Housing renewal sites and spatial features of deterioration and deprivation in Istanbul's Historic Peninsula

Istanbul, in the current planning agenda, has been prominently facing a drastic urban transformation in its residential patterns. This paper investigates whether recent area-based approaches for housing renewal programs in Istanbul are consistent with respect to spatial boundaries and locational characteristics, in order to target deprived housing estates, or not. Because area-based approaches are discussed in theoretical studies that address their success and achievements in social and economic objectives, the investigations held in the paper aimed to validate spatial boundaries of renewal sites in the Historical Peninsula in accordance with the deterioration and deprivation features of residential quarters. The paper introduces not only descriptive findings about the changing patterns in residential characteristics of the case area but also exploratory findings in a quantitative methodology, depicted in a spatial framework, measuring comparative deprivation features between renewal sites and other residential quarters. These findings will contribute to the further evaluations of renewal programs in Istanbul, within their implementation frameworks.