The Concept of “Smart Density Planning” Principles for Livable and Sustainable Urban Transformation

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this study is to contribute to sustainable and livable environments with the approach of “smart density planning”, which ensures a smart and planned growth with an acceptable density taking into consideration the efficient distribution of public spaces and services in urban regeneration areas in Turkey. There is a rapid urban transformation especially after the 2000s in Turkey in order to redevelop squatter settlements that have been built in order to respond to housing needs in rapid urbanization in cities unofficially and building areas that require improvement for structural resilience. However, there are significant problems confronting the process of regeneration. Squatter settlements have been demolished in order to create modern urban areas with better “physical conditions”. Multi-story housing blocks are the dominant shape of a new style of housing. Their scale and high number of flats provide shelter for more people on limited land and cause a high-pressure density which ignores the livability and socio-spatial needs of the inhabitants. Since housing is a condition more than a shelter, creating livable residential areas is a crucial issue. The paper first discusses the meaning, context, relation and importance of these terms in order. Moreover, a critical review of the “smart city” has been conducted in relation to the presented “smart density planning” concept in order to rethink urban transformations in terms of socio-spatial quality of inhabitants. The authors introduce this concept of “smart density planning”, which refers to the logical distribution of facilities and public spaces for overall inhabitants in efficient planning. Moreover, the proposed concept defines a morphology that takes into account the human scale and optimization of activity patterns in terms of smart planning, rather than a well-known definition of “smart cities” that is minimized to technological developments. Consequently, a framework has been composed to define the principles/indicators of “smart density planning” to ensure sustainable and livable urban transformation implementations in Turkey. These indicators assay how smart planning can be achieved in terms of density-based planning. This analytical framework also acts as a guideline to lead future neighborhood designs in Turkey.KeywordsUrban RegenerationDensitySmart PlanningLivabilityHousing Quality