Changing Identity of Public Spaces: Güven Park in Ankara a Thesis Submited to the Graduate School of Natural and Applied Scienc
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CHANGING IDENTITY OF PUBLIC SPACES: GÜVEN PARK IN ANKARA A THESIS SUBMITED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY SELEN SARIKULAK PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF URBAN DESIGN IN CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING JANUARY 2013 Approval of the thesis CHANGING IDENTITY OF PUBLIC SPACES: GÜVEN PARK IN ANKARA Submitted by SELEN SARIKULAK in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Urban Design in City and Regional Planning Department, Middle East Technical University by, Prof. Dr. Canan Özgen Dean, Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences ______________ Prof. Dr. Melih Ersoy Head of Department, City and Regional Planning Dept., METU ______________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Akkar Ercan Supervisor, City and Regional Planning Dept., METU ______________ Examining Committee Members: Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay City and Regional Planning Dept., METU _________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Akkar Ercan City and Regional Planning Dept., METU _________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Adnan Barlas City and Regional Planning Dept., METU _________________ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serap Kayasü City and Regional Planning Dept., METU _________________ Dr. Burcu Özüduru City and Regional Planning Dept., Gazi University _________________ Date: 07.01.2013 I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Selen Sarıkulak Signature: iii ABSTRACT CHANGING IDENTITY OF PUBLIC SPACES: GÜVEN PARK IN ANKARA Sarıkulak, Selen M.S., Department of City and Regional Planning in Urban Design Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Akkar Ercan January 2013, 158 pages Place identity changes and transforms in relation with changing social conditions and physical environment. Social conditions change the place identity by changing people’s perceptions and experiences in the space, while, at the same time, they are affected by these perceptions and experiences. Thus, place identity is in a state of flux in time with individuals, objects and societies. This thesis aims to study the evolving identity of public spaces by focusing on the case of Ankara, specifically the example of Güven Park which was developed as a part of the public space strategy of creating a modern, westernized and secular capital city of newly-founded Turkish Republic. Therefore, as far as Ankara is concerned, beside ‘place identity’, the notion of ‘national identity’ becomes prominent. This research examines the changes in the identity of Güven Park in relation to the shifts in the identity of Ankara, and the analyses on the public space are carried out regarding three criteria -form or physical setting, activities and meanings attached to the public space- in different time periods. Keywords: Place identity, national identity, sensation, perception, public space, Güven Park, Ankara iv ÖZ KAMUSAL MEKANLARIN DEĞİŞEN KİMLİĞİ: GÜVEN PARK, ANKARA Sarıkulak, Selen Yüksek Lisans, Şehir ve Bölge Planlama Bölümü, Kentsel Tasarım Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Müge Akkar Ercan Ocak 2013, 158 sayfa Yerin kimliği, değişen fiziksel çevre ve toplumsal koşullarla ilişkili olarak değişir ve dönüşür. Toplumsal koşullar, yerin kimliğini insanların mekan hakkındaki algı ve deneyimlerini değiştirerek etkiler. Aynı zamanda, toplumsal koşullar, bu algılar ve deneyimler tarafından etkilenir. Bu anlamda, yerin kimliği zaman içinde bireyler, nesneler ve toplumlarla birlikte değişim halindedir. Bu tez, Ankara’da özellikle Güven Park örneğine odaklanarak, kamusal mekanlarda değişen kimlik konusunu incelemektedir. Güven Park, yeni kurulan Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin modern, batılı ve laik başkentini yaratma hedefi çerçevesinde belirlenen kamusal mekan stratejisinin bir parçası olarak geliştirilmiştir. Dolayısıyla, Ankara söz konusu olduğunda, ‘yerin kimliği’ yanı sıra, ‘ulusal kimlik’ kavramı da öne çıkmıştır. Bu araştırma, Güven Park’taki kimlik değişimini, Ankara’daki zaman içerisinde ortaya çıkan kimlik değişimine paralel olarak incelemektedir. Kamusal mekan üzerindeki incelemeler üç ana ölçüte – fiziksel veya mekansal ortam, etkinlikler ve kamusal mekana atfedilen anlamlara- bağlı olarak ve zaman içerisindeki değişimi gözlemek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Yerin kimliği, ulusal kimlik, duyum, algı, kamusal mekan, Güven Park, Ankara v To my dear family… vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Akkar Ercan for her support, guidance and encouragement throughout the preparation of this thesis and in master program period. I also wish to express my thanks to Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Adnan Barlas for their support and guidance in master program period. I would also like to thank other examining committee members, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Serap Kayasü and Dr. Burcu H. Özüduru for their valuable suggestions and comments for the thesis. I would like to offer a special gratitude to Prof. Dr. Baykan Günay for sharing his personal archieve and his valuable knowledge with me. I owe special thanks to my friends Nazlı Songülen, Görsev Argın and Oya Memlük for their friendship that make my master program period joyful. I would also like to thank to my everlasting friends İrem Şengül and Aslı Akçayöz for their support and sensibility during my thesis period. I especially would like to thank Emre Bal for his great support, patience and sensibility since my graduate education. Lastly but most importantly I would like to express my deepest love and thanks to my family: To my father Mustafa Sarıkulak who has never refrained his moral support; to my mother Emine Sarıkulak being caring and supportive for all my life and to my dearest sister İrem Sarıkulak for always being an inspiration for me. Without their love, support and encouragement I could not be here. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................ viii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................................ x LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTERS 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 PROBLEM DEFINITION ...................................................................................................... 1 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ............................................................................. 3 1.3 METHOD OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................... 3 1.4 THE STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY ....................................................................................... 4 2. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE CONCEPTS RELATED TO URBAN IDENTITY: SPACE, PLACE, SENSATION, PERCEPTION AND IDENTITY........................................................................................... 5 2.1 SPACE AND PLACE ............................................................................................................ 5 2.2 SENSATION AND PERCEPTION ........................................................................................ 10 2.3 IDENTITY ......................................................................................................................... 14 2.3.1 PLACE IDENTITY ..................................................................................................... 14 2.3.2 NATIONAL IDENTITY .............................................................................................. 29 2.3.3 IDENTITY TODAY .................................................................................................... 34 2.4 CONCLUDING REMARKS ................................................................................................. 42 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................... 43 3.1 THE REASONS TO CARRY OUT THE CASE STUDY ON GÜVEN PARK IN ANKARA ............. 43 3.2 THE METHOD OF ANALYSIS ............................................................................................ 46 3.3 SOURCES OF EVIDENCE .................................................................................................. 46 4. AN ANALYSIS ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF IDENTITY IN ANKARA AS A CAPITAL CITY OF TURKEY ............................................................................................................................................. 51 4.1 MODERNIZATION PROJECT IN TURKEY AND THE TALE OF CREATING A CAPITAL CITY FOR THE NEW REPUBLIC ....................................................................................................................