Socio-economic and outcomes of transformations in city centres: The pedestrianisation of Kadiköy Historic Centre

The Regeneration Project for Kadıköy Historic Centre began with the pedestrianization of Tellalzade Street in 2004, and then spread to the neighbouring streets. The main hypothesis of this dissertation is that pedestrianisation does not solely mean separating the pedestrian and vehicle traffic, but it also is a practice with significant socio-economic and spatial outcomes. Literature shows that spatial quality of the city centres increases and better designed public spaces are created following pedestrianisation. In the pedestrianised areas, the profitability of the shops and stores/local businesses is increased. Furthermore, the number of consumers and tourists visiting the area rises which results in an increase in the real estate prices around the pedestrianised area. This also causes both social and commercial gentrification. Furthermore, accessibility problems and traffic problems in the neighbouring/nearby streets increase. The increase in the economic success attracts chain stores to the area and causes small-sized businesses to be shut down which results in the loss of the area's authenticity. This dissertation aims to check the validity of the above-stated hypotheses by investigating the post-pedestrianisation social, economic and spatial transformation of Kadıköy Historic Centre. Key Words: Historic City Centre, Kadıköy Historic Centre, Pedestrianization, Urban Regeneration, Urban Renaissance, Commercial Gentrification