Proposal for Taksim Urban Design Competition

Street Scale
The solutions at the street scale can be undertaken as part of a green streets program.
Possible infrastructure interventions can include street trees, permeable pavements,
bioswales,retentions planters and rain gardens at local street scale to help build
resilience. Transformation of Mete Cad. can be a protoype to illustrate how a green
street can be integrated into the existing urban fabric.
Neighborhood Scale
Many cities facing similar challenges like Istanbul, have transformed existing open/
vacant spaces such as city parks, playgrounds and post-industrial zones into
permeable landscapes using green interventions. Most neighborhood scale examples
use medium to large open spaces (parks/rooftops) to absorb and/or store excess
stormwater. A newly created green stream can effectively channel rainwater to the
Bosphorus during a cloudburst to avoid damage in the neighborhood. Integrating these
spaces with networks of smaller blue-green interventions like gardens, urban farms and
green streets across neighborhoods can help create decentralized off-grid systems for
effective urban flood management.
City Scale
Istanbul desperately needs open green spaces. According to Urban Analysis Report by
IPA, the amount of green space per a person is 2,67 m 2 . This is much less than the legal
requirement of minimum 15 m 2 . Green-space interventions at the city scale can deliver
health, social and environmental benefits for all population groups – particularly
among lower socioeconomic status groups. In this regard, reconnecting Gezi Park with
Macka Park would be a step towards reclaiming what was once imagined as a city
scale park. In addition to parks, urban forests play a critical role in Istanbul’s green
network. The big challenge in the years ahead is managing and sustaining the existing
canopy in the face of future pressures from urban development, climate change, and
emerging pests.
* The images used in this page are for illustrative purposes only. They are not representative of any person or particular individual.
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