Smart cities as a new approach in urban transformation: The case of Melih Savaş Yaşam Village, Tepebaşı Municipality

Urban transformation practices, which came to the forefront with the "Industrial Revolution", have constantly updated themselves by transforming themselves according to the changing conditions, and have continued to exist until today. However, with the increase in the rate of urbanization in the 21st century, urban problems have intensified even more. Transformation practices implemented with traditional methods have not been successful, especially in solving urban problems such as climate change, carbon emissions and disasters. While the current problems experienced in urban transformation in the face of the urban problems and needs of the era necessitate the transformation of urban transformation, the roadmap of this transformation points to the smart city approach. In this context, the smart urban transformation model, which expresses the realization of urban transformation applications within the framework of the smart city approach, will both provide various gains in meeting the urban problems and needs of the 21st century and will offer important opportunities in making cities sustainable and smart places. The thesis study examines Melih Savaş Yaşam Village, Turkey's first smart urban transformation project, regarding what gains will be achieved if urban transformation applications are integrated with the smart city approach. In this context, in addition to the theoretical framework for the relationship between urban transformation and smart city, interviews were conducted with Tepebaşı Municipality personnel within the scope of qualitative research methods in order to determine the gains in field application. Thus, the achievements of Tepebaşı Municipality, which implemented the "Melih Savaş Life Village Project" were analysed.