Modern Times in West Anatolian Cities: Continuity Issues in Urban Planning

The architectural structure, planning concept and administrative principles of a modern city in the 20^th century is mainly affected by mutual interactions between cities. The 1930s was also a period in which the spatial organization of modern cities was discussed in Turkey as in Europe. The urban planning studies carried out primarily in Ankara were later institutionalized in 1930 by making it compulsory for all cities. The main cities in which the theoretical framework of city planning were implemented are mostly located in Western Anatolia. The region consists of cities that were already started to be urbanized in the 19^th century. From the second half of the 19^th century, railway constructions mostly used for the transportation of agricultural products led the urbanization in the region and train stations became dominant urban spots. By the 1930s modern urban plans transformed these spots to the “new hearts” of the cities having a typological setting. The square created in front of the administrative buildings and highlighted with a monument, a city park designed for recreational purposes in the immediate vicinity, the widening of Istasyon (Station) Street that connects this square to the station, residential blocks with gardens and sports fields which are especially important for raising a healthy generation, can be listed as common components of these plans. However urban planning practices in West Anatolia were completely different than tabula rasa planning of new capital city. This paper aims to analyse the characteristics of modern urban structure and the co-existence of traditional and modern city landscape in Western Anatolian cities as a basis for the conservation approach. The case studies represent urban patterns where the local reinterpretation of modern global urbanism models is predominant.