A methodological approach to urban regeneration in Turkey

Urban regeneration implementations in Turkish metropolitan cities should be dealt within the interested contextual reality. Existing singular and unintegrated implementations remain inadequate in explaining the transformation phenomenon and in generating compatible solutions. In Turkey, urban transformation has emerged as a result of national economic policies and demographic movements. The response has been restricted to physical interventions to urban space. Squatter settlements appeared as the first examples of urban transformation in Turkish metropolitan cities. The transformation in these areas was produced by the squatter inhabitants in response to their needs. In the following years, the growing metropolitan cities encompassed the squatter settlements within their boundaries. The transformation of these areas was carried out by local municipalities and private developers. The second most important manifestation of urban regeneration contained the new transportation system constructed in the central and peripheral sections of metropolitan cities. This, in turn, also led to the transformation of the housing stock and the central business districts. In the recent years, in accordance with the urban regeneration strategies and with the relevant legal regulations, in large metropolitan Turkish cities like Istanbul and Ankara, the peripheral rural areas and dilapidated inner city districts have been subject to change through large-scale construction operations. This approach coincides with the physical planning approach of the 1950's and 1960's in Western developed countries, which was heavily critized for lacking the social significance of space. The recent implementations in Turkey also reflect this insensitivity. Urban regeneration implementations in Turkey at the present, on the other hand, should respond to the contextual dynamics and characteristics of the locality. To do this, the urban regeneration phenomenon should be scrutinized properly and the relevant intervention tools applied. This paper discusses the dynamics of urban regeneration phenomenon in Turkish metropolitan cities with reference to the socio-economic and administrative components, and planning policies. The main goal of the paper is to develop a contextual framework that can facilitate the understanding of and acting upon an urban regeneration phenomenon. This framework emphasizes three aspects: 1) the reformulation of the definition of urban regeneration; 2) a multifaceted historical assessment of urban regeneration; 3) guiding principles for an urban regeneration implementation. To do that, the paper, first, presents a historical analysis of urban regeneration from the 1950s to the present. Second, it develops a participatory and integrative approach to urban regeneration as a new perspective for future interventions. The principal idea behind this approach is the necessity for an intergated consideration of social and economic development, environmental protection and democratic organization together with urban regeneration. In urban regeneration, next to changing the physical environment, employment in different sectors should be created, public life and social life standards developed, spaces created that enhance collective activities.