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Today central neighborhoods of Istanbul like other cities of Turkey has entered a critical stage in urban preservation and urban regeneration issues. This discussion rather than being an academic argument, it exposes many contradictions about the real life especially in central neighborhoods. The reason for being dilemma for these settings, first, these neighborhoods are typical dilapidated historical environment and they may need urgent decisions for preservation and conservation, second, “the urban transformation law” that we faced for historical environments which is passed from the Turkish Parliament in 2006, coded as 5366.

This paper elaborates two set of aspects about the real situation of central neighborhoods. First set is based on the physical and social aspects of the historical environment before the urban regeneration project, the second set of aspects will be related to the aspects of the implementation of the project. The aspects in general sense present insufficiencies in physical and social contexts. These aspects can also be observed in central neighborhoods of Istanbul, like Tarlabasi, Fener, Balat and Zeyrek. The realities which we observed in these neighborhoods force us to conclude that we should rapidly regenerate these neighborhoods that they perceived as the edge of the threshold of “ghetto”.

The paper presents contradictions about the aspects of the dilapidated environment, and it also predicts possible aspects in new urban regeneration projects that they might be emerged after application of the new law. The insufficiencies stated in new projects bring out a classical question “does the law coded 5366 efficiently change or regenerate the dilapidated central neighborhoods?”. Will we have better living conditions in central neighborhoods after the implementation of the law coded 5366 ?

The paper ends with the discussion on complicated aspects of the central neighborhoods regarding the issues of new living conditions, the implementation of new law and monetary based opportunities for new land or property developers. The paper draws the attention to unseen qualities of the central neighborhoods and it evaluates ongoing manipulations and legal implementations for building blocks based on short term speculations.

This study compared the gentrification processes in Cihangir and Tarlabasi. The dynamics of the gentrification process in Cihangir is compared with the vastly different gentrification process in Tarlabasi. Interpretations of gentrification are also included in this paper.

The study analyzed the dynamics of the gentrification process in Cihangir, Istanbul (Turkey) to determine the extent of change during the process. Characterization of the Cihangir neighborhood, which distinguishes Cihangir from other gentrified urban areas, is another aspect of this study. The transformation of Cihangir is currently underway; it involves the revolution and renovation of land and buildings, which is known as gentrification. The gentrification process in Cihangir is affected by socio-economic and socio-cultural transformations. This paper examines gentrification in the Cihangir neighborhood, which has occurred spontaneously and supports the perpetuation of social diversity, which occurs in many urban areas. Although Istanbul’s Tarlabasi region exhibits geophysical characteristics that resemble the geophysical characteristics of Cihangir, Tarlabasi is affected by a completely different gentrification process, which is known as planned gentrification.

In the context of this study, scholars question whether gentrification is “erasing the social geography of urban land and unique architectural pattern,” or if gentrification represents “the upgrading and renaissance of the urban land.” (Smith, 1996)

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the cognitive aspects of spatial experiences of paediatric inpatients who receive long-term treatment in a healthcare setting in relation to the syntactic parameters of healthcare environment. It is aimed to investigate how the change in the child’s cognition caused by the environmental stress experienced by the child during his/her stay in the hospital is related to the physical parameters of the treatment space.

The methodology of the study is based on a correlational analysis to identify the cognitive and syntactic factors of the healthcare environment that contribute to changes in the perceptual processes of a sample group of thirty children. The study examined the relationships between the graph and isovist variables, and the cognitive parameters of paediatric inpatients. The two datasets were subjected to regression analyses in order to identify any significant findings, which allowed for a discussion of how the patients’ changing perceptual processes are influenced by the syntactic measures of the healthcare setting.

The study showed that a syntactically intelligible floor plan contributes significantly to reducing environmental stress among paediatric inpatients. The presence of shared spaces within the healthcare environment, where social interaction with peers is possible, emerges as a crucial factor influencing children’s spatial perception. Additionally, the visibility characteristics of shared spaces may also play a key role in enhancing children’s perceptions of safety.

The limitations of the study include the fact that the study was conducted in an oncology and haematology inpatient unit with challenging conditions in terms of the mobility potentials of the children, which might have affected their perceptual processes. A further limitation is that the sample size comprised only 30 children, and the spatial configuration of the healthcare environment was linear and not particularly complex.

By identifying the impact of spatial design on children’s well-being, the study informs the creation and improvement of healthcare environments. Enhanced understanding of factors like intelligible floor plans, shared spaces and isovist values can lead to more child-friendly facilities, potentially alleviating stress for young patients. Consequently, this research may contribute to improved healthcare outcomes, increased comfort for paediatric inpatients, and a more supportive environment for their families, fostering a holistic approach to paediatric care and positively influencing the overall quality of life for children undergoing long-term treatment.

This study contributes to the theoretical discourse on how the constrained physical conditions of a paediatric healthcare environment may influence the perceptual processes of paediatric inpatients. The results of this evidence-based study have the potential to inform the evaluation of design guidelines for healthcare settings, with the ultimate aim of enhancing therapeutic environments.

Although the design studio has formally been the locus for design education, informal education approach has gained more and more acceptance in the world. Informal education, which is the education outside the confines of curricula, includes the acquisition of knowledge and skills through experience, reading, social contact, etc. Workshops cover the essential weight of this informal education. Although the role of the design workshops in architectural design education has been very limited through overall design education’s past, many schools of architecture have taken steps to consider workshops as the part of informal learning and education.

“Culture and Space in the Build environment” (CSBE) Network of IAPS have been organizing “culture and design workshop series” for graduate and post graduate students in Turkey since 2001. In these workshops, a design teaching approach based on the conceptual framework of culture and space interactions is applied. The conceptual framework developed for the architectural design education, takes three fundamental starting points for workshops as the part of informal design education: as a tool for informal design education (method), as a tool for learning & understanding culture-environment relations (content), and as a tool for awareness of different environments/contexts (scale/place). The foundation of the conceptual framework is based on the general approach that discusses the “architectural design process” with regards to environmental context and content.

Within this context the aim of the paper is to discuss and evaluate the importance and the contribution of workshops as tool for informal architectural design education. These discussions will be held on the case of IAPS-CBSE Network’s last workshop “Istanbul as a Palimpsest City and Imperfection”. In the paper, the process, the method, the content and the results of workshop studies will be discussed and evaluated.