ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

Defining typologies in the Bosphorus: Alternative Approaches for Future Proof Urban Coasts

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 06 | URBAN CULTURES AND LIVED HERITAGE

Speaker

Dr Bahar Aksel (Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Dept. of City and Regional Planning)

Description

Coasts have always been preferred living spaces with the wide range of opportunities they offer. In addition to benefiting from natural resources, coastal cities are also preferred settlements with their advantages in terms of trade. In addition to the daily life shaped by the coast, large-scale functions such as ports, warehouses and shipyards play a major role in the formation of the economies and lifestyles of cities and in defining the common life established with the sea.
In the 21st century, the conditions of globalization have transformed coastal areas from a place where the daily lives of city dwellers become spectacular investment areas. Investments in coastal areas have come to be seen as flashy spaces that will bring cities to the global stage. Thus, coasts have become commodified, consumed spaces and the balance between publicness and use has changed according to market conditions (Shaw, 2026). While the global climate crisis discussions that have started to occupy the agenda in the last 10 years have defined important problem areas in all cities, the water crisis and rising sea level projections due to warming have brought the relationship with water resources and coastal areas to the agenda (Van Veelen et al. 2018, Demiroğlu et al., 2016). Water-sensitive urban design approaches have brought water-sensitive spatial practices to the forefront in cities and brought solutions to ensure the water cycle to the agenda. However, these approaches have often been limited to engineering solutions.
However, in an era of unpredictable crises, it is important to create resilient societies, by remembering the place of water and the coast in the culture of urban life and the symbiotic bond between nature and man. Throughout history, natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, landslides...) have not resulted in the abandonment of coastal cities. A similar situation can be foreseen for the future crises. Identifying typologies of urban living and coastal use in harmony with nature, specific to cities, can be a tool for adaptation to new conditions and adaptation to the future.

The aim of this study is to recall the culture of living in coastal cities with the sea by analyzing the behavioral settings in the coastal sections. Defining typologies based on these settings and coastal culture can enhance cities to be resilient and develop adaptation scenarios against climate change or rising seas levels with the perspective of adaptive daily life and future proof coastal culture.

In the coastal city of Istanbul, the natural structures and o lifestyles offered by the Black Sea and Marmara coasts and the Bosphorus coasts are different from each other. The Bosphorus culture, has created a life intertwined with the sea and unique coastal uses. The coastal fillings that began in the 1980s physically changed the coastal areas and transformed daily life practices. By providing a continuous connection through the coast, these fillings have defined a new interface of use. On the other hand, they have created areas at risk of earthquakes.

This study examines the physical transformations of the coastal lines and sections since the 1980s, and analyzes the changes in functional distribution and uses through physical space determinations. The topographical structure, the coastal edge line and the physical combination of the sea and the coast constitute the natural environmental data. Archive researches (postcards, photos) will determine the daily life dimension of the behavioral settings. Study area focuses on the Emirgan-Sarıyer coast and the Beykoz coast of the Bosphorus, which have been relatively less degraded in terms of zoning practices and profit-oriented constructions; and the Beşiktaş and Üsküdar squares and piers, which have changed drastically.

References

Demiroğlu, D., Çoban, A., & Cengiz, A. E. (2016). “Sustainable Use of Water in Urban Design”. Hacettepe Journal of Biology and Chemistry, 44(2), 193-203.
Donofrio, Julie; Kuhn, Yvana; McWalter, Kerry; Winsor, Mark (2009). "Research Article: Water-Sensitive Urban Design: An Emerging Model in Sustainable Design and Comprehensive Water-Cycle Management". Environmental Practice. 11 (3): 179–189.
Scarpa, L. (2023) Salty Urbanism A Design Manual for Sea Level Rise Adaptation in Urban Areas, ORO Editions.
Shaw, K. (2026) The Squander and Salvage of Global Urban Waterfronts, Palgrave Macmillan.
Van Veelen, P., Stone, K. & Jeuken, A. (2018). “Planning resilient urban waterfronts using adaptive pathways” ICE Themes Flood Resilience, Doi:10.1680/itfr.63938.003.