Critical Review of Recent Waterfront Regeneration Projects in Istanbul

Abstract

Today, waterfronts are the most important urban areas which reflect the competitive development strategies of 21st century cities, and they are the locations hosting large investments targeting the regeneration of abandoned port areas and their economic revitalization and the sustainability of the urban economies. Within the global scale, in the interurban competition, waterfront regeneration projects shape the relationships between places, uses and visions, and offer extraordinary opportunities by investigating the harbor, city functions and their economic, environmental, social aspects. Along with the globalization of the economy, now the competition between the countries left its place to interurban competitions and sea and port cities have become laboratories for urban regeneration processes which develop residential, commercial, tourism and recreational functions. In Turkey, projects including Istanbul Galataport, Haydarpasa Port and Kartal urban regeneration projects which came to the agenda with Global City Istanbul Vision in the recent years, are discussed with great debate. Examining the development processes of waterfront regeneration projects, it's been observed that these projects have received great criticism from chambers and civil society organizations and there has been a great impact on the public, due to projection without the preparation of the infrastructures, and adequately sharing and discussing, disabling the local governments and carrying out through the central government channel, function choices not taking the planning policies into account, annuity based approaches, remotely holistic and non-participatory planning processes. This study aims to bring suggestions especially on the planning and design processes of waterfront regeneration projects of Turkey by focusing on the development processes of them.