MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2010, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning

Istanbul, Turkey, is a city of exceptional significance. The history, culture, longevity, and evolution of the city have catapulted Istanbul into one of the world's most intriguing cities. Since its inception, Istanbul has been an ever-changing city with multiple layers, making urban planning critical to preserve the uniqueness of the city. As the economy in Turkey continues to succeed, Istanbul is faced with the reality of urban renewal in order to accommodate growing industries and an increasing population. Urban planning in Turkey is focused primarily on urban design, neglecting social considerations in the planning and implementation processes. As a result, targeted communities are left out of the planning processes and find themselves unaware of what their future holds should their communities be subjects of urban renewal projects. This study focuses on Tarlabasi community members and key informants who specialize in urban renewal projects in Turkey, specifically, the Tarlabasi Renewal Project. Through semi-structured interviews, respondents provided insight into their impressions of the Tarlabasi neighborhood, access to information opportunities to participate in the planning process, their opinions of the project, and, finally, their future should the project be implemented. Respondents confirmed that they have been left out of the planning process of the project and, as a result, are unaware of how to plan accordingly for their future. The findings from this study also revealed that property owners over forty years of age would have been in support of the project had they been offered a fair price for their property. Nonetheless, recommendations to integrate social considerations into the Turkish approach to planning as well as modifications to the academic approach to the planning curriculum in Turkey have been made based on the results from this research study.

Committee: Johanna Looye PhD (Committee Chair); Francis Russell MArch, BA (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 1974, Graduate School

Committee: Not Provided (Other) Subjects: History

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Arts and Sciences: History

This dissertation examines the politics of punishment and application of Ottoman prison reform in the three major port cities, Izmir, which receives the greatest attention, Istanbul, and Salonica in the late Ottoman Empire. This work explores Ottoman prisons on a daily scale and in a larger imperial frame by re-thinking the idea of social control and surveillance in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including the ways in which the Ottoman government dealt with the prisons as `modern' and `European' legal institutions. By using primary sources drawn from Ottoman archives, and relying heavily on Ottoman and British newspapers and journals, this dissertation examines Ottoman prison reform from various angles such as sustenance of prisoners, health and hygiene; the usage of cannabis (esrar) in Ottoman prisons; prison work; prison architecture; and urbanization. Until the first half of the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire was using various buildings as prisons, including old fortresses, such as Baba Cafer Zindani and Yedikule in Istanbul; military barracks; shipyards, such as Tersane Zindani (Bagnio); khans, such as Cezayir Hani in Izmir; and local notables' (ayan) palace dungeons. The bureaucratization and centralization attempts of the Tanzimat reformers and, more importantly, the promulgation of the criminal codes of 1851 and 1858 not only paved the way for the shift from corporal and capital punishment to imprisonment but also allowed for the establishment of a new set of definitions in terms of crime and punishment. However, the establishment a modern prison remained merely an ideal until 1871 when the first general prison (hapishane-i umumi) was built in Istanbul. The construction of purposefully built prisons continued in the major cities of the Empire, including Izmir and Salonica, in the second half of the nineteenth century. Izmir as one of the major port cities of the Empire saw immense and fluctuating flows of people due to wars, migration, and (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Frierson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Kent F. Schull Ph.D. (Committee Member); Evangelos Kechriotis Ph.D. (Committee Member); Raja Adal Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robert Haug Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Middle Eastern History

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2014, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Community Planning

Sulukule was one of the most famous neighborhoods in Istanbul because of the Romani culture and historic identity. In 2006, the Fatih Municipality knocked on the residents' doors with an urban renovation project. The community really did not know how they could retain their residence in the neighborhood; unfortunately everybody knew that they would not prosper in another place without their community connections. They were poor and had many issues impeding their livelihoods, but there should have been another solution that did not involve eviction. People, associations, different volunteer groups, universities in Istanbul, and also some trade associations were supporting the people of Sulukule. The Sulukule Platform was founded as this predicament began and fought against government eviction for years. In 2009, the area was totally destroyed, although the community did everything possible to save their neighborhood through the support of the Sulukule Platform. I cannot say that they lost everything in this process, but I also cannot say that anything was won. I can only say that the Fatih Municipality soiled its hands. No one will forget Sulukule, but everybody will remember the Fatih Municipality with this unsuccessful project. Sulukule stands out as a symbolic case for social justice groups that promote the expansion of civil rights and defend neighborhoods that struggle for their rights. Therefore, the Sulukule Platform shows that another form of transformation which involves public participation in the decision-making phase of planning is possible in the cities. This study aims to demonstrate how the advocacy planning method is significant in planning for communities. This thesis proposes to present a full report of the Sulukule Platform case. It also provides a historical background that works to contextualize Sulukule and their struggle into the broader context of socio-economic inequalities in Istanbul and the fight of inhabitants in urban transformatio (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David Varady Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Mahyar Arefi Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2009, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

The concept of Knowledge Economy has gained significance in a world characterized by escalating use of technology, and increased importance of human capital. What began as an international discourse, Knowledge Economy has recently become a policy concern of local and regional governments. Within the practice of Urban Planning, the phenomenon is examined under the concept of “Knowledge City”. This study attempts to answer the question of where Istanbul's strengths and weaknesses are in its transition to a knowledge city.As Knowledge Economy gains momentum around the world, there arises a need to analyze, quantify, and qualify the foundations at the city level. Because we are at the early stages of evolution of the knowledge cities, there is neither a coherent framework nor a unified methodology for the design and implementation of successful knowledge cities. Common features of successful knowledge cities are under investigation in the research community. This study first investigates the recognized measurement methods at the international level, and then utilizes an emerging framework to assess Istanbul's potential as a knowledge city. The recent studies from the European Institute of Comparative Urban Research identifies the knowledge foundational areas for a city as: knowledge base, industrial structure, quality of life, diversity, accessibility, urban scale, and social equity. The institute also offers comparable measures for each foundational area. In accordance with the framework measures, this thesis reveals Istanbul's strengths and weakness within each foundation for becoming a knowledge city.

Committee: Rainer Vom Hofe PhD (Committee Chair); Menelaos Triantafillou ASLA, AICP (Committee Member) Subjects: Urban Planning

MCP, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Community Planning

A city comprises of its varied spaces and its people that inhabit these spaces and ascribe meaning to them. While there are those urban spaces that are formally defined and used in a specified order, there are also those urban spaces that are formed as a result of spatial practices, through self-organization of individuals and groups of people and their practices of daily life. There are innumerable such places that people transform to fit their own social, cultural, recreational, economic or political needs. I call these spaces, that spontaneously ‘occur' as a result of people's mediation, as “informal spaces” since they do not follow the norms of formally defined spaces. As people reshape and reinterpret urban space, they ascribe it a different meaning, consequently “reinventing” urban space. The study aims to first acknowledge the phenomenon of informal spaces in cities and to identify them, to understand how urban space is used by people in different ways, for what purposes and for what reasons, by way of occupancy and appropriation. The thesis constructs a theoretical base for study of informal spaces to later derive a connection between this theoretical understanding and the practical process of planning. The explorations in informal spaces are carried out through different examples in the city of Istanbul, but for the purpose of this study six examples are chosen as case studies – highway parks, Galata Bridge, space under vehicular flyover bridges, underpasses, Taksim Square and Istiklal Street. The case study mainly comprises of qualitative data collected through, personal observations along with photographic and video documentation of events, literature study and interviews with professional planners, faculty of School of Architecture and Planning at Istanbul Technical University and students. Analysis of the six case studies brings forth the socio-cultural and socio-economic implications of informal spaces in Istanbul and establishes the value of these spa (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Menelaos Triantafillou (Advisor) Subjects: