Cumhuriyet and Binkonut Neighborhoods in Konya as an examplary model for the production of housing environments

Researches on the design of residential environments in the world and in Turkey have been continuing from past to present. In particular, the literature on the history of housing in general and social housing in particular is related with the Garden City movement that developed in different directions in different countries of the world. It particularly played a role in the formation of housing cooperatives in Turkey. The formation of housing estates in the form of detached houses with gardens started with the Bahçelievler Cooperative that was formed mostly by buraucrates in Ankara. In the 1970s, the biggest factor in the spread of cooperatives in other Anatolian cities as a social model was the Slum Prevention Zones proposed by the Slum Law No. 775. Today's residential environments need to be discussed in terms of planning understanding and operation process, and especially with regard to the principles and administrative dimension of urban design. Cumhuriyet and Binkonut neighborhoods, which were planned as the 4th Slum Prevention Zone in Konya, constitute the study area of the thesis. It is a social housing environment implemented through the formation of cooperatives. Besides reflecting the planning understanding of the period in Turkey, it is an original interpretation of the contemporary housing approaches in the world. It was implemented by the Municipality with a different approach specific to Anatolian cities, from the decision and planning stage to the usage stage. With this thesis research; it is argued that the study area that was designed in line with the principles of urban design, has a certain scale, texture and qualified spatial integrity. With the planning, implementation and use process and the participatory process that operated at every stage of the architectural design, it has reached the lower-middle-low income groups, which was the target audience. As an examplary social housing environment, it is documented, researched, discussed, and examined as a model in terms of residential environments through its physical layout – planning proces and urban design, social setup and the operational process. In addition, the study is aimed to contribute to the history of city planning, urban design and architecture as well as to the education of architecture and urbanism.