Özet:

Gebze has been an important place throughout history due to its geographical location, being on the trade and transportation routes that connect Istanbul with Anatolia. Within the conquest of Istanbul in the 15th century Gebze became an important destination town used especially in military expeditions to the east. Gebze became an important military, economic and cultural center with the social complex, built by Vizier Çoban Mustafa Pasha in the 16th century. Because the Istanbul-Baghdad railway, which reached Gebze at the end of the 19th century, passed away from the city center, negatively affected the role of Gebze as a destination town in terms of transportation and lojistic. The main transformation in the settlement began with the decentralization of the industry in Istanbul in the 1960s. Gebze entered a process of uncontrolled - rapid urbanization and began to gain a different identity with the migration that depends on increasing industrial activities in the second half of the 20th century. The negative consequences of this situation were tried to be eliminated with development plans, but these applications remained incapable for rapidly growing settlement due to insufficient infrastructure. Unfortunately, as a result of intensive construction pressure the cultural heritage of the city has also been negatively affected. In this study, general problems of the protected areas of Gebze city center settlement defined by the relevant T.R. Regional Boards for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Properties, named “Gebze Çoban Mustafa Paşa Complex Protection Area”, “Sultan Orhan Mosque and its Surrounding Urban Protected Area” and “Transition Area” have been investigated. The development and protection activities carried out within the scope of the study area from the 1960s to the present were examined within the help of relevant literature, Municipality archives, Iller Bank archives, and Regional Protection Board archives. The study aims to evaluate the impacts and contributions of these planning and conservation activities on the protected areas in Gebze city center. For this purpose, a field study was conducted, texture analyses were prepared and analysis data were evaluated to identify current problems regarding cultural heritage values in the study area. Based on literature-archive researches, observation-photographic findings and analysis data, general problems of the study area were identified, silhouette studies were carried out on sample streets and avenues and appropriate rehabilitation suggestions were developed. Suggestions are presented regarding the sustainability of relevant urban protection areas and their surroundings.