Examination of quality of life in historical city centers in terms of urban morpholoy: The case of Bursa Khans District

In recent years, with the increase in the number of people living in cities, the emergence of new sub-centers in ever-expanding urban areas causes historical city centers to loose their former importance and vitality, to decrease the spatial quality of and to become obsolete. The quality and livability of historical city centers enables the individuals living in the city to feel themselves belong to city, know, experience and integrate with the urban space. The livability of the city center is not only related to the existence and the number of public areas, but also the diversity of activities, walkability and their continuity. In this context, the thesis aimed to examine the urban livability in the Bursa Khans Area and its surrounding from the morphological point of view. In other words, the thesis reveals the spatial character of the public areas in the historical city center and its immediate surroundings with morphological analyses. Therefore, the study contributes to the development of a livability approach related to physical environment in city centers by evaluating the spatial quality parameters in public areas. For this purpose, the study examined the approaches and models related to urban quality of life and urban morphology in the literature part of the study. The morphological point of view of M.R.G Conzen and the quality of life approach of Van der Voordt were the fundemantals to constitute the conceptual framework and methodology of the study. In this regard, the study investigated firstly development process of the Bursa city center by discussing the urbanization and planning experiences historically. Then, harmony regions were obtained by morphological analysis in the study area, which was determined to include the city center and surrounding areas. In these harmony zones, the quality of urban space was objectively measured. As a result of the analysis that combine quantitative and qualitative methods, it has been determined that numerical changes and livability changes in morphological components. The data used in the study consists of the zoning plans obtained from the Osmangazi Municipality, aerial photography, observations and evaluations made in the area, and face-to-face interviews with the people living in the sample areas and the shopkeepers. As a result of the analysis, the public spaces that enable the individuals to spend time in the city center decrease from the city center to the surrounding neighborhoods. Likewise, the walkability, typological and aesthetic harmony and the livable area index value decrease, while the parcel size and vertical density increase. In conclusion, the interventions for the livability of historical city centers shouldregard their surrounding public areas and include the principles such as increasing public spaces, providing their continuity and integrity as a whole.