Sustainability and Post-COVID-19 Era Changing Housing Design and Models in the Cities of Istanbul

Abstract

The main objective of this research is aimed at a trans-disciplinary investigation into the intersection of architectural design and urban planning in the post-pandemic era, with a focus on the future contribution specifically design process housing models and typologies in world cities and Istanbul. Paradoxically, while academic communities focus on climate issues since the 1990s, the COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as a significant factor in new city and housing planning, overshadowing the importance of climate-change. Nevertheless, climate-change had already led to fortitudes such as the 2016 Paris Agreement and UN declarations for more livable environments and housing, and the pandemic made this process relatively more visible. The recent pandemic has had a profound global and local impact, transforming cities, societies, and even communities in socio-spatial ways. COVID-19 has led to unpredictable changes in the habits and lifestyles of individuals, including remote working, and adaptions in housing models and typologies. The socio-spatial influences of pandemic have prompted significant changes and transformations in the cities made them into anti-social spaces also affected neighborhoods, public spaces, urban networks, roads, metro systems, and even information technologies. Major cities have experienced an exodus of people seeking to escape to nearby small towns and villages in pursuit of more spacious and sunlit abodes, resulting in a demographic shrink of the urban population from city centers to peripheries. The implementation of social distancing and urban lockdowns in response to the pandemic has significantly impacted the preferences and demands of individuals seeking housing. There has been a notable rise in the desire for living arrangements that provide greater access to green areas and outdoor areas, such as houses with garden or expansive terraces and balconies. This study examines the newly designed housing models developed in the post-pandemic era, with a particular emphasis on Istanbul as a paradigmatic global city. It was observed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound influence on the cities and housing markets in the world also in Istanbul and throughout Türkiye, leading to a reconfiguration of housing models and typologies, as well as heightened importance on sustainability and environmental issues has been witnessed in the post-pandemic era. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.