Study for a morphological assessment: Impact of a new project on urban form of Galata, Istanbul

Abstract

Cities are in a continuous process with the change and re-adaptation of different parts. Cities are deliberately planned under different socio-economic, natural, religious, and political conditions in different historical periods. While cities are growing, new urban projects are planned that will affect urban morphology. Thus, the research problem is that new urban design projects require planning and integrated policy in interaction with the city. One of the aspects of ensuring this is examining the city from the historical point of view and comprehending urban morphology analysis. Within this framework, the Galata Region is chosen as the study area. The main reason for choosing the study area is; that it is thought the planning of the Galataport Project, the characteristics of the district and its impact should be questioned. Therefore, the study aims to first determine the change and development of the Galata Region over time with the Conzenian approach. In this section, historical maps of the area will be examined through the spatial development of the city, and the determination of the areas affected by the planning decisions will be revealed. Morphological region analysis will be done to identify the focus area boundary. Secondly, the aim is to reveal the impact of the Galataport Project on the region and on the use of the coastline by space syntax method. In this part, the effect of the Galataport Project will be explained comparatively by axiality, convexity, integration and intelligibility, and synergy concept through the 1980 and 2020 maps. As a result, it is seen that the study area has its spatial characteristics, cultural values, and historical process. In the general analysis of the area, it is seen that the old city center is seen as a high potential area for transformation due to its central location. The old city center plays a central role in the marketing of the city because of its economic potential. New design projects are done in the study area because of the transformation potential. It is observed that the Galataport project together with the morphological structure led to functional changes in the field and caused differences in the characteristics of the use of space. It has affected the area and old trading functions began to transform the leisure and tourism sector. Lastly, recommendations are given according to the results.