2023 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"
17th Edition
Beyoglu, which has all the diversity in terms of social, economic, political, cultural and spatial aspects in a cumulative process from the past to the present, has always preserved its feature of being the center and cosmopolitan district of Istanbul. In this context, the need to prepare a strategy plan that redefines Beyoglu's role in Istanbul, increases the publicity of the district, ensures the holistic coordination of plans and projects, meets the needs of the multicultural social structure, makes the problems and demands of disadvantaged groups visible, and includes all stakeholders in the process has emerged.
In addition, there is an urban memory that emerges from Beyoglu's diverse social and cultural structure. This urban memory contains political, social, cultural, economic and spatial elements. These elements consist of a wide scale, from the struggle for rights and freedom of expression to tangible and intangible cultural heritage values, from cinemas, theatres, second-hand booksellers and entertainment venues to traditional production and trade enterprises.
In addition to these memory values, very different segments of society live in Beyoglu. The residents of this district, which form the socio-cultural fabric, are largely composed of vulnerable groups. In this direction, it has been observed that civil society initiatives are active in the district.These initiatives take place in a wide range from rights-based organizations to cultural heritage groups, from Greek, Armenian and Jewish communities to culture and arts organizations, from neighborhood associations to local solidarity networks.
The strong local organisation necessitated the preparation of a participatory and inclusive planning process. Among the purposes of the preparation of this plan, there is primarily "Including diversity as a criterion for inclusion" and studies have been carried out to increase stakeholder diversity and participation in this direction. In addition, it is to increase publicity, meet the needs of different segments of society, build a healthier and livable city, thus ensuring spatial justice.
The participatory process of Beyoglu Spatial Strategic Plan was designed in 4 stages. These are analysis-preparation, local participatory events, synthesis and co-working, plan and consensus.
The first phase, the "analysis - preparation phase", started on 30 September 2020 with a public meeting. The meeting, in which presentations about the main goal and process were made, was a forum open to everyone. A website has been created, and included a written and visual archive section of books, articles, theses, maps, photographs, films and series, civil society studies, current research, online events, interviews and speeches about Beyoglu. In this archive section of the website, old and current projects of public institutions regarding Beyoglu have also been compiled. All the works done from the beginning to the end of the process have been shared with their reports on the website. In this stage, during which the main discussion topics in Beyoglu were examined, the study team started to collect data and develop the participation tools. As part of the preparation phase, participation methods were applied such as information meetings, use of online platforms for information sharing, interviews with mukhtars, focus group meetings and key stakeholder interviews. The six main themes of Beyoglu that need to be strengthened have been revealed in the light of the data obtained as a result of participatory processes and analysis. The themes are “livable, productive, creative, resistant, reminiscent and equitable” Beyoglu.
In order to extend the participatory process and develop bottom-up information flow and collaborations within the scope of the second stage, which is “local participatory events phase”, online platforms were established, neighborhood festivals, participation desks, panels, interviews, walks, tours, exhibitions, forums, workshops were held, and reports which are on various topics were prepared with civil society and volunteers.
In the third stage, the results of the second stage were evaluated, the outputs related to the themes were revealed, strategic indicators, principles and plan approach were determined. In order to form strategic decisions and actions, meetings were held with internal stakeholders and expert opinions were obtained. At the end of this stage, the first draft of the strategical plan was shared with the public in November 2022.
In the fourth stage, the draft strategical plan was announced and shared with the public, and strategy and action proposals of plan were opened for discussion. The plan will take its final form with the feedback from all institutions, NGOs, experts, researchers and the public.
sehirplanlama.ibb.Istanbul/beyoglu-senin/
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