Due to the employment opportunities in the cities after the Industrial Revolution, there has been intense migration from rural to urban areas. There has been a rapid construction process in order to meet the housing needs of the increasing population in the cities. Unplanned urban development has led to the destruction of green areas. As a solution to this problem, green roof applications in urban centers have gained popularity. Urbanization, which has been realized within the framework of the principles of sustainable urban development, has been a crucial requirement for the physical and mental health of future generations.

The aim of this study is to investigate the green roof awareness of the visitors of Zorlu Center located in Besiktas, Istanbul. Zorlu Center, which can be defined as mall and urban living space hosts about 30-40 thousand visitors per day with its shopping units, eating-drinking spaces, cinema, performance arts center, public green space and a public courtyard. The social perception of the green roof, which is defined as an urban balcony, -by its architect, located in an intensively used area, has been questioned. Perception enables people to critique, interpret, distinguish and analyze their environment according to their internal values to adapt to the environment. Perception in this study; It has been associated with socio-demographic characteristics such as age, education, familiarity, culture , and attitudes. A field survey was conducted with 100 Zorlu Center users in different age groups, living in Besiktas district of Istanbul. In this context, a survey was designed to measure the impact of the green roof, which has gained public space function, on the imaginary expression of Zorlu Center. The questionnaire consists of four parts. The first part contains the demographic information of the participants. The second section questions the reasons for coming to the shopping center, to determine the preference priority for the use of the green roof in the city. The third part is based on the perception of the necessity of the green element in daily life in order to reveal the perceptual effect of the urban balcony on the imaginative effect of the visitors. The raw data collected by the questionnaire was evaluated by using the statistical program.

The most significant result of this study is that most of the participants are aware of the need to develop a green roof in Istanbul. This study shows that the commercial environment in the urban area, which has green elements such as the green roof, helps to renew and revitalize the city. It has been found that the green roof application in Zorlu Center attracted the users from the settlements in its close vicinity, such as Levent, Ortakoy, Gayrettepe and Dikilitas. The people came to Zorlu Center, especially to this green area, for leisure time activities. The green roof application at Zorlu Center has positively affected the users of different age groups, in terms of physical and mental health. In addition to its ecological and aesthetic objectives, green roof applications are gaining importance as a space that provides usage as a recreation area which is very close to the urban residents. Considering the positive effect of the city silhouette, it has been found that green roof applications have a positive effect on sustainable urban development, especially in high-density city centers.