Arzu Ispalar Cahantimur

By Arzu Ispalar Cahantimur

Part of the book: Urban Development

By Arzu Ispalar Çahantimur and Rengin Beceren Öztürk

This study presents the industrialization and urbanization processes of Bursa, considering the role of local governments regarding their supply of opportunities for the urban poor in order to improve their livelihoods during these processes. The study has focused on three different kinds of immigrant populations: immigrants from eastern and southeastern regions of Turkey, immigrants from Balkan countries and Syrian refugees. They all have been experiencing the challenges of such rapid urbanization. They are both the reason and the victims of this mostly illegal urban sprawl of the city. Besides urban regeneration studies, attempts for the social inclusion of these immigrant populations are also examined via an archival analysis carried out for the city of Bursa along with the interviews conducted with the key actors of the local governments. Although the conclusions are based on the case study, they are also relevant to other rapidly industrializing cities, which harbor populations of both immigration and domestic migrations.

Part of the book: Immigration and Development

By Arzu Ispalar Çahantimur and Gözde Kırlı Özer

This chapter presents the architectural graduate students’ works on exploring cultural identity of a palimpsest city in Turkey, İznik (Nicaea). These evaluative works, which were prepared in the context of time and space, include the interpretations of transformation of urban spaces throughout time and its effects on the identity of the city. At the end of their study, the fresh architects were conscious about the role of culture in the process of urban development. They had experienced how to investigate the ways of benefiting from city culture in favor of city identity. Putting stress on the efficient role of cultural factors composing identity of a city throughout time, the example studies and their proposals indicated in this chapter show that achieving sufficient and healthy urban environments could be possible with identifying the importance of culture and benefits of culture-led development and using it in architectural and urban design.

Part of the book: Culture and Identity