Housing research faces difficulties not only inherently from social sciences but also difficulties due to its multi diciplinerity structure. In this study, firstly, the challenges raised due to the multi-faceted nature of housing research is evaluated. Secondly, specific problems of the increasingly popular aspect of housing research, ‘international comparative housing studies’, are assessed in terms of the theoretical and practical issues. Finally, suggestions are provided for future housing research.

The modernization period in the 19th century caused important changes in systems of both travel and accommodation systems. These changes inevitably affected the architecture of hotels and other buildings offering accommodation. The first modern hotels were opened in Galata and Pera by the date of 1840. (It means first hotel opened in 1840 and then the other hotels began to open) Later hotels began to serve tje in Eminönü, Kadıköy, Boğaziçi, Adalar, Şişli, Feriköy and Yeşilköy regions. The opening and development of hotels has continued until the beginning of the First World War in 1914. There were hotels with suit rooms and some communal space and there were also hotels which were as luxurious and wellequipped as European hotels. First hotels were traditionally built of wood or stone, and had only two or three floors. At the end of the century, hotels were modern structures built using modern materials such as brick and steel, larger and higher than their predecessors. Beside that these hotels did not have typical facades, they were constructed with traditional, neoclassical or mixed facades. The grand luxury hotels were designed by famous European architects and craftsmen and often magnificently decorated. These grand hotels are also important because of the technical equipment and technology at the date they were built. Because of being very important point for many in the domain of science, modernization period hotels of Istanbul’s are studied by many aspects as urbanisme, architecture, preservation, tourism and sustainability. In addition, the hotels are evaluated in terms of commerce and managerment conception, socio-economic status and political importance. And then it is defined deformations and their causes of these hotels. Finally suggestions are made that would remove these deformations. It is believed the data included in this work will be helpfull for planning, arranging and conservation works in Istanbul.

Suriçi region, the first settlement part of Diyarbakir, has been a settlement area with specific values throughout its history. It has been the cradle of many civilizations, located as it is, in an important commercial transportation axis serving the commercial center, These factors have affected the development of the city. The cultures found in Anatolia and the Mesopotamia regions have influenced the development of Diyarbakir city and it developed a mixed urban morphology because of its position in the region. The walls around the city played an important part in the urban settlement pattern by preserving the integrity of the city. However, the Diyarbakir Suriçi region has begun to lose this important tissue in the last several decades. Prepared city plans and the approaches of enforcement agencies have played a role in this process. This study aims to offer ways in which the conservation of the Diyarbakir Suriçi region and its historical texture can be sustained.

Uludag, one of Turkey’s most significant mountain ecosystems, was the subject of a landscape planning and urban design competition held in 2008 and organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. The objective of this article is to discuss the conceptual framework of a specific project which was submitted to the competition and which won 5th place. The proposed conceptual framework, entitled “regeneration”, is based on a planning-design approach that seeks to establish a preservation-utilization balance in a mountain ecosystem. Such an area is rich in nature and wildlife, while also representing for some a potentional for recreational activities. In the submitted project, the project team has used the concept of “regeneration” as a metaphor of re-birth, restructuring and auto-repair, in order to make a re-definition of preservation and utilization lines in Uludag. In order to explain the regeneration approach to the visitors of the mountain, the project team has used urban design instruments for the visualization of spatial ideas as well as managerial dimensions. The main thrust of the study is that any kind of preservation-utilization stress in natural areas consists of multidimensions and multi-actors. The concept of “regeneration” can define a significant framework for landscape planning and urban design decision-making processes, and urban design tools can play an active role in practicing of the concept.

Since the 1960s, hosting the Olympic Games has been seen as an opportunity to create urban development. The post-Games use of sport venues, the fulfillment of a city’s housing needs by using Olympic Village buildings and the renewal of transport and other infrastructure that accompanies hosting of the Games may be considered indicators for the success of the International Olympic Games. But the city and its citizen do not benefit from these investments in the design of new structures if that design is not carried out in the light of well-planned urban development projecting. Local and international studies on sustainability, particularly since the 1980s, have shown that sustainable urbanization is only achievable with sustainable development planning. Therefore economic, social and environmental development needs to be provided. If the last Olympic cities are examined in relation to this aspect, it will be seen that an understanding of such factors is reflected in their development. Throughout the history of the modern Games host cities have considered them as an opportunity for development, but cities are now heading towards the implementation of more sensitive actions for the future generation, social and environmental values with the improvement in the approach of sustainable development.