This thesis studies human habitat in Palestine focusing on the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This period, had witnessed changes on social texture, which was reflected on human habitation at various levels of: site and plan organization, size of dwellings and architectural form. The study presents a clear understanding of traditional dwellings of Alkhalil (Hebron), by placing them within their architectural and social contexts. The appearance of central hall house was part of this change / it was part of a fashion spread at the newly established neighborhoods of many Palestinian towns. Those houses are in the form of individual structures located in a defined property or garden surrounding each. A large group of buildings of this type of houses in Al-khalil are studied. Measured site survey supports the main hypothesis doing at how this fashion is found in Palestine as in other surrounding towns. The outcomes form the case study catalog focusing on Al-khalil / are compared with earlier dwelling (hosh) and with similar houses from surrounding Palestinian towns in growing circles. The main hypotheses establish the nature of this change, thus the analysis of the former and the later. To do this the earlier (Hosh) dwelling is being studied at different levels and periods. The site survey helped in understanding the traditional architectural and social values, which are maintained by the central-hall house inhabitants

This study firstly aims to identify facility features of the convention centers and then propose a method in order to identify users&rsquo / priorities and evaluate what extent these were provided by the convention centre. Data has been collected using self-administered questionnaires from three group of users / attendees, employees and meeting planners. The study has been conducted in istanbul L&uuml / tfi Kirdar Convention and Exhibition Center as a case, because of being the most remarkable convention center of Turkey. Each participant will be required to assess this convention center in terms of their priorities of expectations and features provided. The results have been evaluated statistically, and significant differences between the level of importance and performance of the facility features have been presented. This research is expected to be useful for constitution of design criteria of convention centers and effective management of the facilities, in terms of both identifying the features of convention centers and providing a method evaluating the performance of the facilities from the users&rsquo / perspective.

The objective of this study is to seek the reasons of both the actual crime and fear of crime on urban streets, to evaluate the relationships between fear and physical attributes and to find out how physical attributes can help to reduce this. The study aims at developing new urban design principles in order to decrease the crime risks for users in historic residential neighborhoods. To do that, the study identifies the risky and unsecure spaces and potential places with high crime rates in Istiklal Neighborhood. The study also explains the relationship between crime and the design of the built environment and the role of urban design tools in reducing the crime rate and creating safer places by the help of this case study, held in Istiklal Neighborhood, Ankara.

When human constructs the physical surrounding, a psychological environment of meanings is being created, accompanying the world of shapes and masses. Interventions into built environment affect the meanings extracted from the composition of the physical setting and the response of people to design strategies reveals the importance of them. The entrance spine of a city is important in creating an image of the city in the minds of the observers, and the protocol highway of Ankara introduces the city to other countries&amp / #8217 / leaders and visitors. So any intervention into this highway will affect the symbolic image formed. As such, attaching claddings onto visible fa&ccedil / ades of buildings in terms of beautification changes the appearance of the streetscape, and Municipality&amp / #8217 / s approach to fa&ccedil / ade improvement does not heed the prestige of this corridor / being an application rather than a well-advised project. This thesis aims to study the quality of the streetscape under the principles of design in terms of objective and subjective dimensions with respect to the physical characteristics of the setting and people&amp / #8217 / s interpretations from it, and the objective of this study is to question the success of this intervention with regard to solutions to improve the quality of the streetscape. To this end evaluative analyses are studied in the second chapter and the third chapter introduces a matrix of design principles. According to these evaluations, most design concerns are being underestimated, resulting in the monotony of the streetscape but the streetscape appears to be visually more ordered compared to the past.

The historic core of Ankara, has been subject to a rapid change and deterioration increasingly after 1950s, losing most of its original qualities. This thesis analyzes the spatial evolution of the historic city from 1839 to 1940s with the objective to restitute the preexisting urban fabric and the transformation that took place before 1950s. The Early Republican period was critical in the transformation of the historic core as well as in the development of Ankara that was to be shaped as the &lsquo / model city&rsquo / for other Turkish cities. The Old City, which constituted the center of the new capital is studied with a morphological approach in order to restitute the original form and structure of the physical environment and to clarify the changes in the subsequent periods in relation with the socio-economic and institutional structure. Mainly depending on the cartographic materials belonging to the research periods, the study focuses on the physical evolution of the historic city through comparison on the basis of three principal items: urban fabric, urban circulation network and land use pattern. Situating the historic core within the whole Ankara, the research puts special emphasis on the impact of fires and the effects of the planning activity in the related period. The morphological analysis illustrated that the historic core of Ankara was subject to a substantial transformation during the Early Republican period as a result of the interventions brought by the reconstruction plans and piecemeal decisions.

Public space is one of the most essential components of urban spaces, as the notion refers to the society and its values. Besides, public spaces provide the society with an opportunity of expression and identification / they have the potential of signification and of orientation of citizens

Urban aesthetics has been the concern of many academic researches, and there have been now more than hundred definitions of urban aesthetics. It is crucial to understand that aesthetics is more than just about the form and physical qualities of a place. Likewise, urban aesthetics is not only the concerns of academics, but also the concern of urbanites of cities and daily users of urban space. It is therefore important to understand what daily users of cities understand from the concept of urban aesthetics and what kind of aesthetically pleasant spaces they desire in cities, especially when public spaces are concerned. This thesis aims to find out the aesthetic qualities of urban space and understanding of urbanites on urban aesthetics, focusing on Tunali Hilmi Street, a widely used sub-centre of Ankara. It seeks to discover the aesthetic characteristics of the street and the perception of urbanites. The examination is carried out on the architecture, street furniture, floorscape, landmarks, planting and open spaces of Tunali Hilmi Street regarding seven variables which are harmony, rhythm, balance, order, complexity, scale and upkeep. The thesis argues that it is possible to achieve better-working public spaces if we are also able to identify what the daily users of public spaces envisage as an aesthetically pleasant environment.

Public spaces are the fundamental elements of urban space. Their quality significantly enhances the quality of urban life. Despite their inevitable significance, the &lsquo / inclusivity&rsquo / of public spaces has been threatened, especially in contemporary cities, primarily by the neoliberal policies, globalization and the recent advances in communication technologies. Besides, the declining &lsquo / inclusivity&rsquo / of public spaces is also resulted from the provision and management policies, leading to exclusive places, rather than creating inclusive spaces for all. Public spaces are no longer inclusive spaces, melting pots of the urban arena. They are rather spaces of exclusion due to exclusionary design and management policies. This research aims to examine the notion of &lsquo / inclusivity&rsquo / of public spaces and to identify the attributes, which describe this notion. It focuses on Gen&ccedil / lik Parki in Ankara &ndash / one of the biggest urban parks in Turkey and one of the most important open public spaces of the Republican regime. It examines the changing &lsquo / inclusivity&rsquo / of this urban park from its construction to nowadays under four historic periods regarding four types of &lsquo / access&rsquo / : physical access, social access, access to activities and discussions, and access to information. Based on the findings, it discusses the factors and urban design strategies for the improvement of the &lsquo / inclusivity&rsquo / of Gen&ccedil / lik Parki. It also makes more general recommendations for the enhancement of the &lsquo / inclusivity&rsquo / of public spaces in the city center of Ankara and other Turkish cities.

ABSTRACT A HISTORIC-CONTEXTUAL APPROACH FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF BUILT HERITAGE IN HISTORIC URBAN AREAS: CASE OF GALATA DISTRICT IN ISTANBUL Top&ccedil / u, Hicran Ph.D., Department of Architecture, Restoration Supervisor: Prof. Dr. &Ouml / m&uuml / r Bakirer July 2004, 230 pages The recent developments in the urban conservation theory has introduced a contextual perspective that gives further emphasis to the cultural integrity of the historic urban area which is created through the physical and non-physical relationships between the urban context and its components. In this perspective, the conventional identification tools of the urban conservation - the separate designation of the buildings and areas- come to be questioned, and re-formulated according to the demands created by this new holistic-contextual understanding of the heritage conservation. In this thesis, it is aimed to formulate a historic-contextual method for the identification of the built heritage. Re-establishing the links between the historic urban context and its components, and turning the inherent character of the area into an effective tool for the conservation of the area, we claim that such an approach would provide the necessary interface between the conservation and development, responding the requirements of both and providing a common base both for the action and research. The thesis comprises a conceptual part focusing on the historic-contextual aspects of the built heritage and a case study for the experimentation of the defined methodology. The case study is realized in the Galata district in Istanbul, which represents one of the richest examples in Turkey from the aspect of the availability of historic sources.

Ankara, being the capital, has been the most important city for the New Modern Turkish State on its way of establishing the modernity project of Turkey. The development of the urban planning projects proceeded on the basis of this aimed concept of the new society, carrying the privilege of being the symbol of the modern republic, prosperity and wealth. Ke&ccedil / i&ouml / ren is one of the main districts of Ankara. The main aim of this study is to analyze and describe the ideological departure of Ke&ccedil / i&ouml / ren from the concept of the &ldquo / modern&rdquo / Ankara, within the last ten years. Here the attitude of the municipality and its role as the agent of civil power leading the architectural and urban transformation of Ke&ccedil / i&ouml / ren from a district full of gecekondu to one full of &ldquo / decorated sheds&rdquo / will be discussed. Here, the term &ldquo / decorated shed&rdquo / , introduced by Robert Venturi, will be used for the explanation of the new architectural and urban elements Furthermore, the attitude of the society and the architects and contractors who are responsible for the actual case will be brought into argumentation. In this sense, other subsidiary terms will be used to explain the process of the case are / populism and politics, nationalism, the ideology of the Turkish nation (T&uuml / rkl&uuml / k), Turanism, Islamism and orientalism. Additionally, an important building in the district, the Estergon Castle, which has different characteristics from the other parts of the district, will be explained with the terms &ldquo / hyper-reality&rdquo / and &ldquo / kitsch&rdquo / by the explanations of Umberto Eco and Dorfles.