A study on the adequacy of gathering areas as urban spaces

Abstract

Türkiye is located in a geography of the world that can be classified as a “high risk” in terms of earthquakes. During and after an earthquake, people feel the need to leave the structures they are in and reach open areas to protect themselves and feel safe. In addition to contributing to the city in a social, psychological, economic and aesthetic sense, these areas should be increased in number and quality, as they are used in accordance with the needs of people for the purpose of escaping from the earthquake disaster, shelter, housing. The open areas scattered throughout the city have been designated as disaster and emergency gathering areas according to the fact that they meet some of the standards mentioned in this study. The main question here is whether the urban open and green space system used as ’gathering areas' is in sufficient and appropriate conditions to respond to the needs after the earthquake and shorten the return to normalcy process. This study was designed to raise awareness of students about the use of urban spaces after the earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023 and to reveal the level of gathering areas around them. Within the scope of the Urban Design course, students who are in different provinces due to online education were asked for information about the closest gathering area to them, including the distance of their places of residence to the gathering areas, the size of the gathering areas and their current use. In this context, the data related to the collection areas were collected from the students and discussed with the relevant literature. As a result, suggestions were made about the issues that should be taken into account when planning and designing the assembly area.