Changes, losses, and challenges on transformation of the urban place: A narrative on Istiklal Street, Istanbul from the 1900s until today

Over the years, the socio-cultural structures, architectural compositions of Istanbul have changed gradually. Unavoidably, Istanbul's urban places have been affected as they have gained new faces through the wrong-driven, top-down, controversial changing processes. Especially since the 1990s, the changes have gained momentum, many controversial modifications have occurred in the heart of Istanbul. Istiklal Street has turned into a symbol of the transformation that Istanbul has been going through. The process brought about the rapid disintegration of the Street's unique, hybrid constitutions and distinctive qualifications. Nearly all the characteristic landmarks that made Istiklal Street special have disappeared one by one and the area is converting into a place that has lost its spirit. To understand how the Street has shaped historically and what has lied at the behind stages, the study begins with a qualitative discussion on the formation of the area since the 1900s. But the focus of the narrative is based on the period from 1990 until today with an explanatory approach to criticise by which mechanisms and actions the area transformed and come today. The study stresses that the potentials of the urban probabilities, socio-spatial compositions, tangible and intangible features are responsible for the future of this place.