Cultural Valley Urban Regeneration Pilot Project
Istanbul, Turkey, 2006 - 2008
Opdrachtgevers
Royal Haskoning DHV
Zeytinburnu Municipality, Istanbul Technical University
Partners
Agenda
Pilot project in participatory planning & placemaking in historic city district
Zeytinburnu: a pilot for urban regeneration
Following the 1999 Marmara earthquake, the City of Istanbul passed a New Urban Regeneration Act in 2005 to establish a more comprehensive and rapid redevelopment approach to redevelop densely populated historic urban districts. One of the innovative elements was to encompass more than just the physical aspects of a neighbourhood but also social and economic factors such as enhancement of community life, collective activities and public spaces. The act also allowed for a more participatory approach to urban planning and design moving away from the traditional top-down discourse. The historic districts of Zeytinburnu, an Ottoman neighbourhood adjacent to the old city wall of Istanbul was appointed a pilot area for urban regeneration. The planning team of the municipality embarked on a testcase to see how the new act would influence planning in real practice at a local level.
“After the earthquake the role of local governments changed, this created opportunities, but also raised questions: What kind of institutional changes can we expect? How should local community be involved in this process?”
- Özlem Özçevik, Istanbul Technical University
As part of the MATRA programme, a team of Dutch consultants supported the urban planning unit of Zeytinburnu Municipality in this testcase. Over the course of two years, we worked together to redesign a public square and community space involving Zeytinburnu residents.
We researched the history of the square, articulated place narratives and collected local stories, memories and personal anecdotes from heritage enthusiasts and local students
We organised a series of workshops, inviting these residents of different age groups together to share stories. We used these workshops to also solicit different place perceptions and ideas for the future of the square
We developed five alternative scenarios based on the multivoiced resident’s input
The scenarios were presented at a Zeytinburnu cultural festival, so the wider neighbourhood population had the opportunity to voice their compliments and concerns on the different scenarios
Based on the comments one scenario was further developed into a design for the square and community hub, which was opened in 2008
Alongside the design, we developed a proposal for PPP investment into revitalisation of historic properties based on a model of heritage & housing societies commonly used in the Netherlands like Hendrick de Keyser, BOEI and Stadsherstel
“How to plan in a participatory way? The Cultural Valley Project showed convincingly how this can be done in the local Zeytinburnu context.”
- Kadir Topbaş, Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM)
Opdrachtgevers
Partners
