The 23rd seminar of the "Istanbul Urban Studies" seminar series organized by the Department of Urban and Regional Planning of Istanbul Medeniyet University moderated by Res.Asst. Can BALDAN from İstanbul Esenyurt University was held online on Wednesday, 4th November 2021. At the seminar Res. Asst. Selin TURAN from Karadeniz Technical University presented her study titled "Mahalle Kültürünü Sürdürebilmek ve Yeni Bir Kavram Olarak Sosyal Dayanıklı Mahalle: Kurtuluş-Feriköy" (Maintaining Neighborhood Culture Today and as a New Concept Searching “Social Resilient Neighborhood”: Kurtuluş - Ferikoy Case).
TURAN started the presentation by giving etymological and functional definition of the concept ‘neighborhood’ and subsequently she explained the change and transition of neighborhood concept throughout the years in Turkey. The researcher made the concept of ‘social resilient neighborhood’ clear and evaluated Kurtuluş- Feriköy district in this regard. She reviewed historical development and cultural structure of Feriköy by considering the demographical characteristics and life style of locals to bring out reflections of cultural structure on urban space. TURAN shared the results of interviews and surveys which she conducted to test social resilience. According to the results, TURAN confirmed that Kurtuluş- Feriköy district has shown some major positive indicators about social resilience criteria like social connectivity, place attachment, history-culture protection and satisfaction. TURAN also said that architecture, urban planning and urban design are such disciplines which should work together to make urban space more resilient and sustainable. It was further mentioned that the connection between social, physical and communal spaces can be sustained by collective action.
In the following session, effects of urban development plans and public participation on creating socially resilient neighborhood were discussed.
