The effect of urban transformation on urban belonging sense: Case of Kırşehir province

Throughout the history, while human beings were forming cities, the cities became a fact directing the sense and the thought of humans, enabling them to get a certain discipline of life, making them to internalize social norms and having an ongoing mutual interaction. The existence of transforming, developing, and modernizing cities is inevitable as long as human beings exist. Although authorities have tried to find solutions to unplanned urbanization which has emerged as a result of rapid urbanization with new reconstruction plans since 1950, today urban transformation projects have become a must for societies. On the other hand, while transforming cities, one of aims which must be achieved is to increase the level of urban belonging and the awareness of urbanity. In this research, as a consequence of urban transformation projects, the level of urban belonging sense and the urbanity awareness of people who are living in Kırşehir between 2015 and 2016 is analysed. A questionnaire composed of 38 items, named as "The Sense of Urban Belonging", and prepared by the researcher by reviewing the related literature and getting the opinions of experts was used as data collection tool. The data obtained from the questionnaires of 400 participants were analyzed by related analysis program and are presented in this study. The results show that in Kırşehir, urban transformation has limited effect on individuals sense of belonging. According to the results, the common feature of the individuals who have sense of belonging to Kırşehir is the fact that they were born or have been living in Kırşehir for many years. Key Words: Urban transformation, urbanity awareness, urban belonging