Handan Türkoğlu

Purpose: This study examines the relationship between leisure satisfaction and perceived quality of urban life in Istanbul. It advocates a policy shift from facility-centric planning toward experience-informed design that prioritizes psychosocial well-being. Design/methodology/approach: Using the Marans–Mohai framework, the research involved stratified sampling across nine neighborhood typologies based on density and land value. Analysis of 1,188 household surveys employed exploratory factor analysis, inverse distance weighting spatial interpolation and hierarchical block regression. Findings: Leisure satisfaction is the second most critical determinant of perceived urban quality of life, ranking only behind health and family. Perceived environmental quality including safety and maintenance predicts satisfaction more strongly than physical usage frequency. Research limitations/implications: The investigation focuses predominantly on spatial dimensions, omitting direct measurements of individual physical health outcomes and longitudinal behavioral shifts. Practical implications: Local governments should prioritize improvements such as safety, aesthetics and social programming over merely constructing new facilities. Inclusive pricing and access policies are recommended to reconnect local residents with central cultural assets. Social implications: Leisure privatization within gated communities deepens urban fragmentation and limits equitable access. Creating high-quality, non-commercial public spaces in peripheral zones is essential for fostering spatial justice. Originality/value: The research integrates objective–subjective indicators to capture the phenomenological complexity of leisure in megacities. It identifies the “education paradox” and the transformation of public leisure into “club goods” in rapidly urbanizing contexts.

This article examines Bahçeşehir as an originally planned satellite town whose spatial and social fabric has been reshaped through incremental transformations rather than formal urban renewal. While urban change in Türkiye is predominantly discussed through state-led regeneration and large-scale interventions, comparatively little attention has been paid to how gradual, everyday modifications within planned residential environments accumulate over time and affect residents’ lived experience. Addressing this gap, the study investigates how incremental changes in residential open spaces reshape everyday practices and residents’ perceptions of urban quality of life. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, including in-depth interviews, field observations, and visual–spatial documentation, the analysis employs a systematic thematic coding process using MAXQDA to trace the evolving relationships between planning ideals, governance arrangements, and everyday spatial practices. The findings reveal three interrelated dynamics. First, the gradual fragmentation and partial privatization of open spaces undermined their collective functions. Second, incremental densification and infrastructural pressures reshaped mobility patterns and everyday accessibility. Third, governance ambiguities weakened residents’ sense of ownership, institutional trust, and neighbourhood cohesion. By conceptualizing governance-driven incremental transformation, the study demonstrates how the erosion of planning principles unfolds not through abrupt interventions but through cumulative spatial, institutional, and social shifts. The case of Bahçeşehir contributes to debates on suburban development, open space governance, and urban quality of life by highlighting how governance restructuring operates as a critical yet often overlooked driver of long-term urban transformation in planned residential environments.

"It is possible to reduce or eliminate the damages that may occur as a result of natural hazards during the urban planning process with risk-oriented urban planning. Strategies to reduce urban risks are developed according to the data obtained during the risk analysis process. Social and physical elements and regions that are at risk should be identified and plans and projects should be developed to take measures to increase the durability of settlements. Strategies for risk reduction from a sustainability perspective in the urban planning process; protect the natural environment, taking into account ecological limits; reduce land and resource consumption; to make infrastructure, transportation and emergency systems resilient, to organize the organizations required by disaster management, to inform and raise public awareness, to adopt a holistic planning approach that addresses environmental, social and economic goals as a whole; it can be considered as distributing resources and opportunities equally and fairly. It should be essential that the approaches to be developed within the framework of these strategies be implemented in a healthy and environmentally friendly manner and with a participatory management and planning approach. Risk-oriented urban planning is important in reducing risks and increasing resilience. Although important steps have been taken in disaster management in Türkiye in last 25 years, the efforts have not been fully reflected in practice since the work carried out at the local level has been limited. Within the scope of this study, the importance of urban risk analysis and risk-oriented urban planning to be carried out based on scientific data, strategies that can be developed within the framework of the protection of the natural environment, land use planning and construction, infrastructure and transportation planning, strengthening of emergency services, informing the public about risks, decision-making in riskoriented urban planning. The roles, duties and responsibilities of developers and urban planners are explained under the headings of administrative process, tools, parameters and frameworks, planning design and management."

Ageing comes with several discomforts such as a decline in mobility and losses in social networks as well as societal roles. Therefore, improving the life satisfaction of older adults has become a significant policy focus for delivering age-friendliness in national and international movements in the living environment. The hypothesis of the current study is that older people, who live in urban neighbourhoods that provide safe, aesthetic and accessible environments, experience greater life satisfaction. Accessibility, attractiveness and attachment as the three key dimensions of life satisfaction were used to understand the key aspects of the life satisfaction of older people in the neighbourhoods and how the urban environment serves as an indicator. This research consists of two steps. The first step involved in-depth interviews with the older adults aged over 65 in different urban areas, the district of Fatih and Şişli in the city of Istanbul, Turkey, with sampling based on the diversity, heterogeneity and urban functions. Second, these urban areas were analysed using space syntax to understand the street network and connectivity to reveal the urban structure. The qualitative and quantitative findings were analysed comparatively. The study concluded that when attachment to the place is supported by walkability and psychical enticing, the older adults experience a higher level of life satisfaction. Additionally, financial independence serves as a backup solution to access a better environment. This comparative analysis also highlights a mixed method for policymakers to analyse the urban environment and makes room for older adults to raise their voices and participate in the policy and planning process.

Sağlıklı bir çevrenin başarılı bir şekilde oluşturulabilmesindeki en temel gösterge, kentte yaşayan tüm bireylerin özellikle dezavantajlı olarak nitelendirebileceğimiz, mobilitesi kısıtlı ve çevreye bağımlı olan yaşlılar, çocuklar, hamileler, özürlüler, bebek arabası ve yük taşıyanların kamusal alanlara ve hizmetlere erişebilmesi aynı zamanda eşit kullanım hakkına sahip olabilmesidir. Bu çalışmada dezavantajlı grupların kentsel çevre ile ilişkisi üç temel başlıkta toplanmıştır. Kentsel Çevre Kalitesi ve Konfor (K1) bağlamında bireylerin kentsel çevreye adapte olmalarının kolaylaştırılması için hareketliliklerinin desteklendiği, topoğrafya ile uyumlu, güvenli, gündelik ihtiyaçlarının yürüme mesafesinde karşılandığı, kullanışlı konut tasarımına sahip bir çevrenin sunulması gerekmektedir. Kamu Ulaşımı ve Erişimi (K2) çerçevesinde her tip kamusal alana erişilebilirliği uygun fiyatlı, kolay kullanılabilen, güvenli ve farklı seçenekler sunan kamu ulaşım türleri ile sağlanmalıdır. Komşuluk ve Sosyal ilişkiler (K3) ise bireylerin topluma ve toplumsal aktivitelere katılımın teşvik edildiği, kendilerini toplumun bir parçası olarak görebildikleri kentsel çevre de yaşamaları ile mümkündür. Sonuç olarak bu etkenler dezavantajlı grupların toplumsal hayata aktif katılımın ve uyumun aynı zamanda sağlıklarının temel anahtarları kabul edilebilir.

In the second half of the 20th century, urban waterfront development began in North America and spread around the world. During the development process, urban waterfronts were assigned various functions, however following their spatial transformation, various problems such as weak interaction with water, weak physical accessibility, and the loss of historical identity have occurred directly affecting open spaces. Since the 19th century, the transformation of Istanbul waterfronts has occurred in parallel to the urban development process but without being a part of holistic planning approach. In time, the loss of open spaces, the lack of qualities such as the spatial interaction with water, the weak accessibility by public transportation and the lack of diversity for recreational activities have grown into common problems. This article discusses the results of a study focused on the spatial characteristics of open spaces especially referring to historical waterfronts (Eminönü, Karaköy, Kadıköy, Üsküdar, Beşiktaş) in consideration with the qualities of ‘water-based environment’, ‘connectivity and continuity’, ‘imageability’, ‘compatibility’ and ‘looseness’.

Kentsel açık alanlar tarih boyunca kentte yaşayanların bir araya geldiği ve sosyalleştiği alanlar olmuştur. Kamusal alanlar olarak da kabul edilen kentsel açık alanların rolü, içinde bulunduğumuz yüzyılda küreselleşme, özelleştirme, gayrimenkul politikaları ve kentsel dönüşüm projeleri ile değişime uğramıştır. Bu çalışmada, kentsel alan olarak kullanma potansiyeli olan ancak kullanıcı aktiviteleri için kısıtlı bir mekansal altyapı sunan Galata Köprüsünün Karaköy ayağındaki meydan, kamusal mekan ve yaşamı konu alan literatür çerçevesinde değerlendirilmektedir. Bu kapsamda söz konusu alanın kamusal açık alan olarak kentsel sisteme katılma potansiyeli, alanın fiziksel özellikler ve çekiciliği, erişilebilirlik, kullanım, aktivite türleri ve yer kimliği başlıklarında gözlem ve görüşme tekniğiyle yapılan analizlere dayalı olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Gözlem ve görüşme sonuçlarına göre kuvvetli kimliği olan ve kullanıcılarca tercih edilen alan fiziksel koşulları açısından gereksinimleri karşılamaktan uzaktır. Genel olarak sonuçlar alanın, bir yandan kamusal alan olarak kullanım potansiyelini diğer yandan kısıtlarını ortaya koymaktadır.

The extensive use of smartphones in our everyday lives has created new modes of appropriation and behavior in public spaces. Recognition of these are essential for urban design and planning practices which help us to improve the relationship between humans, technologies, and urban environment. This study aims to research smartphone users in public space by observing their altering visual attention and walking behavior, and, in this way, to reveal the emergent “new figures”. For this purpose, Korenmarkt square in Ghent, Belgium, was observed for seven days in 10-min time intervals. The gaze and walking behavior of smartphone users were encoded as geo-located and temporal data, analyzed and mapped using statistical and spatial analysis methods. Developing and implementing new methods for identifying the characteristics of smartphone users, this study resulted in a nuanced characterization of novel spatial appropriations. The findings led to a better understanding and knowledge of the different behavior patterns of emergent figures such as “post-flâneurs” and “smartphone zombies” while uncovering their altering visual interactions with and movements in the public space. The results evoked questions on how researchers and designers can make use of spatial analysis methods and rethink the public space of the future as a hybrid construct integrating the virtual and the physical.