ARCHITECTURAL EVALUATION OF 21ST-CENTURY YOUTH CENTERS: AN INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT MODEL BASED ON THE ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP)

Abstract

Youth centers have evolved from public buildings where only educational and social activities are conducted in the 21st century into multifunctional public spaces supporting learning, production, cultural interaction, and social participation. However, research on youth centers in Türkiye largely focuses on service quality, youth policies, and user satisfaction; studies that holistically evaluate the architectural design of these structures within the framework of social infrastructure and public space theories remain limited. This study aims to evaluate the architecture of youth centers in Türkiye within the context of 21st-century youth center approaches, using the Balıkesir example. To this end, an interdisciplinary evaluation model integrating Lefebvre's theory of the social production of space, Oldenburg's Third Space approach, Gehl's human-centered design understanding, and Hertzberger's flexible architecture approach has been developed, and a set of criteria that can be used in the analysis of youth centers has been created. These criteria were weighted using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. A qualitative research approach was adopted in this study; Literature review, on-site observation, photography, and spatial analysis findings were evaluated using the AHP method to conduct a comparative analysis of the four selected youth centers. The analysis revealed that Architectural and Spatial Requirements (0.535) was the main criterion with the highest weight. Among the alternatives, Gaziantep Youth Center ranked first with a weight of 0.471, followed by Aliağa Youth Center with 0.222, Balıkesir Digital Youth Center with 0.188, and Kadıköy Youth Center with 0.119. The findings indicate that youth centers in Türkiye are important public structures integrating educational, cultural, and social functions; however, there are areas for improvement in terms of spatial flexibility, digital production infrastructure, integration with public open spaces, and design solutions that support user participation. This study presents an integrated theoretical and methodological evaluation model that considers youth center architecture as a component of urban social infrastructure; and proposes applicable architectural design criteria and a decision support framework for future youth center designs.