Content Analysis of the "Arkitekt" Journal From Housing Perspective: A Discussion About Social Aspects of Housing in Turkey

Abstract

The shared spaces in residential areas identify the medium for private/domestic and public/social life interaction of the individual-society-space and create potentials for developing more sustainable residential areas. Accordingly, the housing problem is a social phenomenon, which is related to both individual and societal requirements about finding the adequate dwelling opportunities. This research creates a discussion about social aspects of housing and analysis of Turkish housing history from this perspective. The conceptual background includes the subjects about spatial characteristics of individual and society interaction according to daily life routines and the public-domestic space hierarchy in residential areas. This research has two analysis phases: content analysis and spatial analysis. Firstly, the changes in the housing development in Turkey is explained in the historical context via the content analysis of the Arkitekt Journal. In the second phase of analysis, Turkish housing examples which were selected according to the content analysis are spatially analyzed with general features and public-private space hierarchy. The spatial characteristics of examples are evaluated according to social and built environment characteristics in order to explain the impact of shared spaces in residential areas. The main discussion is developed according to the changes in shared space use of different periods in relation to housing decisions of their era. In order to examine the housing developments in Turkey, the term social aspects of housing provides the opportunities to identify the different factors, which have effects on social and built environment characteristics of the residential areas and the relevance to socially sustainable housing developments.