Holding the process accountable: An exploration of new housing developments and place in Cukurcayir, Turkey

Housing environments are the places where its residents spend most of their time in. In Turkey, housing types that have been built in the past have over time. Especially during the past decade, due to the concentration of people in the city centers and the nations goals on housing developments have resulted in dense and tall apartment buildings to be built in newly developing cities. This study exemplifies the current planning practices and its effects on housing environments and place. The reasons why this study is focusing on the housing environments are: housing environments represent the culture and society, people spend most of their time and raise future generations in housing environments, the major issue that addresses the need for quality design and participatory development for healthy and sustainable communities, and the need for change in physical planning process.;In this study, three theories and issues has been discussed, that are physical planning in Çukurçayir, Sense of Place, and Community. The theoretical framework then follows a participatory design process where resident's opinions on quality of housing environment engaged in this study to develop a dialogue between the actors that take place in place making process and provide a quality design solution that reflects resident's values and culture. The results of this study will help to show the need for quality design, design guidelines, collaborative and participatory planning and place making process for long-lasting communities. Finally, it draws attention to the need for a change in the overall planning process.