Housing development and policy change: what has changed in Turkey in the last decade in the owner-occupied and rented sectors?

Since 2002, The Justice and Development Party has been governing in Turkey. From their first period to the current, major changes have been observed in the Turkish housing system, regarding both owner occupied and rented sectors. First one is the introduction of Mortgage Law in 2007. As already a home-owner society with a 64.16 % share in urban areas (2003), home ownership ratios can be argued to increase in coming periods. Second modification in owner occupied sector was significant policy change in Housing Development Administration (HDA) of Turkey. With a “housing mobilization” project, almost 500,000 new dwellings were built by HDA all over the country in 10 years. This has been a record in HDA’s history. Remarkable changes occurred in the rented sector as well. Originally, Turkey has been characterized with absence of public renting and considerable proportion of private rented stock especially in the big cities. Governments did not develop social rented housing and pro-owner laws have been followed. Renters could face eviction under certain situations determined by the Law on Property Rents, however these were subject to misuse by homeowners. As a third major change, a new Code of Obligations was introduced superseding Law on Property Rents. In this paper, recent changes in both rented and owner occupied sectors of the Turkish housing system are analyzed with reference to mortgage law, HDA’s new policies and changes in private renting legislation. In doing so, several key figures like buildings produced, inflation rate and physical attributes of private renting are provided.     

Mass housing and urbanization: on the road to modernization in Santiago,Chile, 1930–60

The creation of the Caja de la Habitación Popular [Popular Housing Fund] in 1936 was largely a quest for the design of a model home and a modern city for Chile, a country emerging from colonialism. The Caja operated for twenty‐six years until 1952, building 43 310 houses during three different presidential administrations. It soon became the major way to reflect the country’s development, modernize society, bolster the economy, support national industry and signal what role housing programmes would play in public policy for the rest of the twentieth century. While previous administrations were motivated primarily by partisan politics, the new era of public administration was based upon an objective planning system. This paper focuses on the Caja’s affordable housing struggle and how it shaped large portions of Santiago between the 1930s and 1960s. It also explores the transformation in public housing programmes and agencies from their amateur beginnings to their later professionalized approach. It examines a number of the public and private housing schemes built during different political regimes in Santiago’s history, the planners and architects making persistent efforts to modernize and develop the city. These projects explored both the potentialities and limitations of urban design in housing and made a profound impact on housing design in Chile, as well as on the morphology of its cities.     

Greyness and colour desires: the chromatic politics of the panelák in late-socialist and post-socialist Czechoslovakia

The article investigates the function of colour and greyness in relation to housing estates and panel buildings [paneláks] in Czechoslovakia. While the significance of chromatic symbolism to architectural discourse and practice has persisted between the 1970s and today, three different moments of relating colour to the panelák are identified. In late socialism, the discourse of grey registered the critique of the panelák voiced by architects and the nomenklatura. Simultaneously, future socialist alternatives were imagined in colour. Late-socialist desire for colour is interpreted in the context of a wider struggle to reform architectural industrialisation, revive the ideological function of architecture and rehabilitate the living environment of housing estates. In the 1990s the desire for colour surged, but it was geared to leaving socialism behind. The trope of greyness converged with a blanket dismissal of socialism. The article documents that in post-socialism architects gave up on the question, and the reality of housing estates and the process of applying colour to panelák façades moved into the hands of home owners. Their vernacular use of colour had a double rationale: to differentiate one panelák from another and to dissimulate its form and tectonics. In the wake of the recent housing crisis architects took issue with these vernacular patterns. They denounced them as garish chaos and assumed the role of experts who would put this chaos in order. This is interpreted as the beginning of a new moment, in which the panelák is rediscovered as an object of cultural heritage while its social and political determinations are disregarded.     

Urban sprawl in the Mediterranean?: Patterns of growth and change in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region 1993–2000

Debates on the urban form have become strongly polarized between the advocates and opponents of the compact and of the dispersed or “sprawled” city. In this paper we argue that this may be the result of an excessive concentration on the study of the American experience and the neglect of other urban contexts, and examine the recent process of urban growth against the background of urban compactness and extreme densification represented by the Barcelona Metropolitan Region (BMR). The comparison of two detailed land-cover maps of 1993 and 2000 shows a progressive transformation in the traditional urban character of the region. Lower urban densities, high losses of non-urban land covers, depopulation of the metropolitan inner core, an increasing importance of single housing or the expansion of transportation infrastructures confirm the generalization of the dispersed urban model. However, the presence of numerous medium sized towns has also proved to be a deterrent of excessive dispersion. In conclusion, polycentric metropolitan areas such as the BMR may be more adjusted to absorb the negative effects of dispersion than monocentric areas.     

Developing and financing the ‘garden metropolis’: Urban planning and housing policy in twentieth‐century America

This article examines the evolution of garden city ideas in the United States during the twentieth century. It distinguishes between four sets of goals: environmental reform; social reform; town planning, and regional planning. Much of the literature on American garden city movements focuses on the general political failure of its advocates to achieve key social reforms and regional planning objectives. By contrast, the accomplishments in environmental reform and town planning have been far more successful. Though Ebenezer Howard's proposals did not lead to widespread adoption in their purest form, urban decentralization and sub‐urbanization have produced significant improvements in the building of higher‐quality and lower‐density housing and in providing more open space and greenery for a large segment of the population. This pattern of planning and development may be viewed as ‘the garden metropolis.’ Its relationship to garden city ideas is best symbolized by the central role of Thomas Adams, the British planner who served as a leading proponent of the garden metropolis in the United States. Many of Adams’ policy recommendations, including his strong support for mass home owership initiatives, were later implemented by the Federal Housing Administration beginning in 1934. The FHA, through its mortgage insurance programs, its property and neighborhood standards, and its Land Planning Division, was extremely influential in shaping the growth of the garden metropolis, especially during the 1940s and 50s.     

Managing change: Seattle’s 21st century urban renaissance

ABSTRACT

Evolution of the urban planning and historic preservation disciplines has resulted in an “uneasy alliance” in practice, one further complicated by the back-to-the-city movement and increased development pressure in older urban neighbourhoods. In Seattle, as in other U.S. cities, the pace, intensity and scale of redevelopment has caused dramatic spatial and social transformations. Although research has shown that older built fabric provides economic and social benefit for cities, neither regulations created by planners for guiding redevelopment nor strategies created by preservationists for retaining urban heritage have been successful in reconciling these different, yet interconnected, sets of values. We engage three Seattle neighbourhood case studies to clarify and evaluate policies, programs and strategies used by planners and preservationists for reimagining neighbourhood transformations. This work suggests a need for more creative, integrative collaboration between the two fields to simultaneously engage – and reconcile – social and economic tensions caused by urban redevelopment.     

Urban aesthetics and the discovery of the urban fabric in turn‐of‐the‐century Germany

Approaches to planning that developed in the later nineteenth century in Germany (and in Europe generally) were challenged on aesthetic grounds at the end of the century by Camillo Sitte and others. By the turn of the century, practitioners of planning had embraced Sitte's views on a number of matters. Among the changes that occurred were an end to the disencumbering of monumental buildings and a greatly expanded interest in historic preservation. This was not simply a matter of aesthetics gaining more influence over planning practice, however. Sitte's desire to develop systematically the aesthetic dimension of planning was shared by earlier theorists, notably Hermann Maertens, who endorsed many of the practices Sitte rejected. Ultimately, the compatibility of the new aesthetics with more practical needs was crucial to its acceptance. The new interest in historical models reflected an understanding of urban form that enabled planners to reconcile their aesthetic goals with other needs.     

‘Zoning’ before zoning: the regulation of apartment housing in early twentieth century Winnipeg and Toronto

‘Residential restrictions’ were widely used in North American cities prior to the development of more comprehensive zoning schemes. This paper examines the use of restrictive by-laws to control the spread of apartment housing in two Canadian cities, Toronto and Winnipeg, prior to World War II. In both cities apartment-house booms in the early 1910s and late 1920s were perceived as threatening the growth of suburban homeownership. Drawing on newspaper reports, council records and correspondence, as well as more quantitative local government records, it is argued that the apparently ‘populist’ anti-apartment regulations in Toronto were actually more flexible and more favourable to developers than less extensive, but more rigid by-laws in Winnipeg. In both cities, the application of regulations both reflected and created distinctive social geographies. The paper indicates the need to focus on how residential restrictions were implemented on the ground as much as on debates surrounding the formulation of policy or the passage of legislation.     

Specific intentions–general realities: on the relation between urban forms and political aspirations in Berlin during the twentieth century

Berlin as a capital city seems to be a very specific case: no other capital city experienced political changes as extreme as Berlin in the twentieth century. All the different political systems tried to impose their political aspirations on the urban fabric, planning large government complexes with specific urban images and highly political overtones. Therefore, the planning history of Berlin is often considered as unique – each phase of planning belonging closely to the political body that installed it – and each phase of planning being part of a special Berlin planning history.

Within this article Berlin's planning history is interpreted in a different way. First, there are planning ideas, which are far more constant than the political systems and which cannot be attributed to only one system. Secondly, for each planning idea which had been developed for special political purposes in Berlin, some international examples can be found which root it in an international urban debate rather than in a regional tradition. The result is quite astonishing, since for nearly every plan international examples with often contradictory political ideas can be found. This means that one can no longer interpret Berlin's planning history as a special case, explainable mostly by local traditions and political intentions. In fact, urban design for government districts in Berlin is more closely connected to international trends and the discipline of urban design. Thus, in addition, the relationship between urban forms and political aspirations must be considered as being more arbitrary than conventionally seen.     

Modelling nitrogen in the Yeşilirmak River catchment in Northern Turkey: impacts of future climate and environmental change and implications for nutrient management

Recent research in catchments of rapidly developing countries such as Brazil and China suggests that many catchments of the developing world are already showing signs of nitrogen pollution reminiscent of past experiences in developed countries. This paper looks at both the individual and combined effects of future climate change and other likely environmental changes on in-stream nitrate concentrations in a catchment in Northern Turkey. A model chain comprised of simulated future temperature and precipitation from a Regional Circulation Model (RCM), a conceptual hydrological model (HBV) and a widely tested integrated catchment nitrogen model (INCA-N) is used to model future changes in nitrate concentrations. Two future periods (2021-2050 and 2069-2098) are compared to the 1961-1990 baseline period in order to assess the effectiveness of several possible interventions available to catchment authorities. The simulations show that in the urbanised part of the catchment, the effects of climate change and other environmental changes act in the same direction, leading to peak nitrate concentrations of 7.5 mg N/l for the 2069-2098 period, which corresponds to a doubling of the baseline values. Testing different available policy options reveals that the installation of wastewater treatment works (WWTWs) in all major settlements of the catchment could ensure nitrate levels are kept at near their baseline values for the 2021-2050 period. Nevertheless, a combination of measures including WWTWs, meadow creation, international agreements to reduce atmospheric N concentrations and controls on agricultural practises will be required for 2069-2098. The approach presented in this article could be employed in order to anticipate future pollution problems and to test appropriate solutions, some of which will necessitate international co-operation, in other catchments around the world.     

Technological change and estate agents’ practices in the changing nature of housing transactions

The construction of housing markets, mediated by estate agents, is changing. The ‘information age’ has witnessed widespread changes to personal intermediation across many business sectors (e.g. holiday sales and insurance brokerage), yet estate agents continue to be extensively involved. This paper asks whether the intermediation process has changed and why this is the case. Through a cultural economy investigation of the everyday practices of estate agents in New Zealand and England we identify how they have adapted, directed and responded to technological and social changes. In England, three service levels of agency arose with varying roles for technological information dissemination, the matching process and the formulization of prices. In New Zealand the hegemony of high quality service has resisted other mediation forms; retaining socially negotiated housing outcomes. Despite these differences, the unique facets of housing, its complex sale procedure and emotional transaction nature have hitherto enabled the adaptive capacity of estate agents to continue influencing housing market processes and rationalize their ongoing construction of housing transaction processes.     

Smart cities and attracting knowledge workers: Which cities attract highly‐educated workers in the 21st century?

Regional policy‐makers have long sought to attract highly‐educated workers with a view to stimulating economic growth and vibrancy. Previous studies over the decades leading up to the new millennium show human capital divergence across cities, where the share of college graduates grew faster in cities that had larger initial shares of college‐educated workers. However, labour markets have changed significantly post‐2000, likely affecting migration decisions of highly‐skilled workers. Additionally, past studies have not controlled for important changes in industry education levels and overall industry composition that may influence city‐level college graduate growth. We use detailed 4‐digit NAICS industry employment data combined with public micro‐data to construct measures of industry skill upgrading and changes in industry composition to control for their effects on human capital growth. We find agglomeration forces, rather than initial graduate share, explains college‐graduate share growth post‐2000. We also decompose graduates into bachelors and postgraduate degree holders to determine whether different forces are at play on growth of graduates at different education levels.     

Modelling the phase change of salt dissolved in pore water – Equilibrium and non-equilibrium approach

Salts strongly influence the durability of porous building materials. There are two main processes, which are responsible for the damage of the materials related with salt presence in the pore system. The first one is the corrosion of steel bars triggered by chlorides. Chlorides exist in two forms: free chlorides dissolved in pore water and bound chlorides. It is believed that only free chlorides are responsible for the corrosion. Therefore it is very important to define and model properly the chloride binding isotherm and its influence on free chloride transport. The linear, Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms were tested. Another adverse phenomenon is the salt crystallisation, which is associated with the supersaturation. This phenomenon is modelled using the kinetics of salt crystallisation. The model and its numerical solution describing the salt and moisture transport including the equilibrium and non-equilibrium phase change of salt in non-isothermal condition is proposed. To model the kinetics of salt crystallisation the simple approach proposed by Espinosa et al. was utilised. The drying, cooling and warming of cement mortar sample, during which the salt phase change occurs, were simulated using the developed software. The changes of salt concentration and the amount of precipitated salt due to variation of boundary conditions are presented. The model including kinetics of salt phase change is found to be reliable.     

Placemaking and climate change adaptation: new qualitative and quantitative considerations for the “Place Diagram”

Today, although most of the international research community considers climate change adaptation to be essential, there is limited knowledge on its concrete integration with contemporary placemaking. Yet, with the emergence of the adaptation agenda, the effects of urban climatology are continually coercing the need for concrete action to increase the climatic responsiveness of urban environments. This article is constructed upon a “Research for Design” approach, and focuses upon improving urban design guidelines by reviewing existing theoretical/empirical research on how pedestrian comfort levels can be addressed through public space design. The objective is to incorporate such qualitative and quantitative interrogations into a generic tool such as the “Place Diagram” by the PPS. A total of six intangible criteria, and six measurable attributes, are explored and structured in order to introduce new generic design considerations which can contribute to the responsiveness of urban outdoor spaces in an era of expected climate variability.