Urban space has begun to be commodified to full extent by the affect of neoliberalism, which is bared upon free flow of capital over a global network of cities. By 1970&rsquo / s, the phenomenon of globalization made social, political and economic relations all around the world to be redefined under these circumstances. While nation states were altering their role in favor of capital power, early centers of production have come to lose their attractiveness and functions, and in especially developed countries there emerged necessity for the notion of &ldquo / urban transformation&rdquo / . On the other hand, in Turkey, urban transformation projects have begun to be applied lately, under specific conditions and with different reasons, but still under neo-liberal hegemony. The aim of this thesis is to make a comparative analysis of &ldquo / Ankara North Entrance Urban Transformation Project&rdquo / by understanding the notion of urban transformation together with altered role of nation state at the age of neoliberalism, by comparatively analyzing grand transformation projects applied at three capital cities in Europe, namely, London, Paris, and Berlin, during late 20th century. The comparison criteria for project preparation and application processes of the case of Ankara and European examples are, first, the scale and location within the city / second, reasons of application in terms of their legitimating processes / third, the ways of providing financial resources for projects / fourth, administrative dimension of urban policy making / fifth, architectural domain of the projects / and lastly participation conditions of urban inhabitants and social agents, including the professionals.

ABSTRACT DRINKING WATER QUALITY IN ANKARA: A MONITORING STUDY Tezce, G&ouml / zde MS, Department of Environmental Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. &Uuml / lk&uuml / Yetis Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Filiz B. Dilek December 2010, 124 pages Following the event of severe drought experienced in 2007, it was decided to use Kesikk&ouml / pr&uuml / Reservoir as an additional source of water supply for the city of Ankara. Thereupon, there have been debates on the quality of Kesikk&ouml / pr&uuml / Reservoir water with the claims that some parameters, primarily sulfate and arsenic, were not complying with the quality standards and therefore there was a threat to public health. This study aims to determine whether the water quality in the distribution network in Ankara exceeds water quality standards, and to assess the status of water quality of Ankara. To this end, monthly samples were collected from 24 districts as distribution network water and also from the Kesikk&ouml / pr&uuml / Reservoir as source water, and were monitored in terms of certain water quality parameters during the period of July 2008 through June 2009. Sulfate concentration in Kesikk&ouml / pr&uuml / Reservoir water was measured as 300-500 mg/l and this high sulfate concentration in the source water led to high sulfate values in distribution system. On the other hand, the arsenic concentration in Kesikk&ouml / pr&uuml / water was analyzed between 9-11 &micro / g/l which is lower than the expected high arsenic concentration in Kizilirmak water. Moreover, monitoring of THM and HAA in distribution network was carried out to follow DBPs formation. The highest THM concentration was observed as 109 &micro / g/l for Bilkent in July 2008. Although for some districts and some months throughout the year THM concentration was higher than the EPA Stage-I (80 &micro / g/l) and Stage-II (40 &micro / g/l) limits, mean annual THM concentrations for districts in distribution system satisfies the standards. Furthermore, the highest HAA5 concentrations were determined as 75 &micro / g/l for Dikmen in February 2009. However, annual average HAA5 in any of the districts did not exceed USEPA limit of 60 &micro / g/l. Nonetheless, total/fecal coliform bacteria, which are the indicators of microbiological contamination, were detected in distribution system between the months of July 2008 and January 2009. However, the coliform bacteria did not appear with the increasing residual chlorine in the distribution system since January 2009. Results from this study demonstrate a temporal variability in water quality / indicating water quality deterioration in the distribution system during some months, while almost full compliance with the water quality standards during other months. Overall / due to Kesikk&ouml / pr&uuml / raw water, sulfate content appears to be the major concern in the water quality when considered the one-year monitoring period.

FRAME ALIGNMENT STRATEGIES IN THE RIGHT TO SHELTERING MOVEMENT: THE CASE OF DIKMEN VALLEY, ANKARA Aykan, Beg&uuml / m M.S., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Helga Rittersberger Tili&ccedil / July 2011, 146 pages By the increasing hegemony of neoliberalism following the 1980s, urban transformation projects are becoming increasingly widespread. The present market oriented and rent seeking formulations of the urban transformation projects, leave the gecekondu dwellers who live in the areas to be transformed, outside the redistribution process of the produced rent and lead to the eviction of lower-income gecekondu population from the city to the periphery. Dislocations of this sort as they impose additional burdens to the already disadvantageous populations enhance the urban unevenness. Nevertheless there is an expanding gecekondu resistance against those projects. And Dikmen Valley Right to Sheltering Movement (DVRtSM) is a successful social movement that has been emerged by the organization of this gecekondu resistance which has developed against the implementation of the 4th and 5th Phases of Dikmen Valley Urban Transformation Project. DVRtSM has a strong influence over similar cases of grievances sourced by the neoliberal urbanization: as to this it can be regarded as a model of Right to Sheltering Movements. v The thesis aims to make an analysis of the strategic framing processes of the organization of the DVRtSM, by exploration of the frame alignment strategies which are regarded as decisive factors of movement

In this thesis, the loss of land totality and loss of sight of establishment purposes of a unique application AO&Ccedil / which is a very vital open green area for Ankara is discussed since it was established. The importance of AO&Ccedil / for the city of Ankara, loosing its land totality and diverging from its establishment purposes was of interest to public opinion for long years. This study aims to analyze the location of AO&Ccedil / in the city, the role of AO&Ccedil / within Ankara Metropolitan area, its qualities and the future objectives of the State Farm which were deviated from its establishment purposes by means of inefficient planning regulations. It is obvious that as a public property, the establishment purposes and the ideology behind AO&Ccedil / must be reevaluated considering the opportunities of the State Farm as a huge open green area for the city. Moreover, some future principles for the fragmented farmlands must be determined according to the development area of the city. v With this aim, the location of AO&Ccedil / in the city and the roles given to AO&Ccedil / by the Ankara city plans is analyzed since its establishment and the reevaluation of establishment purposes and the basic objectives necessary for the future development of AO&Ccedil / and design principles necessary to preserve the totality of AO&Ccedil / and open farmlands back to public use is argued in this thesis.

Sustainable urban development is mentioned together with the concept of urban form in contemporary planning literature. The main reason behind this is a need for determining an ideal physical development scheme and its main principles of urban future in a broad term. Besides, the operational side of urban planning requires a concrete set of design codes in order to transform urban space in both macro and mezzo scale. At this point, the concept of urban compactness and the idea of Compact City have come into the agenda of planning. In the last decade, the model of compact city has become a prototype of sustainable urban form in developed countries. It is also argued whether compact urbanity is a nostalgic metaphor or an engineering solution. It has emerged as a reaction to the negative consequences of urban sprawl and suburbanization as the anti-urbanist urban phenomena in Western geographies. Hence, the relevance of urban compactness should be examined for developing and underdeveloped countries and their settlement structures. The basic motivation of the thesis is to examine the relevance and validity of urban compactness in the case of Turkey as a developing Eurasian country. For this end, the evolution of urban compactness as a fact and an idea in the historical context of developed countries and it&rsquo / s meaning for the developing world / Ankara is examined as a case study by re-reading its planning history and the transformation of its urban form from the point of view of compactness.

The problem of under-utilized spaces has become an important problem of cities during the last decades. In rapidly urbanizing cities, especially in the city centers where the early city settlement or old town was situated, many urban and industrial functions have moved out leaving behind abandoned or under-utilized. These spaces, due to political, economical, cultural and spatial reasons, could neither undergo healthy urban transformation process nor be reused. Such spaces pose problems to contemporary urban planning and architecture. This thesis takes up the problem of under-utilized space exemplified in the inner city of Ankara, where a large stock of land is public property. The thesis defines the problem of under-utilized space and analyzes the causes for their emergence. The aim of the study is to understand the urban character of under-utilized part of the old industrial district, which is one of the most important districts in the city center of Ankara, and develop urban transformation approaches in particular for the old industrial district as well as for similar urban areas. The thesis focuses on the urban design dimension of transformation process. Urban design as a public policy makes important contributions in solving urban problems. The thesis develops some urban design principles in accordance with some spatial, functional and social concerns in order to redevelop the old industrial district. With this contribution the study emphasizes the importance of urban design as a tool which can be utilized in the urban transformation process by urban planners and architects.

This study focuses on the relationship between global economy and women&rsquo / s labor within a feminist standpoint by examining the personal and occupational experiences of immigrant women doing domestic work in Turkey. The main concern of this study is to investigate how working and living experiences of immigrant domestic women workers in Turkey are shaped by their illegal worker and immigrant status. The aim of this study is to listen to the personal experiences of immigrant domestic women workers from themselves, and understand their working conditions and social life experiences in Turkey. There emerged a trend in trading domestic workers between the poor and rich countries since 1990s where many parties, including governments, illegal recruitment agencies, and individual employers benefited. The high unemployment, poverty, shortfalls in living standards, and loss of government-sponsored public services due to the IMF policies implemented by the governments of developing countries severely affected poor and women. For their family survival, women of developing countries forced to migrate in order to seek domestic work in richer countries, where there is a high demand of middle class women for domestic workers. On the other hand, since domestic work is devalued as informal work, policy-makers do not pay sufficient attention, and provide a legal framework regulating the recruitment process and protecting the rights of immigrant domestic women workers. Therefore, immigrant domestic women workers are in a vulnerable position and open to exploitation due to their illegal and immigrant status. Turkey has been one of the domestic worker exporting countries since early 1990s mostly from post-Soviet countries. However, she neither has bilateral agreements with the sending countries nor a legal framework protecting the rights of immigrant domestic women workers. Hence, immigrant women are subject to arbitrary treatment and exploitation both in their workplace and outside, and remained invisible.

In this study, a variable pitch axial flow fan is designed and analysed for Ankara Wind Tunnel (AWT). In order to determine the loss caharacteristics of AWT, an algorithm is developed and the results are validated. Also some pressure and velocity measurements are made at the fan section to find the losses experimentally. After completion of the fan design, analyses are made at different volumetric flowrates and blade angles including the design point and the performance characteristics of the fan are obtained and thereafter the operating range of the tunnel is deterimened.

Soil suction is one of the main state parameters that governs unsaturated soil behaviour. Tensiometers are the only type of probe that can measure soil suction directly, but only up to 90 kPa. In the past two decades, a new type of tensiometer with much greater measurement range (up to 2 MPa) has appeared in the literature. The measurement range (i.e. capacity) of a tensiometer is limited by (i) how well it is saturated, and (ii) the air entry value of its porous interface. In this study, the first high capacity tensiometer of Turkey was designed and built. For the purpose of increasing the measurement capacity of the tensiometers, a novel saturation setup that uses a hydraulic pressurization system with capacity of 10 MPa was designed and built. A vacuum-and-pressure saturation procedure was developed. To calibrate the 10 MPa pressure transducers that form the core of the tensiometers, a high-pressure calibration setup capable of pressurizing up to 11 MPa was designed and built. By varying designs of tensiometer bodies, porous interfaces and seals, ways of increasing the suction capacity are investigated. Over a dozen tensiometer design variations are developed, and tried by exposing to atmospheric evaporation. A maximum suction measurement of 870 kPa was achieved with a conventional design / however, none of the new designs were successful. 3 successful designs were also briefly tried on soil samples