**5.2 Immigrant housing in the periphery of the city**

196 Urban Development

These immigrant settlements in and around the historic city threaten sustainable urban development of the city in terms of both physical and socio-cultural dimensions. When analysed in terms of physical requirements of sustainable urban development which were defined as quality of life, optimum density and minimum use of energy and resources, the effects of immigrant housing around the historic city center can be summarized as follows; Quality of life: The elements of built environment are immigrant houses, either one- or two-storey houses with poor construction materials and systems, or traditional houses. They both have deficiency in terms of physical conditions because of insufficient financial resources and inadequate infrastructure. The squatter settlements composed of "gecekondus" threaten natural beauties and resources of the Mount Uludağ, which is one of the most important natural assets of the city. The poor transportation opportunities and inadequate roads opened without permission cause difficulties in terms of accessibility and safety of the environment. The vitality and diversity of the traditional neighbourhoods are also under the threat of increasing gecekondus because

 Optimum Density: General opinion about the most appropriate density for sustainable urban settlements is as high as acceptable for the physical and socio-cultural carrying capacity of the environment. The term density includes not only the number of people per hectar, but the buildings and the different functions as well. The immigrant settlements around the historic city mostly have an appropriate density of people and buildings, but there are no other kinds of buildings than houses and this situation

 Minimum Use of Energy and Resources: In the past, these kinds of immigrant houses were constructed with traditional materials like brick, stone and timber, and building systems. Consequently they can be recycled and are suitable for ecological sustainability. However, today they are constructed with reinforced concrete which can't be recycled and therefore unsuitable for ecological sustainability. Being near to the city center, people living in these settlements do not have to use motor vehicles in their daily lives, anyway most of them do not have any motor vehicles of their own. The residents use public transportation and this is a desirable action to minimise the use of motor vehicles which is a vital requirement for ecological and physical sustainability.

Fig. 16. Houses on the lower slopes of Uludağ (A.I.Çahantimur archive)

of their damaging effect in the image of the historic city.

shows that the density of functions is lower than required.

Social housing blocks planned as alternatives of squatter settlements are located in the periphery of Bursa, usually in the proximity of squatter settlements (fig.17)

Fig. 17. Examples from social housing blocks (A.I.Çahantimur archive)

They are funded by the state and constructed with the collaboration of local governments and private sector companies. Although it is easy to observe the rapid land-use changes to urban sprawl and the agricultural land loss in Bursa, detailed and up-to-date information is not available from official sources. However, it is a known fact that a widespread expansion of peripheral development is still going on, along the east-west axis of linear macroform of the city. The vast and widespread expansion of peripheral development not only takes up valuable land and increases transportation problems, but also has adverse effects on the historic identity of the city together with psychological, social and cultural needs of people. Whatever drives its development the periphery usually suffers from inadequate investment in the infrastructure necessary to integrate it into the city. When analysed in terms of physical requirements of sustainable urban development, the effects of immigrant housing in the periphery of the city can be summarized as follows:


The Impact of Different Urban Housing Patterns on the

periphery of the city.

**7. References** 

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Sustainable Urban Development of a Historic City, Bursa/Turkey 199

immigrant housing settlements show that Bursa will be a polynucleated metropol in a very near future. The important points of attention for the future developments should be first of all improvement of public transportation and road capacities, and then intensification of existing low-density areas, particularly around transport interchanges and along transport corridors. These will bring about the prevention of existence of new settlement areas in the

As a last word, action for sustainable urban development needs to be taken at all levels, but local authorities and communities themselves may be best able to set priorities for and to implement projects. Consequently, investigations about the psychological and socio-cultural aspects of urban environment have to be considered as a vital part of the sustainability

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 Minimum Use of Energy and Resources: All of the immigrant houses in the peripheries are costructed with reinforced concrete and have inadequate standarts of environmental control. Therefore they are not suitable for ecological sustainability. Being away from the city center, the residents of these settlements have to use motor vehicles more than the ones near to the city center. This situation makes the reduction of car use and traffic emmisions impossible.

#### **5.3 Conclusion: The impact of immigrant housing on the sustainable urban development of Bursa**

As a result of archival data analysis and observations made in the selected immigrant housing neighborhoods, physical, historical and socio-demographic data have been obtained regarding these areas. The analysis of data connote that, immigrant housing areas both around the historic city center and in the periphery of the city have negative impacts on the sustainable urban development of Bursa. Immigrant settlements both around the historic city center and in the periphery of the city-, damage the identity of the city in terms of spatial and socio-cultural components, which are significant for achieving physical and socio-cultural sustainability of the city. Especially gecekondus around the city core threaten the uniqueness of the architectural and cultural heritage of the historic city. On the other hand, immigrant settlements in the periphery of the city increase urban dispersal which cause the agricultural land to be lost. They divide the city into sub-centers that are not easy to access. In most of these settlements "quality of life", that is the overall aim of sustainable urban development, is low in all its aspects. These settlements are faced with most of the indicators of unsustainability like inadequate infrastructure, unhealthy environments, deficient open and green space, poor access to the services and transport systems.
