DENIZ ERDEM OKUMUS

The Marmara earthquake in 1999 brought urban regeneration up for discussion. Regenerative activities were accelerated by a law that went into effect in 2012 (Law No. 6306) addressing risky urban areas, particularly in Istanbul. Due to these activities, not only have city centers lost their functions and been destroyed in several ways, areas surrounding the city that were only included in the 1990s have been regenerated due to unhealthy conditions. While the purpose of urban regeneration is to increase quality of life by decreasing urban risks, it is believed that current projects are used as tools for land development. For instance, within the framework of the law, upsizing the development rights of parcels may encourage investors, while currently insufficient public health and educational facilities, and urban services including cultural and recreational facilities may be neglected despite a rising population. Furthermore, facilities may be subjected to functional transformation, y...

Urban heat islands, one of the fundamental anthropogenic impacts on local climates, have been a growing concern especially for high-density urban areas such as Istanbul. This paper outlines the use of a supervised machine learning technique to understand the effects of the urban fabric on surface urban heat island (SUHI) formation in Istanbul, and identify effective variables to provide a basis for research and practice focusing on SUHI mitigation. An analysis using the Ridge Regression Model found that 71% of land surface temperature anomalies in Istanbul are linked to building coverage ratio (BCR), surface/volume ratio (SVR), sky-view factor (SVF), canyon geometry factor (CGF), and vegetation index (NDVI). NDVI and BCR were the urban fabric components with the highest contribution to SUHI formation, while the effects of SVF and CGF remained relatively low. This research can help planners and designers gauge the contribution of the urban fabric to micro-climate issues and adapt SUH...