The regeneration of city centers a design strategy for Alsancak District Izmir

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to understand urban regeneration issues, a new concept in Turkish planning literature, by means of investigating changes and transformation processes realized in urban centers and to propose a design strategy for a region of the Alsancak District, Izmir, from economical, social, cultural, technological as well as spatial points of view. Ever since the emergence of urban life, cities have been subjected to changes and transformations. Particularly in the last decades, the cities as increasingly becoming parts of the changing world system have been not only forced to exceed their boundaries by the effects of developments in information and communication technologies but also faced globalization phenomenon. Consequently, they have to attract national and international investments by means of regenerating their deteriorated and decayed sites in order to gain the p0sition of world cities in this competitive process. For this purpose, the city ofIzmir ought to have a place and gain a new vision for the future. Alsancak District was therefore considered as the most proper area of the city in order to realize this objectives. Because this area tends to lose its eCbnomicaland physical function due to the removing of the port, and then face to the spatial and functional transformations. Within this general frame, the subjects in the parts of the study were outlined as follows: In the introduction, the urban regeneration concept was defined and the problem, aims, methodology, and organization of the study were clarified. In the second chapter, dynamics, and process behind urban regeneration issues, which have been gained a growing importance in the recent years were then examined. In the third chapter, operational aspects of the subject were studied and the general framework of the urban regeneration issues was determined. In the fourth chapter, the city center concept and its transformation process were taken into account. Chapter 5 then included regeneration projects applied in the developed and developing countries. Chapter 6 evaluated the planning approaches and interventions, considering the urban problems, and potentials, and establishing relations with the urban regeneration issues. In the seventh chapter, a design and development strategy for the Alsancak District was proposed in the direction of gained experiences from the exemplified projects. In the conclusion, a general evaluation was made discussing the whole conceptual, pragmatic and legal aspects of the subjects with the general planning and development strategies and the proposal organizational principles of the case study.