Sustainability of the oldest squatter settlements of Bursa: a study on Mollafenari and İvazpaşa Neighbourhoods

Change in the production processes has been a significant factor that affects the social organisation and shapes the urban form. For Bursa, the first Ottoman capital city, the change was stimulated with the emergence of silk factories working with steam and the increasing need for labour starting from the late nineteenth century. This need triggered a population flow from nearby villages to the city's southern outskirts through the migration routes passing along the slopes of Uludağ mountain. Mollafenari and İvazpaşa neighbourhoods located between the mountain and the historic city were developed as a result of this process. Starting from the mid-twentieth century, Bursa was subject to another yet unprecedented migratory flow that has affected all major cities of the country. The migrants mainly originated from the surrounding villages created their squatter settlements between the city's old neighbourhoods and the mountain's steep slopes. The resulting urban development did not follow any specific rules; the migrants have shaped their selforganised territories in the close vicinity of their working places. The squatter neighbourhoods have been consolidated through physical and social stratification that formed a whole system. These neighbourhoods that their residents shaped have acquired a strong sense of place and have proven to be socially sustainable for almost seventy years. However, under the effect of rapid transformation that the city centre is subject to, these settlements are at risk of demolition today. Therefore, thinking of their physical and social sustainability without losing their current values and potentials is necessary, in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, namely "Sustainable Cities and Communities". This study aims to analyse the urban morphological and architectural attributes of these old squatter settlements and discuss their sustainability as successful urban places.