”İstanbul Kent Araştırmaları” (İstanbul Urban Studies) seminar series organized by Department of Urban and Regional Planning from Istanbul Medeniyet University, Faculty of Arti Design and Architecture hosted 26 seminars in 2021. The seminars were organized as two separated series (quarterly periods) weekly and online.
27 researchers from 8 different professions and 17 different institutions shared the results of their studies which they have conducted for the past three years in Istanbul. Seminars attracting heavy intention were provided by 556 participants in total. Almost 42 percent of presented studies were focusing Istanbul in general. In seminars, 93 different projects/areas planned for Istanbul had been discussed in terms of their different dimensions via 26 presentations. Research areas and topics in seminars have revealed the important subjects for Istanbul´s agenda.
One of the most outstanding topics brought by studies is how Istanbul´s multi-layered structure directs urban planning and the results of city-wide planning practices. In this context, one of the much-debated issue was cultural heritage and world heritage sites in Istanbul -whose historical areas were included by UNESCO World Heritage List- and their needs for preservation and transformation policies. Asst.Prof.Dr. Buğrayhan Biçkici Arıkan discussed the Istanbul´s heritage of water structures which remained since Ottoman Empire and still usable while Beyza Özengül reviewed Art Noveau -based architectural heritage remained from Ottoman Era to evaluate current refunctioning studies and to suggest preservation methods. Kutlu Neydim revealed the effects of Istanbul´s urban identity shaped after 1980´s on historical city center. The effects of urban renewal projects and new development projects in historical peninsula on cultural heritage and the sufficiency of cultural heritage impact assessment practices was discussed comprehensively by different disciplines. Gizem Konat İrkit pointed that urban archeology studies are vital to make past experiences and transitions of cities visible and to create a sustainable link between Istanbul´s past and future. Lecturer Ayşegül Can, PhD. pointed that new practices under the influence of globalization caused an intense gentrification process in historical core and it creates tension for urban space by decreasing the sense of belonging of inhabitants. Another researcher Burcu Sarı,MSc. said that periodic changes in urban policies transform not only the concept of common space but also urban texture while Res. Asst. Can Baldan mentioned the change of user groups in a city can also affect producing urban space and the identity of minorities. It was stressed that all those region- based changes may destroy tangible and intangible heritage cause loss of identity for such a multi-layered city. Herein, three vital subjects –identity, common space and public space– formed the backbone of webinar. Pelin Albayrak, MBA. drew attention that even the squares in historical city centers stay as public space, their importance and surrounding functions had changed because of urban policies and texture. On the other hand, Res. Asst. Özge Gürsoy and Res. Asst. Selda Cansu Temel made and quality assessment study for urban squares and common spaces in Istanbul in terms of design principles and features via examples.
Another most mentioned topic in webinar was transformation processes that Istanbul has gone through in conformity with its global identity. It was mentioned that Istanbul participating UNESCO Creative City Network as Design City in 2017 has shown an outstanding improvement in terms of sustainable growth and entrepreneurship due to its changing identity from heavy industry to creative industry. Gözde Karahan said that although Istanbul has been producing strategies to be a finance city and market has started to institutionalize by 1995’s, property owners of Istanbul´s office market have been demanding rack rents to maximize the sales value which cause tenantless and empty offices in long term.
Şeyma Öztaş, MSc. referred to the role of rental housing and transformation of housing areas in Istanbul which formed after rapid population increase. Öztaş analyzed the transformation of rental housing stock in parallel with urban policies. H. Aysun Özkan Yazar discussed the development period of gated communities in Istanbul in terms of housing policies and related actors to evaluate the management and organizational structure behind those housing sites. Nuray Çolak Tatlı took the new dynamics of Istanbul´s development strategies in terms of debureaucratization and accelerating the process and she relayed the link between market conditions, transaction cost and institutional structure via housing projects. Selin Turan who evaluated the effects of Istanbul´s physical change on social structure through neighborhood took Kurtulus- Feriköy areas previously hosting different ethnic groups and minorities. She concluded that layered and multi- ethnic characteristics of those areas provided a socially, economically and physically multi- cultural structure. She further added that all these increase the social resilience which creates sustainable societies.
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Akansel Yalçınkaya taking the example of Ataturk Airport said that big scale urban projects had made some effects on Istanbul´s identity and texture. However, those projects are under the threat of losing their importance due to changing policies. Another presenter Res. Asst. Ayça Çelikbilek threw a light on that mega projects in Istanbul are pilot projects to attract more investment instead of renewing old areas. Çelikbilek also said that top-down projects without public participation come across with urban dissident because of timeout and cost excess. Res. Asst. Araf Öyku Türken evaluated e-participation based projects in Istanbul and their policies in terms of their effects on participation. Another presenter Res. Asst. Emre Söylemez taking the example of Kadıköy area claimed that neglecting the tree concepts -time, space and society- can ruin the functionality of multi-disciplinary urban planning by creating problems. Özge Akyüz who mentioned the importance of participatory process prioritizing different perspectives, common needs and healthy solutions said that participative planning is the key to get public trust and transparency, to increase applicability, to provide sense of belonging and for more public participation in general. She also stressed the benefits of participative planning actions in Adalar district. On the other hand, Baştuğ claiming the importance of local participation and environmental consciousness to prevent climate crisis relayed local the climate action plan of Kadıköy Municipality and activities run by locals. Another presenter Res. Asst. Emre Söylemez taking the example of Kadıköy area claimed that neglecting the three concepts -time, space and society- can ruin the functionality of multi-disciplinary structure urban planning by creating problems.
In addition to the urban management and governance, risk management was discussed as a main theme. Gökhan Sapmaz mentioned the vitality of using geological data and microzoning studies to plan a resilient city and claimed that most projects and post disaster assembly areas have been developed on risky areas providing a secondary disaster risk.
One of the most discussed headlines of seminars was ‘health city’ concept since Covid- 19 pandemic has just taken by storm. Lecturer Ece Özmen and Tolga Kayacan,PhD. pointed out that unplanned and dense structuring puts Istanbul to the top of the most stressful cities list due to lack of common spaces and efficient transportation. Gözde Karahan who has studied about changing transportation preferences and car ownership ratios by new working models during pandemic mentioned the possible alternatives to regulate increasing vehicle usage.
Almost all the urban development strategies discussed in seminars and run in Istanbul are a part of efforts to create a sustainable city and society, Prof. Dr. Nurhan YENTÜRK drew attention that metropolitan municipalities and related institutions have been suffering from decreases in their budgets to fulfill their goals to provide environmental protection and climate change. She further added that budget funds of Istanbul´s municipalities allocated for climate crisis have decreased over the years while current policies have been focused on waste management. Also, Baştuğ referred to the Kadıköy Municipality´s current climate action plans and projects by saying that participation of locals is a vital factor.
