Evaluating the impacts of an urban design project: Multi-phase Analyses of Taksim Square and Gezi Park, Istanbul

Abstract

Taksim, which is known as the heart of Istanbul, is not only the main centre of entertainment, retail and cultural activities, but it also functions as a connection node between the old and new central business districts of the city. Throughout history, Taksim has played an important role for both the city and the country as it was the 'host' of several major social events, while it sometimes was the direct 'subject' of these events. Taksim has long been the subject of debates on account of its unresolved pedestrian and vehicular traffic. In September 2011, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality approved a pedestrianisation project for Taksim. Despite the objections raised by professional organizations and civil protests, the area went under construction in order to build a tunnel system for vehicles, which would leave the surface above as a pedestrian-only platform, and to reconstruct a military barrack, which was once located in the place of Gezi Park but was demolished in the 1940s. The construction phase of the pedestrianisation project for Taksim Square was completed in 2013. However, the reconstruction of the replica barrack was cancelled upon the judgement of the court which was declared as the wave of demonstrations continued throughout the country. Currently, the underground tunnel system is open to traffic, Gezi Park remains as is with slight improvements, and Taksim Square, which is a vast concrete space, awaits for an urban design project. Considering that there would be a major change in the pedestrian activity in Taksim during the construction and after the implementation of such a significant pedestrianisation project, this three-phase research was designed in order to bring an insight on the relation between the spatial organization, and the volume and movement flow of pedestrians in the area before the municipality's pedestrianisation project was implemented (phase I), during the construction (phase II), and after the implementation of the pedestrianisation project (phase III). In order to quantify and analyse the volume and the flow of pedestrian movement in the area, gate counts were conducted for all three phases. After the launch of the construction, many of the roads (both pedestrian and vehicular) were blocked, and alternative routes were introduced to users. The changing spatial layouts of these three situations were represented in syntactic maps and were analysed to compare with the movement patterns. This paper explores the opportunities and challenges in taking a syntactic approach to the spatial analyses of different phases of the pedestrianisation project in the rapidly transforming political centre of Istanbul. The results of this paper, which were derived by using the tools offered by Space Syntax, demonstrate the effects of the changing spatial layout on pedestrian movement levels, and provide insight towards understanding the preferences of pedestrians when their usual choice of route is blocked and they are forced to use alternative paths. The paper also provides input for the urban design project which will be implemented in Taksim Square by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.