Speaker
Description
ABSTRACT
The ongoing trend since the 1980s is elucidated by scholars across several disciplines using the frameworks of globalization and neoliberalism. The field of urbanization and planning is no exception to this situation. Like many countries, after the 1980s, Turkey underwent significant socio-political changes that profoundly impacted the country's urban decisions. Structural adjustment with export promotion, control of capital inflows, the elimination of the controls on foreign capital transactions, and integration into the global markets with commodity trade liberalization were the main characteristics of this period. The neoliberal state understanding that began in the 1980s, developed as a result of policies regarding the restructuring of the state in the neoliberal period in the country. During this era, urban land has transformed into a commodity, significantly impacting capital accumulation through exchange value. For the neoliberal state, which seeks perpetual growth in urban regions, project developers and international investors are crucial to realizing this objective. In this context, central administrations appear to have carried out facilitating procedures to solve legal problems that may arise against project creators. In the context of facilitation, changes in existing laws, plans and/or new legal regulations, plans and institutional structures are put into effect. Large-scale investments resulting from these regulations have started to affect the urban silhouette and aesthetics. In Turkey, the government's economic policies are mainly focussed on tourism, housing and related construction sectors. The impact of tourism, housing and construction policies has had the effect of transforming urban spaces, but in this transformation, Istanbul's historical and natural environmental features and urban aesthetics have been mostly ignored. It has created uncertainties in the evaluation of urban silhouette and aesthetics.
This paper analyses the impact of the socio-political context on the evaluation of urban silhouette and aesthetics through three different examples in Istanbul. These three examples reflect different periods of neoliberal policy implementation. These examples are; ‘Süzer Plaza’, ‘Park Hotel’, and ‘9/16 Towers’. As is well documented, all three projects have been the subject of extensive debate in terms of their location in a protected historical environment and their direct impact on the urban skyline and aesthetics. The primary focus of the discourse surrounding these illustrations is the discord between modern and traditional urban design and vertical urbanisation, in terms of urban silhouette and aesthetics. In this study, the impact of these investments and structures on the urban silhouette and aesthetics, as well as the debates and legal actions that accompanied them, will be examined for each example based on the sociopolitical context of the time. The aim of the study is to consider the spatial area circumstances of these significant constructions, the legal dimension, the socio-political dynamics of the time, and the conversations that occurred.
The study's findings demonstrate that the socio-political context exerts a significant influence on the configuration and aesthetic principles employed in the processes under examination. This influence manifests differently, resulting in divergent resolutions for comparable issues in the context of urban law. This observation suggests that context influences the process in a circumstantial way.
| Keywords | Socio-Political Situation, Urban Interventions, Urban Silhouette and Aesthetic, Istanbul. |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
