Multi-Storey Housing Transformation in Diyarbakır (1985-2005): A Space Syntax Analysis

In Türkiye, the production of multi-storey housing accelerated with post-1980 neoliberal economic policies and the widespread use of reinforced concrete technology; in Diyarbakır, however, this process became intertwined with the urban pressure generated by the wave of forced migration. Shaping the city's socio-spatial structure, this process gave rise to informal and formal settlement patterns. Reflecting local cultural continuity, spatial formations embody the sociocultural codes of established residents. Therefore, the avoidance tendency of established residents can also manifest in spatial organisation by altering or reproducing these codes. In Diyarbakır, sudden and rapid migration influenced numerous aspects, from settlement site selection to housing production; multi-storey housing development became the dominant building culture in both formal and informal settlements. This study aims to quantitatively reveal the transformation of spatial organisation in multi-storey housing produced in Diyarbakır between 1985 and 2005 for forty-five samples, using the Space Syntax method. Syntactic findings were tested via the Welch t-test in terms of construction period and production mode. It was found that the multi-centred and permeable spatial organisation of the first multi-storey dwellings in Diyarbakır before forced migration, which preserved traditional courtyard logic, transformed into a circulation-centred, hierarchical, and segregated organisation after 1985. In conclusion, during the 1985-2005 transition period in Diyarbakır marked by sudden and rapid migration, the spatial continuity of established residents' cultural habits was reshaped through avoidance at the urban scale and through isolation, the privacy gradient, the deepening of the system, and the adaptation of tradition at the residential scale.