The safety Dilemma of Gated Communities in Turkey: How Borders Threaten Safe Space Formation in Neighbourhoods

Abstract

The production of safe spaces in neighbourhood areas is a challenge for the rapid urbanization in Turkey. The way of providing safety in housing areas has been ensured in the form of designing gated communities as clusters. However, it is possible to promote defensible spaces with the design of an urban form which increases users’ impact area and sense of belonging. The urban tissue of neighbourhoods in Turkey, before the transition to gated communities, has already had these characteristics by having the spatial configuration of neighbourhood phenomenon. This study aims to emphasize the possibility of creating defensible spaces with planning and reveal design principles by reviewing the literature. Moreover, the study conducts a critical approach to gated communities which are segregated from urban tissue regarding safety and to their spatial design following the investigated design principles of safe space creation.