The role of participation in the re-functioning of the railway heritage: İstanbul Bostanci-Pendik suburban line

Railways take place in the history of humanity as an industrial development symbolizing change and transformation in areas such as social relations and cultural structure, environment and urbanism, economy, technology and politics. In addition to its active role in the world wars, it has an important role on industrialization and urbanization, increasing socio-cultural and scientific interactions between societies and within society. The railway and its structures, which took an active role during the War of Independence in our country, witnessed the last period of the Ottoman Empire and the Proclamation of the Republic. It is among our common cultural heritage as it witnesses the national memories and events of our country. It also hosted individual memories and events throughout the public's use. It is thought that it is important to protect the railway structures, which have corporeal and incorporeal bonds with the society, historical, cultural, architectural, memorial, monumental, artistic, aesthetic and industrial values and transfer them to future generations. It is seen that some of the Bostancı-Pendik Suburban Line station structures that will be examined within the scope of the study are non-functional and some of them are used outside of their original functions. It has been observed that the buildings have been damaged over time and are subject to changes that will impair their authenticity, and the role of function in this change has been examined. It is thought that it is important that the buildings in question are used in accordance with their identity characteristics and that they participate in life in order to protect them in the context of socio-cultural, environmental, economic and ecological sustainability. For this reason, the concept of refunctioning as a sustainable protection method against the danger of loss of values is examined in the study. In the re-functionalization method, prospective users are included in the function selection process through a questionnaire. In the study, Kartal Train Station and its surroundings were used for the function proposal at the environmental and building scale. The fact that Kartal Train Station is completely abandoned today, the willingness of the environment to participate, and the presence of potential areas and axes around the station that can be associated with the building were effective in this election. Bostancı-Pendik Suburban Line and station structures were examined, analyzed and evaluated in the context of railway heritage, re-functioning and participation concepts, together with the environment in which they were affected. At the end of the study, functional suggestions for sustainable protection were developed.