The gecekondu settlements emerged as a grassroots solution to the housing problem of migrant population in the lack of effective state intervention. Although most of these settlements gained legal status and title deeds in the following decades, they were still considered to be problem to be solved in due process. Starting from the mid-1980s, as a result of the so-called rehabilitation plans, considerable part of the gecekondu areas underwent a rapid redevelopment process through the market mechanism. The gecekondu owners gave their land to individual small scale developers in return for some portion of flats built in the land plot. However in the 2000s this strategy has changed with the introduction of state-led urban transformation projects. Transformation processes have started to consider the large gecekondu areas rather than the individual land plots as the unit of redevelopment. This brought the market model to a halt as well. It is not any more possible for the gecekondu owners to negotiate with the developers. Instead they have to deal with municipalities. Likewise the share of the gecekondu owners from the emerging rent declined dramatically as well. Such a model meets considerable resistance from the gecekondu owners. They see this process highly unfair and many of them decline to sign the agreement documents with municipal authorities. However there are also segments of gecekondu owners who accept the offer of the public authorities. The main aim of this thesis is to analyse the urban transformation projects with regard to the attitudes of the gecekondu dwellers. The question intended to be answered by the thesis is as to why some of the owner accept the offers while the others decline. While doing this, thesis also raise some further issues beyond the distribution of emerging rents such as the destruction of local communities and their life styles.

Examensarbetets huvudsakliga syfte har varit att undersöka hur stora omvandlingsprojekt påverkar en stadsmiljös karaktär. Detta har utförts genom en fallstudie av Uppsala, en stad i en av den mest expansiva tillväxtområdena i Europa. Det tillhör ett av regeringens prioriterade områden i satsningen på hållbara stadsdelar och städer. Ytterligare faktorer som undersökts har varit att studera planerade och pågående projekts kumulativa effekter på Uppsalas stadsmiljö och hur huruvida dessa förändringar är förenliga med kommunens styrande dokument.    Urbanmorfologisk teori har använts för att undersöka hur staden växt historiskt, primärt från 1800-talet och framåt. Det har även använts för att hitta fördjupningsområden för mer djupgående urbanmorfologiska analyser. Teorin har kompletterats med en dokumentstudie över relevanta dokument rörande Uppsala, såsom översiktsplaner samt kommunens innerstadsstrategi och arkitekturpolicy. Tre områden valdes ut för mer finmaskiga analyser utifrån dokumentstudien och den mer lågupplösta analysen av Uppsalas centrala delar. Två av dessa områden är ursprungligen industriområden i olika skeden av omvandling och det tredje är ett centralt område i närheten av många viktiga funktioner. Beståndsdelar som kvarter, fastigheter, byggnader, gator, gaturum och öppna ytor undersöktes. Tillsammans med aktuella planer och program gjordes slutsatser gällande de specifika områdenas framtida karaktär och struktur. Det gjordes sedan en undersökning huruvida undersökningsområdenas planer var förenliga med kommunens styrande dokument och hur omvandlingen av dessa områden påverkar Uppsalas stadsmiljö i sin helhet. Omvandlingsområdena var till stor del förenliga med kommunens innerstadsstrategi. Flest skiljaktigheter återfanns mellan fördjupningsområdet Främre Boländerna och kommunens arkitekturpolicy avseende kärnbegrepp som sammanhang, skala och befintliga värden. Projektens kumulativa effekter på Uppsalas stadsmiljö bedömdes leda till ökad homogenitet i gaturum, utbredning av rutnätsstruktur, högre byggnadsvolymer och bebyggelse från 1950- till 1970-tal som får göra plats för nya byggnader. Det erhållna resultatet avseende hur en stadsmiljös karaktär påverkas av storskaliga omvandlingsprojekts är att den befintliga karaktären ofta riskerar att gå förlorad. Detta till följd av att få beståndsdelar av urban form bevaras då de sällan är förenliga med syftet av omvandlingen eller rådande stadsbyggnadsideal.    För att bli bättre på att bevara stadsmiljön och karaktären av områden rekommenderas mer holistiska analyser utifrån urbanmorfologisk teori. På så vis kan en plats unika drag identifieras och vidareutvecklas istället för att främst omvandlas utifrån rådande stadsideal. / The main purpose of this master thesis has been to investigate how large redevelopment projects affect the character of an urban environment. This has been carried out through a case study of Uppsala, a city in one of the most expansive growth areas in Europe. It also belongs to one of the government's prioritized areas in the investment in sustainable districts and cities. Additional factors that have been investigated has been to study the cumulative effects of planned and ongoing projects on Uppsala's urban environment and whether these changes are compatible with the municipality's governing documents. Urban morphological theory has been used to investigate how the city has grown historically, primarily from the 19th century and onwards. It has also been used to find focus areas for more in-depth urban morphological analyzes. The theory has been complemented with a document study of relevant documents regarding Uppsala, such as general plans and the municipality's inner-city strategy and architectural policy. Three areas were selected for finer-mesh analyzes based on the document study and the lower-resolution analysis of Uppsala's central parts. Two of these areas are historically industrial areas at different stages of transformation and the third is a central area close to many important city functions. Components such as blocks, properties, buildings, streets, street spaces and open spaces were examined. Together with current plans and programs, conclusions were drawn regarding the future character and structure of the specific areas. An investigation was then carried out as to whether the investigated areas' plans were compatible with the municipality's governing documents and how the transformation of these areas affects Uppsala's urban environment as a whole. The focus areas were largely in line with the municipality's inner-city strategy. The biggest discrepancies were found between the area Främre Boländerna and the municipality's architectural policy regarding concepts such as context, scale and existing values. The projects' cumulative effects on Uppsala's urban environment were concluded to lead to increased homogeneity in street spaces, increased implementation of the grid street plan, taller building volumes and the replacement of buildings from the 1950s to the 1970s in favor of new buildings. The obtained result regarding how the character of an urban environment is affected by large-scale conversion projects is that the existing character is often at risk of being lost. This due to few elements of urban form being preserved as they seldom are compatible with the intention of the transformation or the current urban planning trend. To become better at preserving the urban environment and the character of areas, more holistic analyzes based on urban morphological theory are recommended. In this way, a place's unique features can be identified and be further developed instead of being transformed based primarily on the current urban trend.

The global weakening of nation states has isolated cities. On the other hand, the authority of local administrations has been increasing rapidly. Urban planning responsibility is under the authority of local governments. Due to intense competition for attractive solutions, local authorities have tended to use methods that produce immediate results. Therefore, planning approach has been changing and in place of comprehensive plans, we find quick fix projects. According to comprehensive planning approach and the planning legislation in Turkey, urban plans should be made according to the principle of planning hierarchy. This principle defines the consistency of plans in different scales and refers to the holistic principle of urban planning. However, local governments have adopted project-based policy implemented in the form of urban transformation. This policy leads to practical applications that contradict the principles of the discipline of urban planning. Then, it forms a basis for negative results such as unplanned development. This study focuses on projects in Ankara and their consistency with upper scale plans in order to make a rational assessment of urban transformation projects. This thesis aims to show how local authorities and new legislative frameworks encourage urban transformation while ignoring the principle of planning hierarchy in case of Ankara. Local governments prefer project-based policy since development serves the benefit of investors and therefore municipalities. To avoid this situation, legislation should be examined and laws that lead to conflicting investments of authority should be simplified. Additionally, through law, planning agenda should be focused on the structural planning approach.