Kıyı alanlarında mekansal bağlantıların yaya hareketleri ve mekan kullanımına etkileri
The effects of spatial connectivity on pedestrian movement and space usage in waterfront areas
Yazar: ZEYNEP CEREN DURGUT
Danışman: DOÇ. DR. DİLEK YILDIZ
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü / Mimarlık Ana Bilim Dalı / Mimari Tasarım Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2021
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture

Özet:
Kentler, dolaşımı oluşturan akışlarla var olur ve canlı kalır. Kentteki yaya akışları, kentin farklı parçalarını bağlayarak süreklilik sağlanmasını ve kentin bir bütün olarak algılanmasını sağlar. Bu akışlar, kentteki insanların birbirleri ile karşılaşıp sosyalleşmesine zemin hazırlayan ve kentsel yaşamı kuran kentsel kamusal alanlar arasında gerçekleşir. Kamusal alanların birbirleri ve kent ile kurduğu mekânsal bağlantılar yaya akışını mümkün kılar. Bu çalışmada, kentte bir sınır oluşturmanın yanı sıra, birbirinden farklı özelliklere sahip iki alan olan kara ve deniz arasında bağlantı kurarak birer eşik tanımlayan kıyı alanlarına odaklanılmıştır. İki farklı alanın özelliklerini de barındırmaları ile diğer kentsel kamusal alanlardan farklılaşmaları, çalışmanın kıyı alanlarında yapılmasının nedenlerinden biridir. Çalışmanın ana problemi bazı kıyı alanlarının erişilebilirliklerinin sınırlı olması, çok aktif olarak kullanılmamaları ve bu nedenlerle atıl kalarak kamusallık özelliklerini yitirmeye başlamalarıdır. Bu problemin önüne geçmede kıyı alanlarının kent ile kurduğu mekânsal bağlantıların artmasının çözüm olabileceği düşünülmüştür. Bu nedenle bu çalışmada kıyı alanlarının kentle kurduğu mekânsal bağlantıların yaya hareketleri ve mekân kullanımı üzerindeki etkisi incelenmiştir. Çalışma ile kıyı alanlarının daha canlı, yaşanabilir, kent strüktürünün ve yaşamının devamı ve bir parçası olabilmesini sağlamak ve bu alanların kent ile kurduğu mekânsal bağlantıların tüm bunları sağlamaktaki etkisini irdelemek amaçlanmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında öncelikle literatür taraması yapılarak kullanılan kavramlar açıklanmıştır. Ardından çalışma alanı olarak Boğaz'ın Avrupa Yakası kıyı şeridinden Tarabya Güney Sahil, Tarabya Meydan, Tarabya Kuzey Sahil, Kireçburnu Park ve Kireçburnu Sahil olmak üzere beş çalışma alanı seçilmiştir. Seçilen çalışma alanları mekânsal bağlantıları ile yaya hareketleri ve mekan kullanımları bakımından incelenmiştir. Mekânsal bağlantı fiziksel ve görsel bağlantı olarak ele alınmış, bu kapsamda fiziksel bağlantı için metrik ve yönelmeli erişim analizleri, görsel bağlantı için ise iki ve üç boyutlu görsel analizler yapılmıştır. Ardından çalışma alanlarında yapılan sistematik gözlemler ile alanları kullanan ve alandan geçen yaya sayıları tespit edilmiş ve alanlara ait mekân kullanım haritaları oluşturulmuştur. Son olarak elde edilen tüm veriler Spearman korelasyon analizi, kümeleme analizi ve Mann-Whitney U testi olmak üzere istatistiksel analiz yöntemleri kullanılarak karşılaştırmalı olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Mekânsal bağlantıya ek olarak, yeşil alan varlığı, donatı (oyun, spor alanı) varlığı, karşı kıyı görünürlüğü ve alana özgü işlev varlığının da yaya hareketleri ve mekan kullanımı üzerindeki etkisi analiz edilmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda mekânsal bağlantının alandan geçen ve alanı kullanan kişi sayısını olumlu yönde etkilediği görülmüştür. Fiziksel ve görsel bağlantısı yüksek olan alanların kullanıcı sayıları da yüksek çıkmıştır. Fakat alanın erişilebilir olmasının yanı sıra barındırdığı imkanların da kullanımda önemli rolü vardır. Özellikle yeşil alan varlığı ve alana özgü işlev varlığının yaya hareketleri ve mekan kullanımı üzerindeki olumlu etkisinin güçlü olduğu görülmüştür. Bu sonuçlara göre, kıyı alanlarının kentin bir parçası ve aktif kullanılan birer alan olması için yapılması gerekenler mekânsal bağlantıların güçlendirilmesi ve başta yeşil alan olmak üzere kıyı alanlarındaki donatıların artırılması ve çeşitlendirilmesidir.

Abstract:
Cities exist and remain alive with the flows that form the circulation. Pedestrian flows in the city ensure continuity with connecting different parts of the city and provide the perception of the city as a whole. These flows take place between urban public spaces which establish urban life and make people meet and socialize with each other. The spatial connectivity between public spaces makes pedestrian flow possible. This study focuses on waterfront areas that create a border in the city but also defines a threshold by making a connection between land and sea, which are two areas with different features. One of the reasons why the study focussed on waterfront areas is that they contain the characteristics of two different areas. Thus they differ from other urban public spaces. The study consists of four main parts. In the introduction, which is the first part, the problem of the study is defined and the aim of the study, its importance, and its contribution to literature are mentioned. Also, research questions and methods, the scope and setup of the study are explained. The main problem of the study is that the accessibility of some waterfront areas is limited. They haven't been used very actively so they start to lose their publicity and be idle. Increasing the spatial connectivity between the waterfront areas and the city could be a solution for these problems. For this reason, in this study, the effect of spatial connectivity on pedestrian movement and space usage has been examined in waterfront areas. It is aimed to ensure that waterfront areas can be more livable and a part of the urban structure. In providing all these, it is important to examine the effect of spatial connectivity established in these areas with the city. In this study, answers are sought to the questions of how spatial connectivity in waterfront areas affects the pedestrian density and movement, what is the effect of visual and physical connectivity in waterfront areas on user behaviors, and is it possible to include idle waterfront areas into urban use with the strengthening of spatial connectivity. In the second part, the concepts used are explained by the literature review. The definitions of city and urban public space were made, the uses and the spatial characteristics of waterfront areas were mentioned. Then, the concepts of flow and spatial connectivity are explained, and spatial connectivity is discussed with physical and visual connectivity sub-components. Spatial connectivity criteria are defined and analysis methods are explained. In the third part, the waterfront areas are discussed specifically in İstanbul and after that, the field study started. Five areas, Tarabya South Coast, Tarabya Square, Tarabya North Coast, Kireçburnu Park, and Kireçburnu Coast were selected from the European Side of the Bosphorus as the study areas. Then spatial connectivity, pedestrian movement, and space usage were analyzed in these areas. Spatial connectivity was considered as physical and visual connectivity. In this context, metric and directional access analyzes were made for physical connectivity and two and three-dimensional visual analyzes were made for visual connectivity. All of these analyzes were performed using the Rhino Grasshopper. According to the studies in the literature, the distance threshold for metric access was taken as 400 meters, the angle threshold for directional access was taken as 20° and the number of direction changes was taken as 2. While performing visual analyzes, the radius was taken as 400 meters by looking at the distance threshold determined in the physical connectivity analysis. In two-dimensional visual analyzes, the horizontal viewing angle was taken as 120°, which is the two-dimensional viewing angle of the human eye. In the three-dimensional visual analyzes, the three-dimensional viewing angle of the human eye was taken into account. According to this, the height was taken as 170 cm, the horizontal viewing angle was taken as 60° and the vertical viewing angle was taken as 55°. In all analyzes, the starting point in all areas was chosen as the midpoint of the study areas. As a result of spatial connectivity analyzes, numerical values, accessibility, and visibility maps were obtained. Then, the pedestrian movement was analyzed with twenty-minute systematic observations made in the study areas. These observations were made in three days as two days during the week and one day on the weekend, and in four different time periods as the morning, noon, afternoon, and night hours. Pedestrian counts were made using the gate count method in the first five minutes of the observations. Thus, the number of pedestrians passing through the area was determined. In the remaining fifteen minutes, the number of pedestrians using the area was determined. The data obtained after the counts were processed into separate tables for each area and their graphics were created. Space usage maps of the areas were created according to the counting. The locations of the people using the areas are shown on these maps. At the same time, the activities carried out in the areas were determined. The number and percentage of the people which are using the area were recorded in the tables according to the activity types. Finally, all the obtained data were evaluated comparatively using statistical analyzes (Correlation and cluster analysis, Mann-Whitney U tests). Correlation analyzes were performed between spatial connectivity and pedestrian analyzes data. Correlation is a statistical analysis performed to understand whether there is a relationship between two or more variables, and if there is a relationship, it reveals the level of this relationship. Observed areas remained few in terms of sample number for correlation analysis and more areas could not be observed due to pandemic conditions. In this case, other analysis methods were used. The study areas were divided into two groups according to their similarities based on the spatial connectivity levels (low or high), the presence of green areas, the presence of urban equipment (play and sports area), the visibility of the opposite shore, and the presence of site-specific functions. Then, Mann-Whitney U tests were performed between groups which were obtained by cluster analyzes and pedestrian analysis data. With these tests, the effect of the presence of green space, the presence of urban equipment (play, sports area), the visibility of the opposite shore, and the presence of site-specific functions on pedestrian movement and space usage were analyzed. At the end of this section, all the data obtained were evaluated comparatively. In the fourth and last part, the conclusion of the study and suggestions for further studies are included. There are many studies in the literature researching spatial connectivity using various methods. In these studies, a determined urban area was studied and they didn't specifically focus on spatial connectivity in waterfront areas. While most of these studies researching spatial connectivity, they only analyzed physical connectivity. The number of studies that perform visual connectivity analyzes is less. The strength of this study is that it points to the potentials of waterfront areas and focuses on spatial connectivity analyzes in these areas. Visual connectivity analyzes were not limited to only 2D analyzes. Topographical features of the study areas were also taken into account by making 3D analyzes. Researching the visual connectivity and analyzing this connectivity in the third dimension can be an evaluation method for future studies on this subject. As a result of the study, it was seen that spatial connectivity had a positive effect on the number of people passing by and using the area. In the areas with high physical and visual connectivity, the number of users was also high. However, besides being accessible, the facilities in the areas also play an important role in use. Different factors such as the presence of green space, the presence of public equipment (play, sports area), the visibility of the opposite shore, and the presence of site-specific functions also affect pedestrian movement and use of space. It has been observed that the positive effect of the presence of green areas and site-specific functions on pedestrian movement and usage of space is strong. According to these, what needs to be done to make waterfront areas an active part of the city is to strengthen the spatial connectivity and to increase the number and diversity of the facilities, especially the green areas. In future studies, it is necessary to pay attention to the spatial connectivity between urban public spaces to consider the city as a whole and to ensure flow in the city.