An evaluation of the causes and potentials of urban voids: The case of Samsun kale neighbourhood

Today's cities are faced with the problems of unplanned urbanization triggered by uncontrolled development and rapid growth. This process leads to the deterioration of the occupancy-void balance in the urban fabric and an increase in the need for public space. This study, aims to reveal the opportunities, values and potentials offered by the multi-dimensional evaluation of urban voids in the context of the deterioration of the occupancy-void balance in the urban fabric and the increasing need for public space. The main objective of the study is to reveal how urban voids can be integrated into public life by supporting their environmental, social, cultural, economic and aesthetic potentials by discussing existing examples and studies carried out in the Kale Neighbourhood of Samsun province. In this context, it presents the importance of urban voids in urban and urban life in a theoretical framework, determines the formation dynamics of urban voids and the effects they create in the urban fabric, and analyses their potential for use as public spaces with a systematic approach. As a result of all these, it reveals that voids are at least as important as occupancies and too valuable to be left idle, that they define a problem area that needs to be considered and designed, and that they are strategically important for the future of cities.