Research Information System
Mimar.ist, vol.3, no.66, pp.89-100, 2019 (Peer-Reviewed Journal)
This study is about understanding and exploring the
potentials of undefined urban open spaces which are often referred to as
various negative associations such as neglected, empty, derelict, abandoned, waste,
etc. by citizens and designers. It has become increasingly vital to explore the
possibilities of participation of these spaces in public life due to various
complicated urban problems of the period we are in. The approaches to undefined
urban open spaces vary depending on their different historical values and
existing characteristics. For this reason, it is necessary to investigate
diversified urban intervention approaches in each city. Accordingly, this
article is a descriptive and interpretative study that focuses on finding the
distinctive characteristics of undefined urban open spaces. The aim of the
study is to uncover the problems and potentials of undefined spaces by analyzing
the concepts from a spatial point of view and to determine the effective
criteria for the reintegration of these spaces in our cities. In the study,
observations are made in Levent District on Büyükdere Avenue axis which was
located on the periphery of Istanbul until the 1950s. As a result, undefined
urban spaces are tried to be conceptualized through three-stage methodology in
order to identify these areas through the factors affecting them and their
distinctive qualities, to comprehend their problems and to reveal their
potentials.