Code of Conduct in Disaster Response Urban and Architectural Planning Perspective in İstanbul

Abstract

İstanbul is considered one of the most vulnerable metropolitan areas for natural disasters, especially earthquakes. Although, it has taken advanced steps in disaster preparedness and early warning, it still faces many problems related to urban planning, and architectural design of buildings, due to the absence of clear and specific planning control system and design requirements for disaster. From the perspective of urban planning, this study investigates the dominant features shaping the urban planning elements in İstanbul, while focusing on the main factors creating the current situation. In addition, this study focuses on analyzing both the current applications and future strategies, like urban transformation projects, which are being implemented to mitigate the effects of the future disasters. For this purpose, some key parameters such as high population density in some districts, building heights and road width ratios, the close-interference between industrial and residential areas, as well as public and private buildings life cycle are investigated. Moreover, standardization of urban transformation implementations is evaluated. In the study, a mixed analytical method (qualitative and quantitative) is used, including statistics and surveys, to collect and analyze data from different resources. Then a comparative approach is applied to conclude the results. Five case studies; namely main Esenler bus station, and urban planning of Fatih, İkitelli, Zeytinburnu and Başakşehir districts, are presented as pilot projects for better understanding their conditions and generalize the results over the city. The problems in the selected samples lay in the difficulty of evacuating and rescuing the people during and after disasters. The results seek to propose amendments to the existing planning status of the existing areas, as well as to suggest new conditions for future urban planning.