Developments in Urban Design Practice in Kadıköy Region of Istanbul: A Morphological Perspective

The Italian school of morphology remarks on the importance of the historical background of a settlement as a guide for the urban design process in addition to the French school that focuses on history as it gives the main character that shapes the current physical structure of a settlement area. Thus, it is aimed to investigate how an urban design can be guided concerning the history of a settlement, regarding the knowledge of these two schools of urban morphology. This paper considers how new ideas may be integrated into the urban form of a city that has been powerfully shaped by a long history. Since the typo-morphological interpretation of settlements; understanding physical form, formation, and transformation using types and typologies; can represent an essential reference point for urban planning and design, this study also aims to investigate past traces and to find clues that can be a reference for the future, and determine the design principles. Haydarpaşa in the Kadıköy district, a focal point welcoming visitor to Istanbul in the past but is an inactive space with potential based on the old Train Station and archaeological excavations of Chalcedon, is selected as the study area. In this scope, typo-morphological analyses in the neighboring Yeldeğirmeni settlement area guided the urban design process in Kadıköy to preserve the historical identity as a transportation hub and a commercial area; on the other hand, assuming a new role of being a recreational area that responds to the requirements of Yeldeğirmeni neighborhood.