The impacts of land use change on place identity: The case of Istiklal Street

Cities and places regardless from the scale, tend to change constantly. Users of a place, on the other hand, are affected by this change considering that people and places are linked. Identity of a place changes and therefore redefined as the conditions of the environment transforms. Although this change may be multidimensional, it is possible to consider the change in land use as well. Previous studies either consider land use change on a city scale, which generally include zoning or deal only with functional organization itself without its reflections on the users. Existing studies on place identity, on the other hand, are often associated with cultural impact or neighborhood environment. This study, however, adopts the concepts of land use and place identity on a street scale and evaluates them through a case study to be able to gain a different perspective. Therefore, the aim of this research is to find out how the interaction between land use change and users in main pedestrian street affects the identity of a place. Therefore the study is built upon the hypothesis that "Users of the place and the change in land use are in a mutual interaction; therefore any change that occurs in land use has an effect on changing the perceptions of users towards a place. Accordingly, a change of users in a place can trigger the land use change. The interrelation of them both reconstructs the identity of the place". Considering increased amount of shuttered stores along the street, İstiklal Street is chosen as a case study area. The hypothesis is tested by employing the following research methods; explaining the change in land use by mapping method, evaluating the vitality of the street by pedestrian counting, and conducting a questionnaire survey to understand how the meaning attributed by the users has changed. According to land use findings, the number of empty stores constitutes 16% of the total number of stores in the street which is critical considering that it is the main pedestrian street of the city. Second, the pedestrians along the street are counted on specific locations. The results show that there is a significant decrease in the number of pedestrians compared with the same data from 2013. This decrease, which has increased to 53% in some time intervals, can be interpreted as a sign of some problems in İstiklal Street. Third, two questionnaire surveys have been carried out to evaluate this problem through the perceptions of users and shop owners or shopkeepers. Degraded into certain keywords, findings from the questionnaire survey are crosschecked and reevaluated. The data obtained from users' surveys is mainly focused on the impact of closed shops and the reduction in both user diversity and the variety of activities along the street. It can be concluded that inhabitants' feelings towards closed shops were mainly related to the memories they had in those places. Inhabitants were disturbed by the closure of these places, saying that these places were important constituting the identity of the street. Thus, it is stated that inhabitants perceived these actions as interventions for destroying the memory of the street. Instead of associating the stores with memories, foreign participants are disturbed by the fact that local stores have been closed down and turned into chain stores. Besides, both inhabitants and foreign participants stated that Middle Eastern user type is pretty dominant in İstiklal Street. Since healthy public space includes a diversity of both users and activities, having a predominant user type would lead an unhealthy public space. Parallel with users survey, the data obtained from questionnaire survey of shop owners is mainly focused on the impact of closed shops and the decrease in both user diversity and the variety of activities. Shop owners stated that they are disturbed by the closure of stores considering the negative impact on the users. Decreased variety of activities is also indicated as a negative element because of the same reason. Moreover, shop owners or shopkeepers demonstrated dissatisfaction depending on the amount of customers they have. It is pointed out by some shop owners that having a predominant type of users harmed their businesses. However it is critical to consider that the shop owners or shopkeepers who provide services mostly to Middle Eastern users, are the ones who are pleased with the current environment. Consequently, it can be concluded that when the urban setting, main pedestrian street in this case, experiences changes in land use; attributed meaning for these particular places transformed. Therefore in the light of the findings, it can be argued that users of the place and the change in land use are in a mutual interaction; therefore any change that occurs in land use has an effect on changing the users of a place. Accordingly, a change of users in a place can trigger the land use change. The interrelation of them both reconstructs the identity of the place. Based on the findings, it can be argued that the hypothesis has been verified. Accordingly, the identity of İstiklal Street is regenerated. Apart from the positive elements such as its central location, historical and architectural features, its vitality and atmosphere; there are some negative features that constitute the current identity of İstiklal Street such as diminishing diversity of activities, closure of the stores, absence of greenery, safety problems, never-ending construction, presence of beggars. Since place identity represents uniqueness, the concept wouldn't allow generalizations. However, the theoretical framework obtained from components of place identity is a useful tool to use in any case. As well as developing a unique tool for further studies, the findings of this case study are valuable as an opportunity to build healthier and sustainable image for İstiklal Street. The study contains four chapters. In the first chapter, the aims and methodology of the study, and limitations and structure of the research are introduced. In the second chapter, the literature regarding these concepts is reviewed. A theoretical framework is created based on the components of place identity. Previous case study on the interrelation of land use change and identity of places is analyzed. How the identity of that place is affected by land use change is investigated. Eventually, a case study that is conducted in İstiklal Street is detailed in the third chapter. In the forth and concluding chapter, the findings of the study are filtered and the key findings are highlighted. The findings of the research were reevaluated through the theoretical framework.