Transformation of Public Spaces in Istanbul

Kerem Arslanli, Tuba Unlukara, Vedia Dokmeci*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and is the most important socio-economic, cultural and touristic centre of the country. As the historical capital of three empires, its very rich cultural and social legacy is reflected in its public spaces. Despite its rapid growth and the transformation of its physical and social structures during the second half of the twentieth century, its public spaces still preserve much of their traditional social interactions, a quality which is difficult to find in many industrial cities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the changes that have occurred through time in the social and physical characteristics of public spaces of the city. In the analysis, some distinguished streets, squares and waterfronts were chosen from different parts of the city and compared and contrasted with their previous and current physical and social characteristics. The results of this study illustrate that location, social and historical backgrounds, accessibility and investments for their redesign have played important roles in the successful transformation of these public spaces.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1061-1089
Number of pages29
JournalEuropean Planning Studies
Volume19
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2011

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