A Geographic Approach to Leisure Spaces in Istanbul

Abstract

The need for the leisure spaces has a growing importance in the contemporary urban system that is a product of the relationship between housing and working. Leisure is defined as an individual need in related disciplines as leisure spaces are the main components of the cities that promise higher urban experience and quality. Adequacy, variety, accessibility, publicity, distribution and quality of the leisure spaces have positive effects on the satisfaction of households in today's cities as inputs to the quality of life policies of urban management. Therefore, the importance of the leisure studies that analysis the current state of the leisure spaces in terms of norms, standards and perception of residents is growing for the urban managers whose liability is to increase quality of life in cities. By objectively analyzing the location, distribution, accessibility and service area of the leisure spaces, this study aims to provide insights to metropolitan planning policies in Istanbul which is the most important metropolis of the Turkey. Leisure spaces in this study is categorized as recreation places (parks / green spaces and sport areas), social and cultural facilities and shopping centers. These leisure categories have analyzed and illustrated by the techniques of geographical information systems such as mapping, measuring geographic distribution and network analyst. As the main results of the study, there is a significant difference both in between activity categories and various places in urban space in terms of spatial distribution and service areas. In the future planning actions, these results which indicate serious problems in terms of spatial justice, would be a good starting point for the local government's livability policies and environmental satisfaction of the residents.