Turkey, hosting the largest Syrian refugee population in the world, has experienced a sharp increase in Syrian refugees preferring to live in cities rather than camps. Therefore, Turkish cities and their local residents have become a natural part of the process whereby Syrians are emplaced. This tendency necessitates examination of Syrian refugee integration at urban level from both the local resident and Syrian refugee points of view, given that they share the same living environment. It is not only the everyday life experiences and encounters of the two societies that shape the process, but also their perceptions, feelings and reactions. Based on the bilateral and subjective nature of this process, this paper investigates the multidimensionality of Syrian refugee integration at urban level, in which different dimensions entangle and different actors, places and processes impact the situation. Within this framework, this investigation, employing a field study in the Altındağ District of Ankara, Turkey, uncovered the everyday life experiences and perceptions of both the Syrians and Turkish residents of the area under study through semi-structured in-depth interviews. Inductive thematic analysis helped explore the different and intertwined themes of integration. The findings of the study displayed the multidimensional, context-dependent, subjective and perceptual characteristics of the process and revealed legal and organizational, socio-economic and socio-cultural integration as the three primary dimensions of integration. Adequacies and deficiencies in the organizational and legal framework, the economic structure, the housing and labor markets, social relations and communication tools have had a significant impact on the integration of Syrian refugees in the area. The experiences and perceptions of each society, the central, local, institutional and non-institutional actors and their interactions, encounters, tensions and struggles have contributed both positively and negatively to the process
