Community centers as a tool in supporting rural life: The case of Bursa

Due to economic hardships and lack of opportunities, rural populations drift to more developed cities. Rapid rise in population in urban towns as a result of migration is a major problem in the world. Countries saw economic development of these rural areas as the solution to keep the population in their homes, and they mainly focused on farming policies to achieve that. But with time, they recognized that this approach was not enough to tackle the problem and started searching for different solutions. They realized that developing the social and cultural parts of life to raise the appeal of these lands is just as important. In today's world where sustainable development is in demand, forming spaces which are built and designed with conditions and requirements of the region in mind that supports the advancement of society are seen as more important than ever. In this thesis, the approaches and steps taken to increase rural development in the world and in Turkey have been analyzed. The development of community centers which firstly appeared in Europe than in America has been examined. Presence and capabilities of projects in Turkey that can be classified as community centers have been evaluated. To identify the design criteria of community centers that are built in rural regions, examples from around the world have been analyzed. In the framework of the established criteria, five villages in the city of Bursa have been selected to research presence and capacity of the projects that fits the criteria. Similar migration tendencies has also been examined in the selected villages this thesis focuses on. The evaluations formed in this piece is thought to be beneficial to find solutions regarding concerns of the rural region. Key words: Community Centers, Community Focused Design, Rural Development, Sustainable Society