Housing Policies in Turkey： Evolution of TOKI （Governmental Mass Housing Administration） as an Urban Design Tool

With the mission of absorption of the capital through urban renovation, AKP （the Justice and Welfare Party） took over the metropolitan municipality administrations in big cities in 1995, and the Government of the Republic of Turkey in 2002. Together with the 2003 Mass Housing Act, 14 legal regulations were enacted between 2002 and 2008 to expand the field of activity and increase the funds of TOKI （Governmental Mass Housing Administration） which was already established during ANAP （the Motherland Party） Government in 1980s. As a result of those regulations, TOKI, as the ＂latest goddess of the construction myth＂, became the only authorized organization in the field of housing and land production in AKP＇s cities. It acquired new duties from generating profit-oriented projects to protecting historical texture, and it was authorized to make and approve zoning plans for the lands and plots handed over to TOKI of the last government （the Justice and Welfare Party） created as an investor-entrepreneur-contractor-performer group. This paper＇s aim is to indicate the transformation of TOKI foundation during the last twenty years, and also to prove that TOKI, as a governmental profit-oriented design tool, has demolished the unique DNA/morphological textures of the contemporary Turkish big cities by producing low profiled similar architecture and urbanity in the recent past.

An evaluation approach to spatial identity in historic urban areas from a humanistic perspective

Urban spatial identity,as the core content of a distinctive urban image and the representation of urban competitiveness and attraction,is critical to cities in the rapid development process.In view of maintaining and strengthening the spatial identity in a historic urban area,which is the key issue of urban construction in China at present,based on the literature review of Chinese urban spatial identity studies,three research paradigms are summarized:landscape,culture,and economy.Although the traditional evaluation method of spatial identity in historic urban areas has focused on the scarcity of characteristic resources,the relation-ship between characteristic resources and human beings has been ignored.Therefore,based on the declaration of the fundamental mechanism of urban spatial identity in historic urban areas,a new evaluation method was proposed considering four aspects,including object,subject,content,and indicators.The results indicated that the framework of evaluation and design,which is based on the assessment of the relationship between characteristic resources and human beings,is an effective strategy to improve the scientific evaluation of urban spatial identity.Our study has substantial implications for urban planners and managers in solving the urban identity crisis issue in historic urban areas.

Evaluation Index System of Urban Identity

In recent years, with the rapid development of urban construction, the maintenance and creation of urban identity has met unprecedented opportunities as well as problems. In light of lacking related evaluation systems of urban identity planning, this paper makes an in-depth study on the composition system of urban identity, based on which it develops an urban identity evaluation system and then proposes technical methods for index screening and evaluation. Finally, it verifi es the application of an urban identity evaluation index system by using quantitative simulation in the two Chinese cities of Tianjin and Nanjing.

A 30-year controversy over the Shanghai East China Electric Power Building:the creation and conservation of late 20th century Chinese architectural heritage

The Shanghai East China Electric Power Building,which was completed in 1988,is widely accepted as one of the first postmodern high-rise buildings in Shanghai.Based on articles published in mass media and professional magazines,interviews with relevant stakeholders and social media debates,this paper focuses on two controversies regarding the building’s peculiar architectural form.The first occurred between 1988 and 1992,when the building’s postmodern appearance aroused heated debates among architectural professionals.The second happened between 2015 and 2018,when the building’s postmodern appearance was planned to be replaced with a slated Art Deco surface during its renovation into a boutique hotel.This paper reveals how a thirst for‘form innovation’emerged in the specific social and professional environment shortly after China’s opening-up,and how professional and public awareness of the value of late 20th century architectural heritage was stimulated in the early 21st century in the search for an alternative representation of urban identity other than the widely accepted Art Deco style.This paper emphasises the public meaning of architectural forms in arguing for institutional co-operation in systematic evaluation and conservation legislation for late twentieth century Chinese architectural heritage sites to maintain the historical diversity of the cityscape during urban regeneration.

A 30-year controversy over the Shanghai East China Electric Power Building:the creation and conservation of late 20th century Chinese architectural heritage

The Shanghai East China Electric Power Building,which was completed in 1988,is widely accepted as one of the first postmodern high-rise buildings in Shanghai.Based on articles published in mass media and professional magazines,interviews with relevant stakeholders and social media debates,this paper focuses on two controversies regarding the building’s peculiar architectural form.The first occurred between 1988 and 1992,when the building’s postmodern appearance aroused heated debates among architectural professionals.The second happened between 2015 and 2018,when the building’s postmodern appearance was planned to be replaced with a slated Art Deco surface during its renovation into a boutique hotel.This paper reveals how a thirst for‘form innovation’emerged in the specific social and professional environment shortly after China’s opening-up,and how professional and public awareness of the value of late 20th century architectural heritage was stimulated in the early 21st century in the search for an alternative representation of urban identity other than the widely accepted Art Deco style.This paper emphasises the public meaning of architectural forms in arguing for institutional co-operation in systematic evaluation and conservation legislation for late twentieth century Chinese architectural heritage sites to maintain the historical diversity of the cityscape during urban regeneration.