As a result of the disregard of governments&rsquo / direct urbanization policies for more than 50 years, most of the settlements in Turkey today demonstrate sub-standard environments and unauthorized developments subject to severe natural hazards. Turkey will have to focus in the near future on the renewal and regeneration of cities built over the past six decades, rather then sticking to urban policies solely devoted to extend new urban areas. The production of legal instruments and urban policies to facilitate the new policy of regeneration in physical and social terms, seems to be the most challenging issue facing urban planning. Urban regeneration planning aims to produce strategies and policies concurrently devoted to maintain physical rehabilitation and social transformation in built areas. For this reason, urban regeneration planning requires legal tools, regulations and methods different then those of conventional development planning. A new approach to urban regeneration planning is the development of urban database systems. These sytems are discussed here by means of a model developed for the case of Zeytinburnu. This model is prepared by organizing and developing the urban databases produced by local governments and international institutions for istanbul integrating natural conditions, physical assets, and the social characteristics. This requires a new set of &lsquo / Analytical Studies&rsquo / approach. The main obstacle in urban database system in Turkey is the lack of legal arrangements. New regulations are needed to describe the organisation and principles of database management in technical and administrative terms. Other implications are that an entirely new generation of urban planners need to be trained, improvement of expertise on database management, database use and updating protocols. Such systems could also constitute an essential instrument of public participation in local planning and urban management process.

The need for the public areas within urban environments is increasing day by day. This thesis focuses on urban balconies as one of the important element of public open areas. Their historical backgrounds, contribution to the cities, categorization and exemplification form important topics for explaining the concept. The study also searches the important natural features that effect the urban development of Bursa and questions the place of urban balconies between them. While explaining the past and the present situations, types and the usages of urban balconies&amp / #8217 / of Bursa / this thesis emphasizes their existing but neglected qualitative and quantitative values, that have the potential to play an important role for the physical shaping of the city so as the formation of urban image. Related to this, also the importance of the revitalization of the urban balconies as public open areas takes part in this study. Key Words: Urban Balconies, Vista Points, Topographical Features, Public Open Areas, Bursa.

Chronic seismic hazards and resulting secondary impacts as natural conditions of the country, and loss of robust building and prudent settlement practices as aggravated by rapid population growth make cities the most vulnerable geographical and social entities in Turkey. In contrast, Turkish disaster policy is solely focused on post-disaster issues and no incentives or provision exist to encourage risk analysis or risk mitigation approaches, despite current international efforts. For the development of risk reduction policies an essential step is to prioritize settlements according to their vulnerability levels. This could be determined by hazard probabilities and attributes of the building stock of each settlement. Measurement of vulnerability levels allows the ordering of settlements into risk categories. Vulnerability levels of settlements are then assumed to depend on a number of attributes of cities to explore if vulnerability could be related to a set of urban properties. Results of statistical analyses indicate that total building loss is related to the ratio of population over the total number of buildings in mid-range settlements, and directly related to population in metropolitan cities. Relative loss on the other hand is related with rate of agglomeration and development index in almost every size category of settlements. Observations provide guiding principles for effective mitigation practices in Turkey by ordering settlements and offer means of differential implementation. These could contribute to improved safety measures in urban standards, building codes, building supervision procedures, insurance systems, investment priorities, and Law (6306) on Redevelopment of Areas under Disaster Risk.

In 1970&rsquo / s, significant shifts occurred both in planning and design theories as a response to the decreasing role of state in property relations and widening arena of private property. This shift in planning approaches led to an increase in the importance of &lsquo / flexibility&rsquo / concept. However this study proposes that flexibility in the control of spatial development is not an indisputable solution, but rather it is a dilemma. This is because / the definition, degree and effect of flexibility may change in every step of the process depending on the actors in the process. While it may be a way of solution in one case, it may be the problem itself in another. In the study, this dilemma is discussed in the context of spatial development in science parks. The concept of flexibility has a particular importance in respect to science parks which host especially technology based firms. Due to market changes and technology shifts, the spatial requirements of market and also the tenants change in time rapidly. That is why flexibility becomes a necessary tool in the physical planning of science parks. In this context, firstly the role flexibility in different planning and decision-making approaches is discussed. Then the structural characteristics of science parks and specifically METU Technopolis are defined. Within this framework, the physical development process of METU Technopolis and the role of flexibility in planning and decision making processes is examined. Finally some suggestions for controlling the flexibility in planning and design processes are developed.

In Turkey, although there are many similar implemented or ongoing conservation interventions, some of historic city centers are in better condition than other ones in terms of urban conservation. Conservation discourse describes the conservation of historic city centers as a shared and sustaining responsibility of various actors. At that point, locality is essential because of near and directs relations with historic environment. However, there are basic problems to develop a synergy based on shared responsibilities of local actors in historic centers. Therefore, the study focuses on the question of &ldquo / What is the role of local conservation capacity in the maintenance of historic city centers as a governance process&rdquo / . The study essentially discusses two issues, local conservation capacity, which is determined as an amalgam term of capabilities of local authority and local community, and urban maintenance, which is used in widening context to determines not only rehabilitation projects, but also interventions of local community let to survive of historic buildings. The method of the study is established as a comparative structure bases on case study researches. Comparisons are made between varying levels of local conservation capacity to determine their relations with success in urban maintenance. As a result, in defined context, the historic city centers of Gaziantep and Sanliurfa are studied as case study areas to evaluate success in urban maintenance as a function of local governance in terms of local conservation capacity.

A significantly large stock of housing has been realised In Turkey during the past five decades, building the cities almost entirely anew. This has shifted the central concern from production, design and ownership issues in the housing sector to that of housing management. The major problem in housing for the coming decades is not how to maintain the growth of the stock further, but how to efficiently use and improve the existing assets. Currently, no central or local authority is responsible for the management, running or control at any scale, but only the residents and property owners responsibilities exist at the individual plot scale. There is evidence of greater efficiency however, for the need of housing management at supra-plot scales. The hypothesis of the study in this context is that no part of the stock is without problems in terms of management. This is empirically investigated by two complementary analyses based on two distinct surveys. The first analysis demonstrated that the role of tenure and income on expenditures on housing, especially expenditures for repairs and maintenance are dominant. A three-fold difference is observed between tenants and owner-occupiers, and 10 times between households of highest and lowest incomes. Expenditures for repairs and maintenance is 1.9 times greater in the apartment stock and 1.2 times more in the &amp / #8216 / gecekondu&amp / #8217 / dwellings than in individual &amp / #8216 / houses&amp / #8217 / . Lowest levels of expenditures are observed in oldest part of the stock, in less developed neighbourhoods, and in stock with lowest rental values. According to the results of the second analysis, organisational tendencies of household groups varying in their characteristics are not sharply differentiated as in their expenditures. One most significant factor is tenure. Tenants are observed to have a weaker sense of dedication and identity in the dwellings they occupy and in neighbourhoods they live. Current management problem issues could then be identified as: low-income households, tenant households, stock with low rental values, aged stock and undeveloped neighbourhoods. Some of the most significant policy tools for tackling these problems are credit opportunities to be made available to households for repairs and maintenance in such problem areas, subsidies in terms of tax deductions, material incentives, technical support and public investments in degraded localities to boost economic activities which are eventually to initiate private investments.

This study aims to analyze the emergence and evaluation of a new type of suburbanization in T&uuml / rkiye, which are concomitant with the rise of new middle class having a high purchasing power. It examines different urbanization and suburbanization processes in various societies and demonstrates that the suburbanization of T&uuml / rkiye does not exactly fit in these models. Such a suburban expansion is taking place under the prevailing impact of political economy in the world and leads to a social segregation within metropolitan areas, which is argued to become permanent. Upper middle class have developed privatized, enclosed, and monitored exclusive spaces of residence, work, leisure, and consumption. The main focus of the study, therefore, is the gated communities, which is the last extension of suburbanization. In this thesis, the gated communities are mainly residential in character and offer a new concept of life-style, which is based upon the idea of total security and retreat from the illnesses of the urban core in terms of noise, dust, disorder, crowds and related issues. It is argued that, in the specific case of Angora Evleri-Kooperatif-18, gated communities can be viewed as a further theme of fragmentation of the city of Ankara. The new urban fragmentation indicates a dual process of increasing social and spatial polarization on the urban land. These dualities have been identified in society. One part of the society has experienced affluence, and success while the other has suffered degradation. The economic growth has been at the expense of sharp increases both at the top and bottom ends of the income distribution. Social inequality, in return, has manifested itself spatially.

Askew and unsystematic urbanization that occurred after rapid increase and migration in 1950&rsquo / s in T&uuml / rkiye, caused destruction of green spaces. In this way, green spaces in urban pattern that are insufficient now are going to decrease day by day. As a result, human beings that are living in cities have to survive their life in a condition of less green and much building. Urban populace has physical and psychological problems caused by noise, pollution, stress together with not meeting their strolling, resting and being comfortable. For this reason, importance of green spaces is increasing day by day. Being under a disaster of earthquake doubles this importance in istanbul. In this research, in which green spaces in Kartal and Sariyer are taken into consideration, one-by-one fixing and photographing technique is used. Results are evaluated in terms of ownership, opening year, classification, size, activity and distribution of green spaces. Research is consisting of eight chapters. Aim and extension of research is taken into consideration in first chapter. In second chapter, urban open and green spaces are examined in terms of definition, classifications, hierarchy and design criteria. Third chapter include urbanization and green pace relation. In this chapter, historical development of urban open spaces, importance of urban open and green spaces and need of green space issues are mentioned. Green space concept in development plans are taken into consideration in fourth chapter. Firstly, green space concept in development plans / then, procuring methods of green spaces and at last, problems of application decisions of green spaces are examined. Fifth chapter includes green space norms in T&uuml / rkiye and in other countries and comparison of these norms. In sixth chapter, green space situation of istanbul, Kartal and Sariyer are given. In this chapter, firstly, urbanization and green space problem / then, existing situation of Kartal and Sariyer are researched. In case study, which is observed in seventh chapter, green space situation of Kartal and Sariyer is investigated. At last chapter, results of these researches are attained by comparison of green space situations of these two districts in a heading of conclusion.

Urban planning has witnessed the profound changes in the methodologies of modelling during the last 50 years. Spatial interaction models have passed from social physics, statistical mechanics to non-spatial and spatial information processing stages of progress that can be designated as paradigm shifts. This thesis traces the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) approach in urban planning as pioneered by Wilson (1967,1970) and Spatial Entropy concept by Batty (1974) based on the Information Theory and its developments by Shannon (1948), Jaynes (1957), Kullback (1959) and by Tribus (1962,1969). Information-theoric methods have provided the theoretical foundation for challenging the uncertainty and incomplete information issues concerning the complex urban structure. MaxEnt, as a new logic, gives probabilities maximally noncommittal with regard to missing information. Wilson (1967,1970) has replaced the Newtonian analogy by the entropy concept from statistical mechanics to alleviate the mathematical inconsistency in the gravity model and developed a set of spatial interaction models consistent with the known information. Population density distribution as one of the determinants of the urban structure has been regarded as an exemplar to show the paradigm changes from the analysis of density gradients to the probabilistic description of density distributions by information-theoric methods. Spatial Entropy concept has introduced the spatial dimension to the Information Theory. Thesis applies Spatial Entropy measures to Ankara 1970 and 1990 census data by 34 zones and also obtains Kullback&rsquo / s Information Gain measures for population changes during the two decades. Empirical findings for Spatial Entropy measures show that overall Ankara-1970 and 1990 density distributions are &lsquo / &rsquo / Uneven&rsquo / &rsquo / and the uniform distribution hypothesis is not confirmed. These measures also indicate a tendency towards &ldquo / More Uniformity&rdquo / for density distributions in comparison to 1970. Information Gain measure for population changes also deviates from zero and direct proportionality hypothesis between posterior 1990 and prior 1970 population distributions by zones is not confirmed. Current research is focused on information processing with more engagement in the urban spatial structure and human behavior. This thesis aims to participate with these efforts and concludes that Information Theory has the potential to generate new profound changes in urban planning and modelling processes.

The 1999 earthquakes revealed serious gaps in the Turkish disaster management system. The lack of coordination and cooperation between governmental and non-governmental organizations, limits in the legal framework and the lack of policies and plans about disaster preparedness and mitigation are basic. It is highly relevant therefore to expose these deficiencies and find which changes are necessary for capacity building in civil initiatives and which policies can be put into practice to form a strong and a sustainable organizational structure between governmental organizations and civil initiatives. This required reconsidering the events of 1999 Marmara earthquakes and civil initiatives&rsquo / activities. The analyses have been made among civil initiatives to expose their objectives, their response to earthquakes and future plans. Futher, this required discussion of the current state of disaster management system and legal structure. Findings are that a number of creative activities of civil initiatives can be observed after the Marmara earthquakes. However, the existing level of collaboration with governmental organizations is inadequate, considering the magnitude of disasters taking place in Turkey and the degree of the people&rsquo / s vulnerability. Efforts such as new draft of law of Turgey Emergency Management General Directorate (TEMGD) seem to provide means to meet the requirements. This draft law could provide the tools to accommodate civil initiatives The law could be revised so as to maintain a legal basis for civil initiatives&rsquo / activities as part of disaster management system indicating that governmental organizations should work together in coordination with civil initiatives. Secondly, to encourage voluntary activities, a number of provisions should be available such as life insurance against accidents for the accredited volunteers. Thirdly, TEGMD should also act to find partners for supporting civil initiatives in their financial, personnel training and management needs. With increasing conviction in the need for participatory approaches and people-oriented developments, civil initiatives are committed to face challenges in mitigating and preparing for the variety of disasters facing Turkey.