Fragments, corridors and connections. AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO THE REUSE OF THE DECOMMISSIONED ATATÜRK AIRPORT OF ISTANBUL = Fragments, corridors and connections. AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO THE REUSE OF THE DECOMMISSIONED ATATÜRK AIRPORT OF ISTANBUL

As cities change, unused assets like the Istanbul Atatürk Airport become visible. The purpose of this Master’s thesis is to discuss the difficulties Istanbul has encountered since the Atatürk Airport was shut down. Strategically situated within the metropolis, this vast airport district ran the risk of turning from a bustling transport center to a silent monument, neglected, and detached from the city’s changing fabric, or worse, being subjected to creation of more concrete urban blocks, for short term economic gains, provoking even further damage of the city’s ecological downfall. Such trajectory is nothing new in the history of the city İstanbul. In this thesis it is suggested an innovative makeover for the former Atatürk Airport space. While utilising some parts of the area for production through urban farming technologies, the main focus is on sharing, a framework that encourages the connection of humans and the environment (Harvey, 2019), taking into account the contemporary urban needs of Istanbul. From this perspective, the idea of “sharing” is given top priority as an urban agenda, and spatially includes spaces open to wildlife in the urban space, parks and forests for environmental restoration, urban agriculture for stimulating community interaction, recreational spaces, and shared routes as the palimpsest for the urban future. The proposals include public and recreational areas to accommodate Istanbul’s diverse population needs. By emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between urban ecosystems and bird species, the airport’s placement within Istanbul’s ecological corridor further aligns the redevelopment with ecological imperatives (Wolch, 1998). The overarching theme of the design principles is a shared urban realm accommodating both human and non-human inhabitants, countering prevalent neoliberal ideologies that frequently prioritize transient economic benefits over sustained community and ecological prosperity (Brenner, 2009; Harvey, 2019). This research promotes a redefined urban strategy that stresses sharing, sustainability, and inclusivity (Fainstein, 2011), underlining the need for cities that actually serve all residents by merging principles from urban planning, urban and architecture design, and ecological studies.