CHANGES IN NEIGHBOURHOODS NEAR URBAN TRANSFORMATION AREAS: IZMIR (TURKEY) EXAMPLE

Abstract

The location of a neighbourhood near an urban transformation zone causes physical and social changes in its housing-built environment. To date, many urban and social researchers have examined changes in neighbourhoods before and after urban transformation. However, few have studied the effects of transformation on nearby neighbourhoods. The purpose of this study is to examine changes in this kind of effect in Yalı Quarter (İzmir, Turkey). The methodology includes participant observation for 7 years, temporal photograph comparison, and interviews with residents. The findings on physical and morphological changes in the built environment show the changes from one or two-storey houses to 5-7-storey apartments, new streets, public spaces, facilities, and new modes of transportation. The findings on the perspectives and daily lives of neighbourhood residents include both the difficulties of sustaining some habits (e.g., washing carpets and feeding animals become more difficult in balconies of apartments than terraced roofs and house gardens) and relationships with neighbours and the advantages of “new life” (e.g., physical durability of the new buildings and improved heating systems). The decision-makers are recommended to consider the people living in the transforming and nearby neighbourhoods, their daily life practices, and social processes while making changes in the physical environment and to prefer gradual changes rather than the transformation of the whole neighbourhood at once.