ABSTRACT
Chapter 6 evaluates the generative development processes in Karanfilköy and Fatih Sultan Mehmet. Generative urban design processes are step-by-step, incremental development processes that adapt to existing conditions and unfold over time (Alexander 2002b, 225). Alexander’s 10 features of living generative processes are used as a general guide to evaluate the processes (2002b, 225). Alexander’s social-spatial characteristics of generatively developed places are used to evaluate settlement features (2005, 4; Alexander et al. 2008). Literature (books, papers and reports), aerial photographs, site photographs and on-site observations are also used for this analysis. Aerial photographs retrieved from the Municipality of Istanbul for the years 1946, 1966, 1982, 2007 and 2018 are compared. The qualitative character of Alexander’s descriptions makes the creation of a quantitative rubric or score impossible (in contrast, for example, to the degrees of life test). Nonetheless, explanations are given of how development processes in Karanfilköy and Fatih Sultan Mehmet include Alexander’s social-spatial characteristics of generatively developed places. These explanations are supported with evidence from the aerial photos, studies about the settlements and on-site observations.
