Speaker
Description
The question of what constitutes a waterfront presents significant ambiguities in urban studies. Existing definitions often oversimplify the waterfront as either the boundary between land and water or as a narrow extension of this line, underestimating the complex reciprocity between the waterfront and the inland built environment. This reductive framing leads to fragmented terminologies and inconsistent interpretations, particularly regarding the "interface" between water and urban form.
Scholarly literature predominantly associates the urban waterfront interface with ports, perceiving them as primary entities connecting water to the city. However, this focus on ports overlooks the diverse interfaces created by other waterfront elements, such as historical sites, residential developments, or campuses. In cities like Istanbul, where coastal edges feature a mix of port-related and urban infrastructures, the concept of the urban frontier requires redefinition to capture these variations.
Istanbul’s coastline is unlike many global cities, as it is not dominated by port-related infrastructure but rather features a mixture of residential, historical, and educational areas. Divided by the Bosphorus Strait, the city has undergone significant urban transformations since the establishment of the Turkish Republic. Neoliberal policies since the 1980s have accelerated land speculation in both directly and indirectly waterfront-connected areas, resulting in the formation of diverse interfaces. Despite this speculation, Istanbul continues to reshape its waterfront, creating transitional zones between land and sea. While existing studies often focus on coastline extensions and industrial heritage, this research advocates for a more refined understanding by redefining the urban frontier and classifying waterfront interfaces to reveal the underlying neoliberal forces at play.
To achieve this, the study challenges the port-centric paradigm by conceptualizing the waterfront as an urban frontier, composed of fragmented interfaces. It explores the degrees of direct and indirect connections between water and inland areas, distinguishing interfaces not only by visual and physical proximity but also by their influence on land speculation and urban form. Through a typo-morphological analysis of Istanbul’s coastal regions—examining building blocks, street patterns, and topography—this study develops a taxonomy of waterfront interfaces.
| Keywords | waterfront interfaces; urban frontier; typo-morphological analysis; Istanbul; taxonomy of interfaces |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
