Alternative solutions for urban housing: The case of batikent settlement, Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

The present study is an effort to remember and reveal the potentials of Batikent settlement which was realized in the west part of the capital city of Turkey, Ankara in 1980s. In the period after 2nd World War, big cities in Turkey, like many other countries, entered in the process of rapid urbanization under the influence of mechanization in agriculture and migration from rural to urban areas. Increase in the population of cities and scarcity of shelter brought with the emergence of squatter areas. Batikent settlement was developed as a flagship solution to this housing problem and established a precedent with its model of implementation for future urban cohabitations. Batikent, as a new settlement area, was initiated by Municipality of Ankara and developed a never-before-seen operational model with three main collaborators: central government, municipality and association of housing cooperatives (Kent-Koop). Separation of roles – such as passing fiscal and housing laws, providing financial support, expropriation of land, constructing technical infrastructure, establishing municipal and commercial services, preparing master plan and designing site and house plans – through these collaborators provided this new mass development project with effective, practical and economical solutions. This study will focus on how Batikent was developed as a platform for innovation with the operational model based on dialogue between different parties. Collection of plans from master plans to layouts of apartments, meeting notes and feasibility studies documented and published by Kent-Koop will be used in this study to achieve a better understanding of the planning process of this exemplary quarter.