Urban streets and urban social sustainability: a case study on Bagdat street in Kadikoy, Istanbul

This paper focuses on the social function of historical public space in Turkey that has been transformed with rise of modernism. Before that, it functioned as a suburban recreational area. The increasing demand for urban lands has been led to its transformation and its function as an urban component. The historical pattern of urban space can be conserved to protect and strengthen social interactions as the key issue of urban social sustainability. With a focus on the urban design through literature review, the aim is to identify the role of social interactions on social sustainability of historical urban street in Turkey. A field survey study was conducted to observe and in-depth interviews to locally evaluate the socio-spatial design principles in Bagdat street, as a research case. Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) and Cognitive Spatial Map (CSM) were used to investigate the spatial experiences of the respondents. Results indicated that the historical continuity of socio-spatial activities through the time in respect to the socio-cultural values and user satisfaction has led to enhance the sense of belongings for citizens. As a conclusion, all data were integrated to propose a socio-spatial framework for designing and developing of Turkish public street, to enhance the urban social sustainability in future communities.