Speaker
Description
The transformation of urban systems in the 21st century has been marked by the fact that cities are increasingly viewed as self-organizing, open systems shaped by dynamic, nonlinear, and adaptive processes. This study explores the evolution of İzmir’regionalization and centralization tendencies from the 1950s to the present, employing a dual-phase methodology that integrates exogenous and endogenous analyses by using sub-fractal and space syntax analyses in regional scale.
The exogenous phase investigates regionalization tendencies in İzmir through macro-scale morphological transformations using sub-fractal analysis. Fractal dimensions were calculated for metropolitan, provincial, and district scales based on road networks and administrative boundaries. Sub-fractal analysis disaggregates the urban system into smaller components, revealing that the complexity of individual parts often diverges from the fractal dimension of the entire system. This divergence highlights the heterogeneous nature of urban systems, which are neither perfectly scale-free nor entirely self-similar. Box sizes for sub-fractal analysis were determined based on system size and temporal intervals, with analyses conducted for four periods: (i) 1950s–1960s, (ii) 1970s–1980s, (iii) 1990s–2000s, and (iv) post-2010.
The findings highlight distinct patterns in İzmir’s regionalization transformation. During the first period (1959–1964), rural patterns exhibited higher complexity than urban centers and the provincial scale, reflecting fragmented early urbanization. In the second period (1976–1980), regionalization tendencies strengthened as the overall complexity of the system surpassed that of its parts. The highest fractal dimensions were observed in central İzmir, Karşıyaka, and Bayraklı. By the third period (1996–2000), a prominent north-south axis of high fractal dimensions emerged, signaling increased spatial consolidation. In the most recent period (2012–2017), fractal dimensions declined across İzmir, including in districts surrounding the Gulf, indicating a plateau in urban growth and a redistribution of regional complexity.
The endogenous phase examines centralization tendencies in İzmir’s urban system using space syntax analysis, focusing on the configurational properties of road networks. Inspired by patchwork theory, the study evaluates metric inter-segment relationships within restricted radii (500m, 1000m, 2000m, 5000m, 10000m, 20000m, and 50000m), representing walking and commuting distances. Correlations between syntactic measures at these radii were calculated for each period to determine the radii best capturing local complexity. These radii were then used to inform the box sizes for sub-fractal analysis. Findings reveal that centralization radii decreased until the 1990s–2000s but began increasing again in subsequent periods due to the sprawling nature of the urban form, reflecting shifts in urban centrality.
In this dual perspective exogenous analyses reveal overarching regionalization tendencies, emphasizing interactions and integration among settlements. In contrast, endogenous analyses capture centralization dynamics, focusing on the internal organization of the urban system. The integration of sub-fractal and space syntax methods synthesizes these perspectives, offering complexity maps that reflect both macro-scale trends and localized nuances in İzmir’s morphological development. By analyzing İzmir’s settlement patterns over multiple decades, this research shows the interplay between regionalization and centralization tendencies in shaping urban morphology. This regional morphology analysis study is considered to offer a perspective for developing integrated models for analyzing urban and regional complexity.
| Keywords | Urban Morphology, Regionalization,Centralization, Sub-Fractal Analysis, Space Syntax. |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
