Urban morphological change in the case of Selcuk, Turkey: A mixed-methods approach

Abstract

The purpose of this article is comparatively to determine changes in the urban morphology of the city of Selcuk in Izmir province, Turkey, using quantitative and qualitative methods, specifically cartographic redrawing and commented walk. Using two different methods makes it possible to include the human factor, which has not been studied extensively in the urban morphology literature. In the first section, the two methods are discussed in detail. Regarding cartographic redrawing, the 1897 map and aerial photographs of the area were used. For the qualitative part of the study, commented walks were carried out with 15 people. The city's morphological development can be divided into five historical periods from 1897 onwards, with the findings showing that the findings obtained by combining two different methods complement each other. Moreover, small-scale changes in form and function, which could not be revealed in detail by quantitative methods, were identified through the commented walks. These small changes have affected Selcuk's citizens at least as much as the large-scale changes.