The Impact of Urban Transformation on Neighborhood Sustainability: Bursa Ataevler Neighborhood Example

In the years following the Marmara earthquake in 1999, which resulted in great loss of life and property, urban transformation studies have begun in Turkey in order to create earthquake-resistant structures. The increase in the number of buildings has also been presented as an advantage in encouraging this transformation. In the long term, this situation has brought about new urban problems that only target physical transformation and ignore social sustainability. However, the evaluation of the effects of these problems on urban sustainability is a relatively new field of research. In studies conducted on this subject, it is often noted that neighborhood culture and neighborhood relations are gradually disappearing as a result of urban transformation studies. Urban transformation studies are transforming cities in Turkey into places planned as fragments and formed by the coming together of introverted building blocks. In the study, it is emphasized that the neighborhood is the smallest unit of the city and that the development of a holistic and sustainable approach is only possible with the continuity of the intertwined neighborhood textures. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of the renewal of existing textures on the neighborhood within the scope of urban transformation projects rapidly developed in Turkey through two sample housing estates located in Ataevler Neighborhood in Bursa. In the determined area, before and after urban transformation, the relationship with the immediate surroundings, the change in the layout plan within the parcel, the changes in the building blocks and the changes in the housing units were evaluated comparatively through maps and projects. As a result of the study, it was observed that there were new spaces added within the residence and in the layout plan according to the changing quality of life expectations, while it was observed that the defined outdoor spaces and green areas for social interaction and communication decreased.