Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Current Research in Architecture, Planning and Design, Prof.Dr. Z.Özlem PARLAK BİÇER,Assist.Prof.Dr. Fatih KİRAZ, Editör, Gece Publishing, Ankara, ss.109-125, 2022
Turkish cities are changing and getting similar day by day. It is a commonly accepted and saddening fact that cities, such as Ankara, Izmir, Kayseri, Bursa cannot be distinguished from each other. The main reason of this problem is the diversion from traditional urban pattern and loss of characteristic features in every single urban space; in addition to the loss of common expression and harmony of buildings in city silhouettes. New settlements are built independently with their own aesthetic outlook and have no relation to traditional urban character of the city. Historical urban quarters which maintain an identity of traditional settlements, are generally accepted as “urban sites under conservation” in Türkiye and conservation plans should serve to protect both spatial elements and historical urban identities.
It is obvious that virtual harmonization cannot be achieved in cities of Türkiye, and despite all the differences they have in historical, regional, topographical, and climatic features; cities are rapidly getting similar. However urban spaces and cities should have their own characteristics and identity. In order to improve historic city characteristic and to catch the melody or harmonization, it is necessary to identify common denominators in their architectural and settlement styles. The main purpose of design guides is to find out and define such denominators and to implement them legally in new buildings.
Urban design guides or similar tools are widely and successfully used in many settlements in foreign countries (Konuk, G. & et al., 2016). But unfortunately the use of urban design guides is still very limited in Türkiye. The aim of this study is to evaluate the Kemeraltı Urban Design Guide, which was developed for the historic city center of Izmir-Kemeraltı an urban site under conservation (Taner, Aydoğan, & Ecemiş, 2003). The Kemeraltı Urban Design Guide (2003) might be the first attempt of this kind of design guides in Türkiye that aims to enhance the character of this precious heritage zone.
In this study we aimed to evaluate the spatial effects of The Kemeraltı Urban Design Guide using the visual material archives and spatial analyses produced in two different professional projects conducted in Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Architecture. One of these projects was conducted in the historical Kemeraltı Area before the development and application of Kemeraltı Urban Design guide, whereas the other project was conducted after. Using this sample, we discussed strengths and weaknesses of such urban design guides in application.