hi Buddies,
Today I woke up to the rather sensitive political situation as I was jogging into a normally tourist friendly square (Tashaluke), I would like to draw a comparison between the heavy police presence that was evident everywhere and the removal of the Sulukule people, this would be dangerous, but I shall try any way. The intimidation of the disciplined regiments of police echoes the determination that the authorities have displayed in turfing the Sulukule residents out. The laid back attitude of the police getting lunch as there was evidently not enough work for the many thousands of them, is a little bit like the civil societies and trade unions managing to get noticed, to bring the city to near chaos to bring their cause to the public eye, without causing much violence.
Sulukule is organized and also knows the power of organizing and the media as tactics to put political pressure on the authorities. This may not prevent inevitable eviction, but it buys time for negotiation and brings political clout to their cause.
We met the Agenda 21 staff members for the Middle East, they explained to us some interesting points about local governments, their structure and where the real power lies. A 21 is international NGO that encourages institutionalization of a process that came out of the Rio 1992 conference. It invites people from all the organized groups in a municipality to a meeting to create a group which will try to improve the situation of the city town or village by working together to cultivate the power of collective organization and action. They have created Local councils which appoint working groups that work on specific issues for instance urban design or education. The main speaker for the meeting was late due to the disruptions of the May 1st demonstrations, they were a stark difference from the radical activism of the labour day disrupters, they use quite diplomacy which was very impressive given the miniscule staff.
Before we spent another evening working the Budd team managed to have a stroll back from the A21 offices to the hotel through the touristic areas near the blue mosque back to the Golden horn, we witnessed the powerful effect of tourism to transform the city for the better in terms of physical improvements, but whether the communities that had to be displaced to allow the tourist to move in is something that we will never know.
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Fatih Municipality Meeting
Based on the work of the last year BUDD group, we have been invited to meet with the Mayor of Fatih Municipality and with members of the CBO called the Sulukule Platform. Thus, we have been able to establish a development dialogue with them, getting the different perspectives of these actors regarding the Renovation Program and its implementation.
After hearing their interests and priorities, we have a better idea of the process of transformation that Istanbul is going through, and what this implies for the civil society and the government. Now we have to make a choice about the issues we want to focus on during the next two weeks and justify that decision. So far we have agreed in the importance of the preservation and the conservation of heritage (tangible & intangible), and the issue of the relocation and resettlement of the Sulukule community. But how to link these objectives is part of the struggle of defining the scope of our project, however, we have been advised to chose the needs that we can effectively address in order to make a final decision and start working.
Sorry again
Sorry for my mistake about Roman and Romani.
So as I see, there is some interactions between the people in Sulukule and the City Walls. But it is not enough. In this term the people in Sulukule have no strong reason they must live in this place. But it doesn't matter. We have the Walls and the Roma community there. But what we got today is that the Roma are the minority (17%), and in fact the majority of them don't have the talent of singing and dancing. And they will be relocated in June (right?), so we don't have time to make a tourism plan. Therefore, we will try to address it in another way. That is what we talked about in the evening.
Personally I prefer to do a conservation plan for the heritage because we will meet the relocation problem during the planinng. Because I have made several conservation plans before, relocation is a very important and most expensive part. And there are a lot of aspects we can do to analyse, evaluate and preserve the heritage.
But we want to put both in the same weigh (right?). personally I don't think it is a good idea because conservation is not just relocation, and relocation is not the best way of conservation sometimes. I think there should be only one topic. Now it looks like we want to analyse every thing, but maybe we can't touch the core of these issues. What do you think?
Based on my background, conservation will be very interesting. But as an urban designer, relocation may be a challenge. that's just my thoughts. Whatever, both is ok for me.
Good night.
So as I see, there is some interactions between the people in Sulukule and the City Walls. But it is not enough. In this term the people in Sulukule have no strong reason they must live in this place. But it doesn't matter. We have the Walls and the Roma community there. But what we got today is that the Roma are the minority (17%), and in fact the majority of them don't have the talent of singing and dancing. And they will be relocated in June (right?), so we don't have time to make a tourism plan. Therefore, we will try to address it in another way. That is what we talked about in the evening.
Personally I prefer to do a conservation plan for the heritage because we will meet the relocation problem during the planinng. Because I have made several conservation plans before, relocation is a very important and most expensive part. And there are a lot of aspects we can do to analyse, evaluate and preserve the heritage.
But we want to put both in the same weigh (right?). personally I don't think it is a good idea because conservation is not just relocation, and relocation is not the best way of conservation sometimes. I think there should be only one topic. Now it looks like we want to analyse every thing, but maybe we can't touch the core of these issues. What do you think?
Based on my background, conservation will be very interesting. But as an urban designer, relocation may be a challenge. that's just my thoughts. Whatever, both is ok for me.
Good night.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
my idea about Sulukule
hi Buddies,
Based on the information we collected during the last week, I have some thoughts about Sulukule. Just some personal ideas. If you are interested in, please tell me your comments and suggestions.
Firstly, as I saw, there is little relationship between the people in Sulukule and the Walls. The renters don't go to the Walls for some social activities. And on the other hand, there is little linkages between the renters and the place, by which I mean the renters living in Sulukule don't work in the factories. They just earn their lives in their houses or do some music-related jobs, because of the culture of Roma. So in another word, there is no strong reason that people "must" live in Sulukule, in the sense that their livelihoods and culture are based on the community per se, not based on the place where they occupy. From this angle, relocation seems to be a good choice for the municipality due to their needs of the land.
However, relocation is disaster to the renters because they are not the owners. If the municipality want to get the land, some compensation must be given, to the owners of the buildings, not the users. So the renter will get nothing but have to find a new place to live. If they can't find, they will become homeless. Nevertheless, in the eyes of municipality, what they are doing is obviously right. Let me give an comparison. A (some guy) lend a book to B, and C want to buy the book from A. So C will ask B to return the book. But B says he doesn't want to return it because he can't get any benifit. Obviously the unreasonable person in this issue is B.
In the name of the human rights, however, forced eviction is evil, and we won't do that. But Sulukule must be changed as the quality of the buildings is very bad and some of them are dangerous to live in. We can't conserve a slum as what it was. Sulukule must move on. So what I want to show is another way to potect the renters, as well as develop Sulukule. It is like renewal or upgrading, but goes beyond that. Do you remember what I mentioned in the evening about the tourism. I think revive tourism is the best choice for the future of Sulukule, based on the following reasons:
1 there are 70% Romans, which is a very famous word in the world.
2 there is the World Heritage--the Walls, which is a very attractive place of interest to the tourists.
3 Fortunately, the Walls are built by Romans. In this sense, the linkage between Romans and the Walls is extremely strong. If the municipality want to develop the tourism around the Walls, Romans is a necessary element. That means if we can persuade the government to focus on the tourism, the Romans won't be evicted.
So it comes to the question that how we can draw the attention of the municipality. Of course we can because there are lots of benefits to do this. Here are some:
1 make the city much more beautiful. When I came to Istanbul, I doubted that is it really the most important city in Turkey? It is just like a small town anywhere in the world. Maybe the only difference is that there is less cabage in the street. It should not been seen in such a famous city. Let return to Sulukule. It's a slum in the center of Istanbul. As a world heritage, (don't worried about in danger or not), it should be attractive. But I didn't see many foreign tourist nearby. I think one of the reasons is that there are some slums just at the foot of the Walls. If Sulukule is upgraded, obviusly the city will become more beautiful, and more foreign tourist will come here.
2 what benifit can the municipality get? When tourism is developed, arange of investments will be attracted, and more money can be put into the development of the tourism and the city. A benign loop will be formed. In addition, unlike industry, tourism will produce little pollution. It is environmental-friendly.
Someone may ask the following question, and I will try to address it:
1 what the Romans do for the tourism?
Romans are good at singing and dancing. they can hold some preformances for the tourists to show the Roman culture. And they can be the guides of the Walls. there are a lot of works they can do.
2 how about the non-romans?
they can be the street seller or the cleaners, ect.
3 Sulukule is not seemed as a location of Romans.
As I said, Roma culture is based on the community. where there is Romans, there is Roma culture.
4 How about the people who have already moved?
If they want to come back, they will be welcome.
in my opinion, there are lots of work we can do based on what BUDD did last year. and if we can use their materials, not focus on another place, it will be much easier and deeper to make a good project. What do you think?
Lu Haoxuan
Based on the information we collected during the last week, I have some thoughts about Sulukule. Just some personal ideas. If you are interested in, please tell me your comments and suggestions.
Firstly, as I saw, there is little relationship between the people in Sulukule and the Walls. The renters don't go to the Walls for some social activities. And on the other hand, there is little linkages between the renters and the place, by which I mean the renters living in Sulukule don't work in the factories. They just earn their lives in their houses or do some music-related jobs, because of the culture of Roma. So in another word, there is no strong reason that people "must" live in Sulukule, in the sense that their livelihoods and culture are based on the community per se, not based on the place where they occupy. From this angle, relocation seems to be a good choice for the municipality due to their needs of the land.
However, relocation is disaster to the renters because they are not the owners. If the municipality want to get the land, some compensation must be given, to the owners of the buildings, not the users. So the renter will get nothing but have to find a new place to live. If they can't find, they will become homeless. Nevertheless, in the eyes of municipality, what they are doing is obviously right. Let me give an comparison. A (some guy) lend a book to B, and C want to buy the book from A. So C will ask B to return the book. But B says he doesn't want to return it because he can't get any benifit. Obviously the unreasonable person in this issue is B.
In the name of the human rights, however, forced eviction is evil, and we won't do that. But Sulukule must be changed as the quality of the buildings is very bad and some of them are dangerous to live in. We can't conserve a slum as what it was. Sulukule must move on. So what I want to show is another way to potect the renters, as well as develop Sulukule. It is like renewal or upgrading, but goes beyond that. Do you remember what I mentioned in the evening about the tourism. I think revive tourism is the best choice for the future of Sulukule, based on the following reasons:
1 there are 70% Romans, which is a very famous word in the world.
2 there is the World Heritage--the Walls, which is a very attractive place of interest to the tourists.
3 Fortunately, the Walls are built by Romans. In this sense, the linkage between Romans and the Walls is extremely strong. If the municipality want to develop the tourism around the Walls, Romans is a necessary element. That means if we can persuade the government to focus on the tourism, the Romans won't be evicted.
So it comes to the question that how we can draw the attention of the municipality. Of course we can because there are lots of benefits to do this. Here are some:
1 make the city much more beautiful. When I came to Istanbul, I doubted that is it really the most important city in Turkey? It is just like a small town anywhere in the world. Maybe the only difference is that there is less cabage in the street. It should not been seen in such a famous city. Let return to Sulukule. It's a slum in the center of Istanbul. As a world heritage, (don't worried about in danger or not), it should be attractive. But I didn't see many foreign tourist nearby. I think one of the reasons is that there are some slums just at the foot of the Walls. If Sulukule is upgraded, obviusly the city will become more beautiful, and more foreign tourist will come here.
2 what benifit can the municipality get? When tourism is developed, arange of investments will be attracted, and more money can be put into the development of the tourism and the city. A benign loop will be formed. In addition, unlike industry, tourism will produce little pollution. It is environmental-friendly.
Someone may ask the following question, and I will try to address it:
1 what the Romans do for the tourism?
Romans are good at singing and dancing. they can hold some preformances for the tourists to show the Roman culture. And they can be the guides of the Walls. there are a lot of works they can do.
2 how about the non-romans?
they can be the street seller or the cleaners, ect.
3 Sulukule is not seemed as a location of Romans.
As I said, Roma culture is based on the community. where there is Romans, there is Roma culture.
4 How about the people who have already moved?
If they want to come back, they will be welcome.
in my opinion, there are lots of work we can do based on what BUDD did last year. and if we can use their materials, not focus on another place, it will be much easier and deeper to make a good project. What do you think?
Lu Haoxuan
Monday, 28 April 2008
Sulukule Community: Rebabilitation or Relocation
Budd Community,
We have been today introduced to the Sulukule community of space, interest and culture. After this what next?.......................................
In terms of culture, the residents have a sense of realization and desire to live together,while in relation to interest, they have come together for a common course to resist eviction and continue to me protect their space within the city.
In the opening remarks of Prof. Yves Cabannes noted that our group is interested in understanding the struggle of the Sulukule platform and learn how they resist evictions. The food for thought is that "even if we have accumulated principles or knowledge, it will be of no use if it is not going to transform society positively (Cabannes, Y, 2008).
The efforts of the last set of students has been acknowledged by the platform and specific reference was made to the use of children as an important to for their field work. The question for us is whether we are prepared to approach our research through a unique approach or we want to dwell on last year's product...........................what is the challenge
The chair of the Sulukule platform did say that the community have the right to live within their historic location but the Fatih municipality seem to be embarking on a process of gentrification and may not be interested in collaborating with them as demolition of a least 65 property formation has been carried out recently.
Sincerely as development practitioner i wonder what we think about the area we visited today. Diego are the houses healthy for living? Riccardo are the people provided with basic amenities? Elsie, what is the structural strength or durability of building found in this area? Steph do the residents deserve better living conditions................................please lets think about this issues in relation to the submission of Yves Cabannes above.
Technically, are we in support of redevelopment or rehabilitation as appropriate intervention. Maybe a combination of both and other concepts as conservation may be adopted. What i do know is that we are all not in support of forced eviction......................right guys?
The big question at tonight meeting is if our intervention will not trigger emotions and view from the political angle as a disruption within the society as the Sulukule people may have resulted to faith and wait for the aftermath of the bulldozers. I stand to be corrected but i believe we bring the people fresh hope and they will dwell on this. However, remember that the community are already asking us to proffer solution to their inability to finance alternative housing or relocation arrangement by government.
Dear all, on the issue of using from last year, note that the data will by now be out dated and the pieces of information provided by the community platform must be verified as they weren't able to substantiate this to us during our interaction. We as planners studying or carrying out a practical research such as this should by all means take advantage of been present on the field and carry out our own survey and unique investigation. Or how else can we justify of financial commitment towards this trip or put to test what we have learnt over the past few months.
Reconnaissance survey is not just a technical term in planning, we must put this to test. What about our skill on gather data through primary source...................do we not need them now. Come on guys, we cannot just depend on secondary information for this study, we need to discover and gather knowledge first hand now that we have the chance.
Have we decided on our study area yet............................in doing this, please lets consider all we talked about earlier and note that every single contribution counts. This is team work, make it work.
Just imagine..................................................................................................
I may have walked through another path and never have known you guys
That moment that we met I found out that you are all very special to me
You are everywhere in my heart and everything you are is PERFECT!
We will all meet above the top someday, somewhere, sometimes..............
Lottaluv,
Olajide Abiodun Babatunde, OAB
We have been today introduced to the Sulukule community of space, interest and culture. After this what next?.......................................
In terms of culture, the residents have a sense of realization and desire to live together,while in relation to interest, they have come together for a common course to resist eviction and continue to me protect their space within the city.
In the opening remarks of Prof. Yves Cabannes noted that our group is interested in understanding the struggle of the Sulukule platform and learn how they resist evictions. The food for thought is that "even if we have accumulated principles or knowledge, it will be of no use if it is not going to transform society positively (Cabannes, Y, 2008).
The efforts of the last set of students has been acknowledged by the platform and specific reference was made to the use of children as an important to for their field work. The question for us is whether we are prepared to approach our research through a unique approach or we want to dwell on last year's product...........................what is the challenge
The chair of the Sulukule platform did say that the community have the right to live within their historic location but the Fatih municipality seem to be embarking on a process of gentrification and may not be interested in collaborating with them as demolition of a least 65 property formation has been carried out recently.
Sincerely as development practitioner i wonder what we think about the area we visited today. Diego are the houses healthy for living? Riccardo are the people provided with basic amenities? Elsie, what is the structural strength or durability of building found in this area? Steph do the residents deserve better living conditions................................please lets think about this issues in relation to the submission of Yves Cabannes above.
Technically, are we in support of redevelopment or rehabilitation as appropriate intervention. Maybe a combination of both and other concepts as conservation may be adopted. What i do know is that we are all not in support of forced eviction......................right guys?
The big question at tonight meeting is if our intervention will not trigger emotions and view from the political angle as a disruption within the society as the Sulukule people may have resulted to faith and wait for the aftermath of the bulldozers. I stand to be corrected but i believe we bring the people fresh hope and they will dwell on this. However, remember that the community are already asking us to proffer solution to their inability to finance alternative housing or relocation arrangement by government.
Dear all, on the issue of using from last year, note that the data will by now be out dated and the pieces of information provided by the community platform must be verified as they weren't able to substantiate this to us during our interaction. We as planners studying or carrying out a practical research such as this should by all means take advantage of been present on the field and carry out our own survey and unique investigation. Or how else can we justify of financial commitment towards this trip or put to test what we have learnt over the past few months.
Reconnaissance survey is not just a technical term in planning, we must put this to test. What about our skill on gather data through primary source...................do we not need them now. Come on guys, we cannot just depend on secondary information for this study, we need to discover and gather knowledge first hand now that we have the chance.
Have we decided on our study area yet............................in doing this, please lets consider all we talked about earlier and note that every single contribution counts. This is team work, make it work.
Just imagine..................................................................................................
I may have walked through another path and never have known you guys
That moment that we met I found out that you are all very special to me
You are everywhere in my heart and everything you are is PERFECT!
We will all meet above the top someday, somewhere, sometimes..............
Lottaluv,
Olajide Abiodun Babatunde, OAB
Conservation in Urban Rehabilitation
Planners,
Without the fear of contradiction from my earlier communication, I support the principles of conservation particularly with references to cultural heritage which has become vulnerable as they face extinction for several technical, social a political reasons. However, i will like to ask you all to answer the following question:
What will you do in a situation when you are expected to take decisions on a building of the highest cultural heritage which is technically or structural weak leaving millions of people endangered as a result of its existence..........................Preservation and Conservation or demolition?
Please be honest, practical and sensitive in sending me your view as a major body of knowledge in today's context of best principles and UNESCO ideals.
In planning school, we acquired knowledge on the principles of Urban Renewal which dwells on the concepts of Rehabilitation, Redevelopment, Conservation, Preservation, integration, etc. We must as development practitioners understand all these concepts and use them interchangeably in designing our intervention in a context specific situation.
The issue of funding, relocation, compensation, etc have always made redevelopment very unpopular and Rehabilitation which incorporated other concepts as conservation is too useful to be ignored in practice.
Have a nice day.
Olajide Abiodun Babatunde
Without the fear of contradiction from my earlier communication, I support the principles of conservation particularly with references to cultural heritage which has become vulnerable as they face extinction for several technical, social a political reasons. However, i will like to ask you all to answer the following question:
What will you do in a situation when you are expected to take decisions on a building of the highest cultural heritage which is technically or structural weak leaving millions of people endangered as a result of its existence..........................Preservation and Conservation or demolition?
Please be honest, practical and sensitive in sending me your view as a major body of knowledge in today's context of best principles and UNESCO ideals.
In planning school, we acquired knowledge on the principles of Urban Renewal which dwells on the concepts of Rehabilitation, Redevelopment, Conservation, Preservation, integration, etc. We must as development practitioners understand all these concepts and use them interchangeably in designing our intervention in a context specific situation.
The issue of funding, relocation, compensation, etc have always made redevelopment very unpopular and Rehabilitation which incorporated other concepts as conservation is too useful to be ignored in practice.
Have a nice day.
Olajide Abiodun Babatunde
Community Participation in Urban Rehabilitation
Budd Community,
How are you doing today.
Community as we know is very difficult to define as they are very complex and multi dimensional in nature. According to one author, we may not even know all the communities we belong to as communities interwoven and cross sectional within a defined area and beyond.
I will like to know if you have recently discovered the new community "Sulukule Platform" which we now belong to.
Whenever people, professionals, political leaders, etc identify with a particular course, then community is formed. As we know from our days in the DPU, we have different types of communities which include communities of culture, communities of interest, communities of place, communities of religion, etc.
The organization of communities can be very vital to the implementation of any project and the investigation of all spheres of a community is recommended for a people involved, bottom-up and participatory approach which we intend to explore within our study area.
We must thank the group on community for the detailed SWOT analysis and Timeline below as an addition to our Knowledge and basic tool for engaging this unique community:
Community must be viewed as multicultural and not mono-cultural in nature (Cabannes, E, 2008).
In your own understanding what is Community?....................................review
OAB
How are you doing today.
Community as we know is very difficult to define as they are very complex and multi dimensional in nature. According to one author, we may not even know all the communities we belong to as communities interwoven and cross sectional within a defined area and beyond.
I will like to know if you have recently discovered the new community "Sulukule Platform" which we now belong to.
Whenever people, professionals, political leaders, etc identify with a particular course, then community is formed. As we know from our days in the DPU, we have different types of communities which include communities of culture, communities of interest, communities of place, communities of religion, etc.
The organization of communities can be very vital to the implementation of any project and the investigation of all spheres of a community is recommended for a people involved, bottom-up and participatory approach which we intend to explore within our study area.
We must thank the group on community for the detailed SWOT analysis and Timeline below as an addition to our Knowledge and basic tool for engaging this unique community:
Community must be viewed as multicultural and not mono-cultural in nature (Cabannes, E, 2008).
In your own understanding what is Community?....................................review
OAB
Stakeholders in Urban Rehabilitation
Dear All,
The pulling together of resources in project design and implementation is very fashionable and has been proven to be effective.
The pulling together of resources in project design and implementation is very fashionable and has been proven to be effective.
If the intervention will succeed, then all hand must be on deck as ‘people can only become genuinely committed to projects and programmes which are derived from their needs, which advance their interest, which take into consideration their capacities, limitations and constraints and which incorporate their participation in problem definition, project determination and design in choice of modalities or strategies of programme implementation and in the evaluation of the past and present effort’, (Taiwo, D.O, 1995). At this junction, I am bold to suggest that Taiwo’s submission above should be considered by very development practitioner as one of the basic rules of engagement in designing of intervention in the context of Urban Rehabilitation Project.
Understanding the SWOT analysis of stakeholders and actors that we will be dealing with is too important to our study and the identification and pulling together of these resources (stakeholders) must be done now to form the effective partnerships required.
I rest my case.....................
OAB
Policies and Laws in Urban Rehabilitation
Dear Buddies,
The importance of laws and policies in the implementation of urban rehabilitation projects can never be over emphasized. Also, the adoption of conservation strategies for Historic Districts within any city which depend on the ability of the government and/or administration to adopt certain local and international principles (e.g UNESCO) cannot be ignored in understanding the strengths and weakness of our task.
Remember to retrieve necessary documentation from the group on laws/policies and digest the contents in relation to the workability of our acquired technical knowledge in a context specific intervention we are now faced with.
We must not design in isolation because it is only "where there are no laws that there are no procedures".
Therefore, as part of the rules of engagement, we must have a fair knowledge of the laws/policies that exist within our study area.
Ask questions on deficient laws and make proposals or find alternative approaches within the existing laws as the case may be. This I believe is the cross of a development practitioner, we must carry it.................................hard luck guys.
Good morning.
The importance of laws and policies in the implementation of urban rehabilitation projects can never be over emphasized. Also, the adoption of conservation strategies for Historic Districts within any city which depend on the ability of the government and/or administration to adopt certain local and international principles (e.g UNESCO) cannot be ignored in understanding the strengths and weakness of our task.
Remember to retrieve necessary documentation from the group on laws/policies and digest the contents in relation to the workability of our acquired technical knowledge in a context specific intervention we are now faced with.
We must not design in isolation because it is only "where there are no laws that there are no procedures".
Therefore, as part of the rules of engagement, we must have a fair knowledge of the laws/policies that exist within our study area.
Ask questions on deficient laws and make proposals or find alternative approaches within the existing laws as the case may be. This I believe is the cross of a development practitioner, we must carry it.................................hard luck guys.
Good morning.
Sunday, 27 April 2008
Renewal and Rehabilitation in Building and Urban Design
Welcome to Building and Urban Design in Istanbul, Turkey.
Urban Rehabilitation has for a long time been considered as the preferred approach in the overall improvement of settlements the world over. It has been chosen in most cases over the redevelopment strategy for the following reasons:
- Can be done Fast
- Cheaper
- prevents Gentrification
- Supports conservation of Historic sites
- Fosters local participation
- Builds partnerships
- Does not reduce the housing stock
- ETC
However, for a rehabilitation project to be effective, several studies must be carried out to determine if the approach is the best in a context specific situation. It is important that the following be determined:
- Age of Building
- Type of building Material
- Strength of Structure
- Access to portable infrastructure
- Number of occupants
- Type of roof and structure
All the above and others that I may not have included should be put into consideration to determine what development approach to apply as a development practitioner.
Today, we visited the Fener and Balat Rehabilitation projects which was sponsored EU in a counterpart arrangement with Fatih municipalities in Istanbul, Turkey. This projects were designed to avoid gentrification and encourage preservation Historic and cultural buildings.
The food for thought is that several buildings are been abandoned because of their poor cultural state. Also, we need to ask the project champions if the success stories that they have recorded in the area is been replicated or if their strategies are been adopted elsewhere within the city of Istanbul and beyond. With the state of disrepair and dilapidation of many existing properties seen during our street walk with weak structures and foundation failures evidents, we need to find out if the several rehabilitation addressed these issues and if there exist reports or history of such renewals.
Dear Buddies, I am of the considered opinion that a renewal project may be approached as a double headed sword. In the areas we visited today, I believe that Rehabilitation and Redevelopment are the two sides of the same coin that must not be ignored. Why don't we suggest a mixed developmental approach within the study area as a two way traffic intervention that has already become inevitable in this context.
OAB
Urban Rehabilitation has for a long time been considered as the preferred approach in the overall improvement of settlements the world over. It has been chosen in most cases over the redevelopment strategy for the following reasons:
- Can be done Fast
- Cheaper
- prevents Gentrification
- Supports conservation of Historic sites
- Fosters local participation
- Builds partnerships
- Does not reduce the housing stock
- ETC
However, for a rehabilitation project to be effective, several studies must be carried out to determine if the approach is the best in a context specific situation. It is important that the following be determined:
- Age of Building
- Type of building Material
- Strength of Structure
- Access to portable infrastructure
- Number of occupants
- Type of roof and structure
All the above and others that I may not have included should be put into consideration to determine what development approach to apply as a development practitioner.
Today, we visited the Fener and Balat Rehabilitation projects which was sponsored EU in a counterpart arrangement with Fatih municipalities in Istanbul, Turkey. This projects were designed to avoid gentrification and encourage preservation Historic and cultural buildings.
The food for thought is that several buildings are been abandoned because of their poor cultural state. Also, we need to ask the project champions if the success stories that they have recorded in the area is been replicated or if their strategies are been adopted elsewhere within the city of Istanbul and beyond. With the state of disrepair and dilapidation of many existing properties seen during our street walk with weak structures and foundation failures evidents, we need to find out if the several rehabilitation addressed these issues and if there exist reports or history of such renewals.
Dear Buddies, I am of the considered opinion that a renewal project may be approached as a double headed sword. In the areas we visited today, I believe that Rehabilitation and Redevelopment are the two sides of the same coin that must not be ignored. Why don't we suggest a mixed developmental approach within the study area as a two way traffic intervention that has already become inevitable in this context.
OAB
Friday, 25 April 2008
About to take the flight to Turkey
This blog is the diary of 13 graduate students studying at Development Planning Unit at UCL a MSc in Building and Urban Design in Development. During the next three and a half weeks we will be working in Turkey at the Fatih municipality trying to develop a response for the Urban Renewal Project that the government is implementing in the area, and that is responsible of the eviction and displacement of the Romani community and other marginalized groups. We have knowledge of the context thanks to the last year student group that worked in the area, however the current situation is serious, houses have been destroyed and an effective solution is needed to bring the main actors to discuss together a better option for development. The challenge we are facing is quite complex but we will try our best. Only time will tell...
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