Investigation of the physical characteristics of the streets in the traditional urban fabric of city of Gaziantep

Streets are defined as spaces that connect the urban spaces around them and where people carry out their daily activities. The first street, spaces which are the basic elements of the urban fabric, are as old as the history of settlements and date back to 5000 BC. The issue of streets as a space has mostly been addressed by urban designers. Street formations have been formed according to the physical and social structure characteristics of the urban space in which it is located, as well as the physical environmental conditions. It is important to recognize traditional street structures that reflect the architectural and urban structures of their periods, at the same time, their morphological structures are considered asa kınd of cultural heritage. The aim of the study is to determine the original characteristics of physical structure of traditional streets. Determination of the original physical structure features allows restoration and conservation works to be carried out with the right techniques without damaging the texture, thus enabling sustainability. The scope of the study consists of 8 streets with different characteristics from Bey and Suyabatmaz neighborhoods with different topographical features within the traditional urban fabric of Gaziantep. The physical structure characteristics of the traditional streets (street width and length, shape, paving, building functions, building height, building elevation, parcel forms, building height/road ratio, landscape characteristics) obtained from the literature study were tabulated on each of the streets based on plans, sections, photographs and findings obtained from fieldwork. As a result of the study, by comparing the characteristics of the traditional street texture with the characteristics of the streets selected from Bey and Suyabatmaz neighborhoods, the physical structure characteristics of the street in Gaziantep traditional city texture were determined and tabulated. The original physical structure features obtained will contribute to the protection of the streets with the right methods and techniques, to carry out sanitization works and to ensure their sustainability. Keywords: Urban