THE IMPACTS OF THE GATED RESIDENTIAL AREAS ON THE URBAN SPRAWL OF ISTANBUL

Within the globalization process, the form and extent of spatial changes and transformations in metropolitan cities have differed in central and peripheral areas. The affects of the social and spatial changes caused by globalization experienced worldwide are also seen within the Istanbul metropolitan area. The uncontrolled urban growth in Istanbul in the last 25 years, which has been provoked by political expectations, has become beneficial for immovable investments that depend on annuity expectations. Growth dynamics depending on annuity not only leads to an uncontrolled sprawl in the city but also represents a fragmentary structure in which resources are distributed unevenly. Within this fragmentary structure, some urban areas become attractive domains for investment along with the market conditions; on the other hand, the spatial decomposition among unplanned growth areas, which lack sufficient substructure facilities, is accompanied by social decomposition. Although the target development of Istanbul metropolitan area’s macro form has been determined to be linear on east-west direction, the course of this development has come to threaten forested areas and water basins towards the north. The spatial distribution of the Gated Residential Areas is linked with the urban sprawl of Istanbul. The demand on the northern and north-eastern parts of the city in the aftermath of the 1999 earthquake in Istanbul has also enhanced this phenomenon. People from high-income groups show a tendency to live in urban peripheries, because gated communities provide high-standard urban services to their residents. These communities were equipped with special amenities, large variety of leisure activities, higher building standards and high-quality housing environmental infrastructures. This paper is intended to highlight the contradiction between gated residential settlements’ healthy housing environment and their impacts on urban sprawl of Istanbul.