Urbanity in the Open Spaces in Developing Nodes Along Main Arteries: Sogutozu Node on Dumlupinar Road in Ankara

Abstract

The effects of the main transportation arteries on the urban sprawl and the formation of new public spaces is an important topic of discussion today. Considering the urban roads, major arteries trigger fast development and the formation of a significant amount of urban open space together with buildings. Vehicular roads are the main elements that bring out urbanity and centrality by providing a combination of circulation at different speeds and making possible the interaction of users from local and remote areas ( Jacobs, 1969; Nijenhuis, 1994 and Read, 2006). In this context, sub-spaces were defined as public spaces that are beside / under / above / between / within vehicular roads and the sub-space perceptions of pedestrians in the case of the closest part of Ankara Eskisehir Road to the city center, were investigated in an earlier study (Alanyali Aral and Demirbas, 2015). In the current study, Sogutozu is defined as a developing node with its rapidly increasing built stock and function density on one of the most important transportation arteries of the city, and its urban features are discussed within the scope of the emerging open spaces. Despite the unsuitable conditions, Sogutozu node displays a constant pedestrian density, and with this feature, it exemplifies 'activity' as an important indicator, which Montgomery (1998) defines as one of the three components of the concept of 'urbanity'. Accordingly, a conceptual framework is developed on the characteristics of urbanity, activity and public space, and then the components of the open space stock are discussed within the scope of spaces of 'places' and 'flows' (Nijhuis and Jauslin, 2015) specific to developing nodes. Spaces of 'places' in developing nodes include privately owned public use spaces, in-between spaces and informal public spaces-'fourth place's (Aelbrecht, 2016). The spaces of the 'flows', on the other hand, are discussed as pedestrian spaces that enhance urbanity. In the case study, firstly the historical and current development of Sogutozu node is examined, and then a comprehensive model based on the relevant pedestrian needs is suggested to evaluate the activity-based urbanity the node. The defining elements of the activity-based urbanity are explored via map analysis and on-site observations, whereas the pedestrian perceptions in the node are investigated with the applied questionnaires. The results show that the pedestrian experience is negatively affected due to the conditional and intermittent pedestrian access, as well as the inability to provide physical, psychological and physiological comfort; nevertheless, many and various activities add vitality to the area which result in many informal public spaces (fourth places) formed at the entrances and transitions to the public and semi-public spaces. The questionnaire survey, which was conducted with fewer but still comparable numbers of users due to the pandemic conditions, included the pedestrian perception questions in the survey conducted in 2005-2007. It is seen that although today the perception of traffic such as noise increased slightly, the perception of air pollution and traffic safety problems decreased. Additionally, the perception of public space qualities like well-known and dynamic / lively spaces increased significantly and constituted the most common perception after the perception of noisy / tiresome space. The results reveal that open spaces in the node of Sogutozu, where mixed use, large-scale and fragmented complexes are dominant, cannot provide environmental and internal continuity as well as appropriate walking environment within the framework of activity-based urbanization, and thus necessitate a holistic urban design approach. The urbanism formed in this rapidly developing node can be enhanced by temporal and spatial continuities; in addition to provision of pedestrian comfort with the arrangements to reduce the negative effects of motor vehicle dominance. The overall evaluation validates that the open spaces in the node should be enriched with accessible spaces for all users, carefully designed indoor-outdoor relations, cultural uses, small-scale businesses and activities spanning time.