A Theoretical Evaluation in the Context of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) Approaches of Urban Regeneration Implementations: Case Study of Bağcılar District, Istanbul

Abstract

Over the past decades, Istanbul has experienced the major changes in the macro form of the city and the social structure. Development of business activities and population growth in the center by influencing the surrounding housing districts, the rapid increase of the traffic density, and the adverse environmental conditions like noise, air pollution have been affecting the demographic, social and urban texture. As a result of the rate of urbanization; A series of ‘urban transformation projects’ has become a current issue to restructure the irregular formation and transportation problems in Istanbul. The paper analyses the development of urban design projects since the 2012 Urban Regeneration Law through a research project conducted in the Bağcılar District of Istanbul. Housing design projects exist within the highly complex social and technical networks of the human-built environment. The analysis identifies the roles of both human and non-human actors in urban regeneration project and this paper proposes a means of mapping the actornetwork of housing design. The network mapping focuses on the flow of design related information between actors and proposes the use of social network analysis tools to identify important network features and facilitate system intervention.