Yasamköyü is a district of approximately 30,000 m2 with a built area of just under 10,000 m2 in the North-West of the city of Eskisehir within the jurisdiction of Tepebasi Municipality of Eskisehir. The area was built in 2007 by TOKI, the government organization responsible for mass housing in Turkey.
Although relatively newly built, similar to most buildings built before the Energy Efficiency Law that came into force also that year, the district building stock consists of inefficiently constructed buildings in energy consumption terms.
The typology of buildings in the district are characteristic of the relatively recently built but energy-inefficient and poorly insulated type mass housing, typical of TOKI construction, highly inconsiderate of the climatic zone. In this respect the retrofit intervention in the district, via REMOURBAN, is thought to be highly relevant and exemplary for hundreds of thousands of residential building stock with similar characteristics, both in Eskisehir and also all around Turkey.
Although the Energy Efficiency law came in force in 2007, even today there are significant problems in the enforcement of the standard on insulation . The geographical location of Eskisehir in turkey and the location of Tepebasi Municipality and the demo-site can be seen in the maps and photos.
There are 57 dwellings (9,110 m2 of conditioned area) in the district in which approximately 300 people will inhabit permanently by the end of the year. The building typology consists mainly of semi-detached villas. On the other hand, the Municipality is presently building an additional community Centre in the centre of the district (approximately 600 m2) which, apart from housing the district heating/cooling system and roof PV system, will be an educational, re-training and re-skilling centre in Tepebasi. The Centre will also act as a “smart city and community” demonstration site, with the smart and renewable energy urban management system in place with REMOURBAN. With workshops and classrooms, as well as artisanal activities, it is though that the district community Centre will attract a large number of citizens.
Master Plans pertaining to Urban Transportation are carried out by Eskisehir Metropolitan Municipality. Spatial long term development plans (5 year plans) were prepared by the Metropolitan Municipality EBB in 2010. These Plans have important repercussions on future concentration of the urban population and their mobility.
The main selected residential development axis for the city is in the west, towards the present demo-site and was considered carefully regarding the integration of the demo-site Mobility Plans into the wider Master Plan. Most population increase in Eskisehir, forecast to increase to around 950,000 by 2023, by the State Statistical Organization will be realized in this axis. The selected demo-site is in the middle of this development area and will present a smart and sustainable alternative to urban development in Eskisehir.
