Abstract:
Historical city centers are important places for cities in terms of their cultural, historical, economic, and social characteristics. Due to the rapid economic growth and excessive population increase experienced in the recent period, most cities have faced an uncontrolled growth. Because of the related pressures, historical city centers have been adversely affected in terms of their physical, functional, economic, and social structure. This study aims to develop spatial strategies to contribute to the solution of the problem mentioned above. It focuses on the spatial configuration of the study area and utilizes the space syntax method and parameters, as well as a comparative analysis of some key indicators. The study presents the results of the spatial strategy developed through the identification of points of special interest (SA), strategic priority areas (SPA), and urban sub-foci (USP). As a result of the analysis and the suggestions developed, it has been revealed that there is a significant increase in the socio-spatial characteristics of both the city area and the historical city center. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.