Date of Graduation

5-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Architecture

Advisor/Mentor

Billig, Noah

Committee Member

Coon, Lynda L.

Second Committee Member

Jacobus, Frank

Abstract

As globalization continues to draw the cities of the world into closer economic and intellectual dependence, Istanbul stands as bridge between two continents and a city poised for urban transformation. Massive tracts of informally designed communities are being cleared to accommodate the structure of the modern, tourism driven city. The attempt to purge the city of its squatter heritage is startling and raises questions of cultural and architectural integrity in urban development. Istanbul’s desire for expanded global investment and tourism is particularly apparent in the industrial district of Kartal, whose blended development is the subject of this study. Jane Jacobs and Kevin Lynch, both well-respected advocates of micro-level urbanism, champion form analysis as a viable method of study. Together, their theories form an analytical base by which quality and performance can be studied, if not measured. Though a handful of data-driven systems have emerged post-Kevin Lynch, his methods continue to have considerable authority in the fields of urban design and theory and thus form the basis of this study’s methodology. An attempt has been made to combine the two dominant forms of investigation, micro-level and macro-level, to provide a comprehensive analysis of formal and informal design performance in Kartal. As such, this study has not only produced a more rigorous tool for remote analysis, but one that can be applied to other urban settlements in the future. By synthesizing the theories of Lynch and Jacobs into a single, stratified method, this study moves beyond the singular phenomenon of informal development to analyze the relationships formed by density, grain, and access in the urban context so that the relative performance of formal and informal spaces might be compared and judged through a series of performance ratings. The following analysis is a substantive-descriptive study concerned primarily with the dimensions of performance that can be observed in the district of Kartal, with no formal attempt to draw normative-prescriptive conclusions.

Keywords

globalization; Istanbul; spatial performance; micro-level urbanism

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