An evaluation of urban transformation areas in the context of actor network theory ( ant ): case study of Bagcilar district

Over the time, most of the cities have experienced changes of their function and social structure in the residential areas. These changes are sometimes the alteration of the functions or the social structure. Since 2000's years, Istanbul has experienced the major changes in the macro form of the city and the social structure. Development of business activities and population growth in the city center by influencing the surrounding housing districts, the rapid increase of the traffic density, and the environmental conditions like noise, air pollution have been affecting the, social, demographic and urban texture. As a result of the rate of urbanization; a series of 'urban transformation projects' has become a current topic to restructure the irregular formation and transportation problems in Istanbul. Urban regeneration projects have become a current topic to restructure the irregular formation and the problems resulted in these cities in according to the contemporary urban planning principles. This study investigated the process of transformation through a research projects operated in the Bağcılar District. This thesis analyses the development of urban design projects since the Urban Regeneration Law and risky areas through case studies conducted in the Bağcılar District of Istanbul. Housing design projects exist within the increasingly complex technical and social networks of the human-built environment. The analysis identifies the roles of both human and non-human actors in urban regeneration projects and this paper provides a means of mapping the actor-network of urban designs. The network mapping concentrates on the flow of design related to the knowledge between actors and proposes the usage of Social Network Analysis (SNA) tools to describe important network features and facilitate system intervention. In this study, a theoretical framework is formed in the context of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and this process illustrated by three different case studies by key actors of Bağcılar District. The thesis concludes that the challenges of urban transformation projects are rooted in the context of the key actors of network mapping process. In this study, from the findings obtained from three different cases examined; proposals are evaluated in the context of Actor Network Theory in terms of post-structuralist rather than institutionalist approaches resulting from the network analysis of actors. In my opinion, this thesis will help the related academic works in the future in order to observe the urban transformation actors within the network. Keywords: Urban Transformation, Actor Network Theory (ANT), Key Actors, Social Network Analysis (SNA), Bağcılar District.