Location of single family housing in Istanbul

Korunaklı yerleşimler, kamusal alanların özelleştiği, kentleşmenin yeni bir formunu temsil etmektedirler. Bu tür yerleşimler metropoliten parçalanmanın ve sosyal bölünmenin artışının sembolü olmaktadır. Duvarlar ve kapılar kullanıcılarına güvenlik, mahremiyet ve ayrıcalıklı olmayı garanti etmektedir. Güvenlik koşulları ve 24 saat kontrollü kapılar kamusal erişimi önlemektedir. Bu yerleşimlerin sakinlerine yüksek standartta kentsel hizmetleri sunması üst gelir grubunun kent çeperlerinde yaşama eğilimini etkilemektedir. Kentin çeperlerinde bu tür konut alanlarının gelişimine imkân veren büyük arazilerin varlığı, kent merkezine kıyasla düşük arazi değerleri, doğa ile iç içe olan bu alanların yüksek gelir grubunun talepleri ile örtüşen cazip alanlar olması nedeniyle yerleşim için öncelikle tercih edilen alanlar olmuştur. 1999 Marmara depremi sonrasında özellikle kentin kuzey, kuzey-doğu bölgelerine olan talep bu olguyu daha da hızlandırmıştır. İstanbul’un kuzeyindeki orman alanları ve içme suyu havzalarını tehdit eden rant ağırlıklı yapılaşmaların son yıllarda politik tavizlerle de hızla arttığı görülmektedir. İstanbul’un orman alanlarını ve içme suyu havzalarını tehdit eden yaygın dokulu az yoğun konut gelişmelerinin alansal olarak tespit edilmesi konut alanlarının mekânsal yayılmasının boyutlarının belirlenmesi açısından önem taşımaktadır. Bu bakımdan bu çalışmada, İstanbul’da düşük yoğunluklu konut alanlarının yayılması çerçevesinde özel girişimciler tarafından üretilen üst gelir grubunun yaşadığı tek-aile konutlarından oluşan korunaklı yerleşimlerin mekânsal yer seçimi tercihleri, kentsel donatılarının, erişilebilirlik açısından değerlendirilmesi ve kullanıcılarının konut ve çevresinden memnuniyetlerinin belirlenmesine yönelik bir alan çalışmasının yapılması amaçlanmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kentsel yayılma, korunaklı konut gelişmeleri, düşük yoğunluklu konut gelişme alanları, tek-aile konutlarıGated neighborhoods represent a new form of urbanism where public spaces are privatized. They have become one of the symbols of metropolitan fragmentation and the increase of social segregation. The walls and gates ensure the users that they will have a secure, private and privileged life. On the other hand, high security elements and 24-hour guarded gates constitute an obstacle in front of public access. For this reason, the academic literature on planning dealing with gating is almost universally negative. The literature seems to suggest that gating contravenes professional planning principles of openness, access, diversity, and equity. Gated communities- enclaves of residents surrounded by walls, often with security guards- are becoming increasingly popular in Istanbul. This transformation began in the 1990's when the high-income groups, who had accumulated wealth in the aftermath of the 1980's, chose to escape from the dense life of the city center, leaving the heterogeneous residential areas behind. Instead, they showed a tendency to settle in isolated residential areas. As a result, new residences started to spread around the peripheries in Istanbul, whose developmental features complied with the expectations of living shared by families of the same cultural background and income level. These communities were equipped with special amenities, large variety of leisure activities, higher building standards and high-quality neighborhood environmental infrastructures. Neighborhood environmental structures include high-quality roads, walkways and landscapes, false-gated entrance pillars, luxurious street furniture, pocket open spaces. Encouraging car-ownership and use, gated communities have various consequences: congestion and pollution at considerable levels, q decrease in a sustainable public transport system are two examples among these consequences. They also increase the appearance of suburban car-based residential sprawl, leading to longer commuter journeys and congestion. The literature in this field has mainly focused on social and psychological issues, such as the impact of gated communities on social relationships. On the other hand, there are a few studies analyzing the spatial distribution of gated communities, which is linked to urban sprawl. Therefore, changes occurring with the growth and density of residential areas will give us an idea about the potential tendency of growth in the future. Because of the lack of comprehensive survey of gated communities at a local and metropolitan scale, this paper analyses the sprawl of gated single-family residential communities in Istanbul metropolitan area and aims to study spatial distribution of his communities and locational preferences. The study does not include multi-family urban developments. We worked to develop an inventory of single-family gated projects in Istanbul. In this study, in order to assess the factors that improve housing and environmental quality satisfaction, both the concepts of housing and its environment, and the subject of housing and environmental quality satisfaction have been investigated. The findings of this study are: although the target development of Istanbul metropolitan area's macro form has been determined to be linear on east-west direction, the course of this development has come to threaten forested areas and water basins towards the north. The spatial distribution of the gated communities is linked with the urban sprawl of Istanbul. Gated communities consisting of single-family housings are generally developed on low-density big lands, leading to rapid sprawl in Istanbul. These communities also cause social and physical polarizations since they are disconnected and isolated from their environment. These communities cannot be integrated into the metropolitan area plan because they are implemented in plans of multi-pieces. Thus they make up spots disconnected from other land uses on the plan. In this respect, it is crucial and urgent to develop strategies regarding the rapid sprawl of the gated communities within the development of housing areas in the Istanbul metropolitan area. Otherwise, the rapid destruction of natural areas and the Bosporus are at stake. Keywords: Urban sprawl, gated residential developments, low-density developments, single-family housing.