity politics. This period could be the politics of an accessible life. The leaders of the future will likely emerge from among those who start not from ideologies, but from people’s real lives, daily burdens, and efforts on the street. Because politics has now turned into a struggle for a way of life rather than a class distinction.

Mamdani’s silent revolution sends a powerful message to Turkey as well: Hope is not in grand words; it is in daily life. He objects to politics being shaped only by funds, donations, and economic power; he reminds us that real change is possible with public participation, solidarity, and organized social power. The reason why this new wave rising from New York finds echoes all over the world is exactly this: The issue today is not ideology — it is being able to live.

And the new measure of politics is now very clear: Who can offer more hope? Mamdani’s words, “We need you,” summarize the spirit of this era in its simplest form:

Our power is not money; it is people.