The Relation Between Social Infrastructure and Urban Quality of Life: Araptepe Case Area

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 2, 349 - 371, 31.08.2025

Ahmet Kıvanç Kutluca , Şeyma Nur Aksoy

Abstract

The urban transformation approach, recognized with its economic and physical dimensions before the 1999 earthquake, has been redefined in the context of the emerging "disaster paradigm" following the event. However, in most contemporary applications, urban transformation projects have not been able to transcend beyond the mere renewal of the existing building stock, adhering to a model wherein the importance of social infrastructure and the enhancement of urban quality of life has been relegated to a secondary status.
The primary objective of this study is to conduct a spatial and social evaluation of the established relation between the concepts of "urban transformation" and "urban quality of life" as documented in existing literature, with a particular emphasis on the satisfaction derived from the interaction between the environment and its residents. In this context, the study examines the experiences of both the rights holders and the new users who have settled in the Araptepe Urban Transformation Area, located in the Araptepe Region of the Yenikent Neighborhood within the Derince district of Kocaeli province, after the transformation project. This examination is framed within the concept of "urban quality of life" through the utilization of urban infrastructures. The significance of this study lies in its designation as the first research conducted in Kocaeli on the relation between Urban Transformation and Urban Quality of Life, particularly given the limited number of studies addressing this topic nationwide

Keywords

Derince-Araptepe , Urban Transformation , Social Infrastructures , Urban Quality of Life , Satisfaction Survey

Araptepe Örneklem Alanında “Sosyal Altyapı- Kentsel Yaşam Kalitesi” İlişkisi

Abstract

1999 depremi öncesinde ekonomik ve fiziksel yönleriyle öne çıkan kentsel dönüşüm yaklaşımı, deprem sonrasında “afet” kavramı merkeze alacak şekilde yeniden ele alınmıştır. Ancak, mevcuttaki çoğu uygulamada kentsel dönüşüm projeleri mevcuttaki yapı stokunun yenilenmesinden öteye geçememiş, sosyal altyapı alanlarının ve kentsel yaşam kalitesinin geri plana itildiği bir model halinde sınırlı kalmıştır.
Bu çalışmanın temel amacı; literatürde yer alan “kentsel dönüşüm” kavramı ile “kentsel yaşam kalitesi” kavramı arasındaki var olduğu bilinen ilişkinin özellikle yaşanılan çevre ile kullanıcı arasındaki ilişkinin memnuniyetini odağa alarak mekânsal ve sosyal değerlendirilmesinin yapılması olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu kapsamda, Kocaeli ili Derince ilçesi Yenikent Mahallesi içerisinde yer alan Araptepe Bölgesi’nde bulunan Araptepe Kentsel Dönüşüm Alanında proje sonrasında yaşamaya başlayan eski hak sahipleri ve yeni kullanıcıların mahalle ölçeğindeki fiziksel çevre deneyimleri kentsel donatı kullanımları üzerinden “kentsel yaşam kalitesi” çerçevesinde incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın, ülke genelinde sınırlı sayıda çalışma yapılmış Kentsel Dönüşüm-Kentsel Yaşam Kalitesi ilişkisi üzerine Kocaeli genelinde yapılacak ilk çalışma olması kapsamında önemli olduğu düşünülmektedir.

Keywords

Derince- Araptepe , Kentsel Dönüşüm , Sosyal Altyapı , Kentsel Yaşam Kalitesi , Memnuniyet Anketi

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