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At its peak period of the COVID-19 spread, this study investigates how transit-oriented sub-centered housing developments responded against the pandemic in line with the residents' spatial experience and changing preferences. In this context, Batikent, a gated-community-based urban development and one of the successful urban residential projects realized in the 1980s in Ankara, Turkiye, was chosen as a case study. The four metro stations located on the same track in Batikent's most densely populated areas were taken as reference points, and their surroundings, 1 km in diameter were spatially examined in terms of the housing types they host, and differences in their land coverages and building and population density, etc. A survey was carried out to examine the residents' COVID-19 experience in line with spatial qualities. To match them against COVID-19 with the spatial patterns, both results were compared to the COVID-19 spread maps, collected for six months starting from October 2020 to March 2021. The spread risk was prominent in the places where the buildings are in closer proximity and increased interaction with the commercial networks. The results also suggest that perceived qualities of the residential environment are critical in dealing with extreme urban phenomena. Neither the spatial formation of the urban form nor the living habits change instantaneously but being aware of the capabilities of the spatial setting and properties which combat the pandemics helps with the spatial scale of the local adaptation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the housing preferences among the residents of late 20th-century gated community settings. Batikent, a successful gated community-based urban housing development initiated in the 1980s Ankara in Turkey, was chosen as a case study location. The goal was to determine the preferred home types, and the capacity of the given home environment to maintain the perceived residential quality, as well as the prominent perceived attributes influencing residential preferences. Gated community typologies were limited to those built in the Batikent region, hence restricting their socioeconomic classification to middle-income families. The four immediately distinct gated community typologies within the given location are single-family homes with one to three floors, as well as low-, medium-, and high-rise apartment buildings. A survey of 217 inhabitants was carried out to gauge their perceptions of residential satisfaction and preference traits. Regardless of the residents' present housing type, single-family homes were most preferred, followed by low-rise apartment complexes. The results were unaffected by additional variables like proximity to transit hubs, the broader characteristics of urban neighborhoods like population density, or demographic variations like age, gender, income level, length of residence, or ownership status. Batikent residents mainly tend to relocate themselves within the same district. Its perceived qualities were thus further investigated, and single-family houses showed more satisfaction with nature bonding. Social interaction, social bonding, and place identity were the major qualities behind their preferences. Overall, the research revealed that either it is the living habits or the spatial qualities of the gated communities behind the inhabitants’ residential preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates 'typological process', a key term in urban morphology due to its benefit to culturally-responsive urban design and place-making. The empirical identification of typological process is problematic because of researchers' subjectivity in identifying changes, and the randomness of their selection of spatial characteristics in defining types. The paper demonstrates a method for defining and analyzing typological process in the transformation process of the residential environment in Ankara since the late nineteenth century. Three degrees of transformation are identified: continuity, partial continuity and mutation. The proposed method improves consistency and objectivity in the empirical validation of typological process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]