A framework for socially sustainable urban transformation: Sulukule case study

Since the large majority of the World's population has begun to live in urban areas, the role of cities in sustainable development has increased. And at the same time, the gradually growing population has brought along many problems in cities especially related with social life in addition to environment and economic issues. Urban transformation as a method tackling physical and social decline, sometimes also had negative consequences in some parts of the society, while contributing to the general health of cities and economic developments in Turkey. This conflict is the underline basis of this research and reveals its necessity. Social sustainability, which is the pillar that is unfortunately ignored or rarely considered to its full extent, promotes wellbeing and quality of life by understanding what people need and combines the physical realm with the social world. It is obvious that social sustainability improves the achievements of urban transformation by highlighting social and cultural values in decision making. In addition, social sustainability aware urban transformation ensures: inclusivity, democracy and participation in governance; equity and accessibility in providing basic services such as housing, infrastructure and amenities; and, diversity and cohesion in social, cultural & economic policies. In the light of these key areas and under the umbrella of urban transformation, some world-wide projects and urban transformation laws in Turkey have assessed. Turkey's most populous and invested city, Istanbul, receives a large number of urban transformation projects. After the Council of Ministers declared Sulukule as an urban transformation area based on the law No. 5366, the life of the local inhabitants dramatically changed and, social and cultural assets were ignored. This research identifies the deficiencies and outputs of the project through a socially sustainable urban transformation assessment framework and aims to provide social sustainability included planning scenarios for the future. The main aim of this research is to identify social sustainability within urban transformation context and develop a framework for Turkey. The urban transformation projects in the world have been examined and the methods of the implementation of social sustainability have been analysed. In this perspective, the legal instruments of urban transformation in Turkey have been examined within the scope of social sustainability. As a result, the Sulukule Urban Regeneration Project has been evaluated in terms of socially sustainable urban transformation framework criteria.