A comparative analysis of urban arcades in "Istiklal Street" Istanbul and an evaluation of their potentials of use

The study of urban form, referred to urban morphology, can be characterized by a number of different perspectives. This paper tries to introduce the term "urban arcade" as a highly distinctive and specific architectural form that shapes the urban environment. Although urban arcades in Istanbul used to be designed with the prevision of connecting the main street to the secondary ones, today, some of their entrances are blocked for private use, and lost their functional attractiveness. In order to explore the sustainable parameters of the urban preferences in the main historical street of Istanbul, "Istiklal Street", the urban arcades will be examined. Urban passages are defined as "covered arcades" that mostly serve as shopping facilities. Besides they have many characteristic architectural forms, their main function is connecting two or more streets and squares to each other, and affect the urban morphology by playing significant role in urban spatial structure. With their distinctive forms, and underlined characteristics, urban arcades stand between architectural scale and urban scale. The study, which is presented in this paper, tries to answer the questions below; Does a correlation exist between the locations of the passages and their continuity in use? Does the syntactic pattern of the street orient the urban passages and their preferences? "Istiklal Street" is selected for the case study, which is the longest pedestrian shopping district in Istanbul. Since 1850s, Istiklal Street has become one of the most preferential local point, and today, is being visited by two million people a day for both shopping and leisure activities. The street is connecting "Taksim Square" and the old district, which is called "Calata". Within the case study, primarily the Istiklal Street will be structurally analyzed by considering the urban blocks, streets and urban arcades; secondly 8 urban arcades, which are located in the Istiklal Street, will be analyzed due to their locations in the Istiklal Street, architectural configurations, functions (entertainment, retail, food and beverage, service) and pedestrian frequencies. Although some of the existing urban arcades have been blocked and lost their function of connection in time, this study will try to understand if urban form of the Istiklal Street and configuration of the arcades' relationship has a role on this situation. In this research, observation and data collection related with the pedestrians' preferences in the urban arcades will be comparatively studied with syntactic values of the arcades. "University of Michigan" licenced "Syntax 2D" will be used in order to make the analysis. In conclusion, the study will try to examine how the distribution and location of urban arcades affect their potential of use, which exist in the most well-known and visited historical shopping district of Istanbul. This research aims to make a comparison of 8 urban arcades' configurations and their relationship with the main street by using syntactical analyses.