Morphological analysis of spatial change of urban form: Case of Duzce city center

Cities are in a dynamic structure that is in a constant process of change and transformation. Understanding the structure of cities, the development processes, morphological change and transformation of the places we live in today is important for making the right decisions and making on-site interventions in the planning, design and construction stages of the city's future. Within this study, it is aimed to make inferences about the past, present and future of the cities by examining a city from the whole to the parts with a deductive approach. As a field study, Duzce was chosen because it is in a strategic location close to the major cities such as Ankara and Istanbul, and because it is a city that has experienced major earthquakes such as the 1999 earthquakes. The method setup of the study is based on the use of the urban morphology method at three different scales (upper scale, middle scale and lower scale). The thesis work comprises of 3 parts. In the first part, after the purpose, scope and method of the study are stated, the literature summary supports it, including the relevant sources. Then, there is the second part, which includes conceptual-theoretical explanations about the city, the factors affecting urban change, urban morphology and urban form. The third chapter covers a three-stage field study. As the first stage, the historical development process of the city of Duzce is mentioned and the urban planning periods that significantly affect the city form; The 1987 plan, known as the second zoning plan, is analyzed in three periods (1987, 2001 and 2016) based on the 2001 plan, which allows the analysis of the post-earthquake situation, and the 2016 zoning plans currently in use. The second phase of the fieldwork covers the city center boundaries, where the first settlements of the city are located. The third stage includes the morphological analyzes of the historical changes of the regions where the most changes are experienced in the area under study. At the end of the study, the changes in the city form in Duzce's urban planning process were handled analytically and suggestions were made for the future form of the city, considering its potentials such as natural resources. In addition, considering the resources, its current spatial use has been evaluated in line with the zoning plans prepared recently.