The evaluation of urban design project competition process as an alternative production conformation

The purpose of urban and architectural design competitions are to provide wider selection designs and finding the best design for cities and towns. Another purpose of these competitions is to encourage the professionals about urban design in national and international platforms(TDK, Urbanscience Dictionary, 1980).Design competition is a sort of medium in which different kind of ideas fight against each other and one of them which are responding to the expectations best is chosen. Competitions have a significant contribution to the professional practice and theory fields.Competition is the creative and constructive process for the designers. Design competitions have different opportunities for their participants such as the clients, competitors and public. They can provide a better job opportunity and chance to jump to the different career level for the competitors. Design competition process is a creation of new approaches, styles and solutions as a challenge for new talents, and also it is a medium of transformation of the relationship between boss and designer into a public event.There is not a single definition for urban design rather there are some approaches to the field mostly pointing to its interdisciplinary features. This fact makes urban design field vulnerable and open to critiques but at the same time enables contributions from diverse disciplines. It reveals the importance of competitions which forms a platform for new ideas and perspectives. Therefore competition is a platform where different discursive formations, with their objects, enunciative modalities, concepts and strategies, are exercised and practiced by human subject. Competition projects provide good exercise and a practice stage, which facilitate design ideas for, create places that are more qualified. In addition, this helps come up with solutions for social and physical problems with comfort and needs. As alternative production conformation Architectural and Urban Design project competitions contribute to the urban culture with enabling the different ways of producing a project, creating equal opportunities between professionals and being open for any professional. The competition platforms contribute the concept of urban design on National and International levels. Also urban design becomes a common field for architects, urban planners and landscape architects in the last decades. The birth of the consept of urban design was created in the 1950s in America. In 1970s the concept of urban design came to Turkey and was simultaneously put into practice. Although the concept was used right away by profesionals in the fields of deisgn, the concept was not being taught academicly. In the fisrt half of the 1980s the concept of urban design began to be utilizesed in the academic fields of departments such as architecture and sociology. During the same time period, urban deign began to utilized in the form of competition. In 1980, for the first time 'urban design' was used as a name of a competition by 'Eskişehir Fair and Recreation Fun Culture Places Urban Design Project Competition' in Turkey. 1980 was a certain break point in Turkey about urban design project competitions and after 1980, there is a period which urban design project competitions appears buildups and ripens in Turkey. Within the scope of this thesis urban design project competitions are put forward analyzing them by ten years periods in Turkey between 1980 and 2014. Today, Urban design Project competitions as an alternative production conformation are existing as intersection between urban planning, architecture and landscape architecture and it keeps increase the importance at this platform day by day. In this thesis there are several goals that are pursued. The first of which is to evaluate the process of urban design competitions in natıonal and international realms. Another aim is to focus on the national level and evaluate the process of these competitions in Turkey with the use of actual experiences of profesionals working here in this country. This thesis will also analyse the use of these competitions as an alternative production method by looking into the roles that the competitions play in actual practice. The fınal aim of this thesis in conclusion to the gathered material and analysis is to take all the findings and offer a propasal in improving the current use of these competitions. The fisrt chapter of this thesis present the aims, scope, method and literature of the thesis. The second chapter of the thesis expresses the history of urban design and defines the urban design concept. It also emphasizes on the types of urban design competition by formats, phasing, geography and eligibility.In the third chapter, examples of urban design competitions are analysed on an international level and a national level here in Turkey. The focus is then directed to urban design competitions within Turkey from 1980 to 2014. Each decade is analysed with focus on the theme and scope and how these may have changed from decade to decade.In an attempt to get the perspectives from professionals in the field of urban design who have participated in urban design competitions, a survey was condected for the content of this thesis. In this next chapter that surveys significance is explained and its results are analysed and evaluated. In this Thesis, urban design project competition process in Turkey is researched and explained the existing competition process step by step and is exhibited the frame of the process. From this point of view the existing competition process evaluate with relating the professionals' perspectives and experiences. At this evaluation is made by a survey that applied with 50 professionals who acceded urban design project competitions and awarded at least at one project competition. Within the scope of this survey study is put forward active and inactive points of the process with relating the professinals' experinces and from this point of view at this thesis brings forward a proposal an ideal process for competition process.In the final chapter of the thesis all the accumulated information and the metarial is evaluated, analysed and then concluded with suggestions for an ideal urban design competition process.