Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Conference 2021 on Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development, Nanjing, Çin, 25 - 27 Kasım 2021, ss.192
Since the mid-1970s, we have witnessed the expansion of the research, policies, and
implementations covering sustainability. The sugar factories established in Turkey are similar
to the "company town" (corporate cities) model, a type of industrial settlement established in
Europe and America since the 19th century to create a healthier environment for its employees.
These settlements consist of social buildings, sports fields, and residences, besides production
units. They were based on the compromise of industrial and rural lifestyles, and they form
together with the industrial roles and rural life habits of workers. With these aspects, sugar
factories should be considered not only as tools of production locations, but also the devices for
social formation leading to the new modern neighbourhood life. Sugar factories are one of the
featured counterparts of this thinking in Turkey. Residences, pavilions, guesthouses, social
places such as cinema, restaurant, infirmary and health facilities, education building, sports
fields, playgrounds, and mosque as religious structures are the main building groups in almost
all campuses of sugar factories. Most of the buildings on campuses are located at a certain
distance from each other, and in wide green areas. Erzurum Sugar Factory as one of the sugar
factories established in the country is discussed here. The factory belongs to the early examples
of the second half of the 20th century. This research aims to consider the factory campus,
particularly living areas as residential parts, social buildings, and green areas in the meaning of
sustainability. Sustainability is evaluated based on the indicators covering environmental,
economic, and social aspects. The design of the living areas of the factory campuses was
influenced by the neighbourhood model. Through the field survey and examination of plans
belonging to the campus and buildings, it is revealed that; the neighbourhood has active green
spaces, human scale, economic adequacy, social interaction between residents, rational
distribution of functions, and legibility have considerable attention. Lack of some aspects of
sustainability is also observed such as the absence of renewable energy generation, domestic
waste treatment facility, etc. There are also some inferences about the spatial organization of
the Erzurum Sugar Factory campus in the meaning of functionality, simplicity, and legibility.