Examining Urban Design Characteristics of City Centers Using Walkability Criteria: Case of Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to explore the success in the urban design endeavors of Turkish cities throughout the years, which is mostly distinguished by a variety of city plans. The criteria for walkability will be the focal point in the exploration of urban design success levels. A hybrid [fuzzy logic + space syntax analysis + geographic information system (GIS)] method, which is not commonly used in current research, will be used as the method for this study. Five cities will be selected as samples and an expert group of 49 people formed. The analysis will be according to the determined criteria and various results were obtained. The results show that Turkish cities' success levels in walkability is very low. Therefore, these results show that Turkey should question its spatial planning decisions. The design of cities is shaped according to the needs of motor vehicles and priority for pedestrians is seldom considered. This shows that negative conditions persist in Turkish cities for urban design standards. This study could be applied to different cities with its methodology and content. Therefore, it could contribute to the improvement in the urban design level of cities and help to ensure that walkability becomes the priority in these designs.