Preservation of Historic Transportation Structures in the Spandrels of Urban Roadway Networks and Reclamation of Historic Bridges for Public Recreational Use Case Studies from Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

Many of today's large cities have structural reminders of their pasts. Historic structures for transportation symbolize a city's heritage for facilitating movement and trade. Preservation and reclamation of historic transportation structures is an important undertaking to protect the urban heritage of the region where these structures exist. Urban requirements of cities change with time. Structures of the past may become obsolete. However, modern urban planning requires a new understanding of the remnants of the urban past for the present and the future of the city built on that past. This paper introduces seven historic transportation structures from Istanbul, Turkey, their preservation within the spandrels of the contemporary urban transportation network, and their reclamation within new urban settings for the public.