Reimagining Urban Fabric: Formal Analogies Between Informal Settlements and Ottoman Mahalle

An intriguing formal analogy emerges when comparing the urban fabric of late Ottoman mahalle (residential neighborhood) with the contemporary informal settlements of 21st-century Ankara on urban scale. Despite both embodying a form of organic development, they diverge significantly in terms of urban continuity. While the former is esteemed as a foundational element worthy of conservation, the latter often faces condemnation and imminent transformation. This research posits the existence of a controlled and systematized organicity inherent in the evolutionary trajectory of 19th-century Ottoman mahalle as an archetype, stemming from their regulatory framework. Employing a comparative methodology, this study seeks to offer a novel lens through which to perceive the concept of "informal." Proposing an analogy through morphological analysis between late Ottoman mahalle and contemporary informal settlements, while bypassing considerations of legality, prompts critical inquiry into urban transformation and regeneration processes. To substantiate the analogy between the two urban fabrics, this study endeavors to synthesize the Typology as Themes of O.M Ungers with Caniggia and Maffei's process-based approach to morphological study. Its objective is to generate a three-column matrix comparing the urban fabric typologies of 19th-century Ottoman settlements with contemporary informal settlements and to show typological compatibility between them as well as thematic relation between them. Ultimately, this study reinterprets the building clusters of Ottoman mahalle as urban block typologies as well as the mixed clusters of gecekondu (informal units). Despite their deviation from pure geometric principles, these clusters offer a pathway for transformative processes. Embracing them as urban block typologies presents an opportunity for thematic urbanization rooted in formative analogy, steering away from wholesale destruction. Such formative comparison of urban form holds promise in shifting local transformation strategies towards more sustainable and inclusive urban regeneration through the generative side of thematic typology.