The Comparison of open and enclosed public spaces: Regarding consumption culture

The concept of space; had been formed with the creation of humankind and its requirements and has been consistently changing and progressing ever since. In the contemporary times, space is observed to have many variations and can be defined and categorized in many different ways. According to the usage or user differentiation, the spaces can be explained as public, semi-public and private spaces. Public spaces, are the places which are open to public without any limitations for age, sex, ethnicity, religion, language etc. On the other hand, public and semi-public spaces are only open to certain people, groups or communities. Public spaces are classified as open and enclosed public spaces according to their physical features; and this study aims to determine the similarities and differences between these two public spaces. The first chapter defines the problem presented in the thesis and presents the aim, the context and the methodology of the study. In the second chapter, concept of space has been investigated and open public spaces are classified according to their functions. The third chapter first divides the factors that affect the change in public space as; the change in the social structure of the society and the progress in the technology. The change in the social structure of the society depends mainly on the alteration in the consumer preferences. The issues, which affect the alterations in the consumer preferences, are explained as; changes in the economy, media, technological progress and the change in the life styles. Technological progresses are studied in two parts as the progresses in the building and construction technologies and the progresses in thevn lighting technologies, heating technologies etc. Finally, the effects on the space of the factors which influences the change in public space are explained in this chapter. In the fourth chapter, the enclosed public spaces are grouped and investigated according to their functions. The fifth chapter is the comparison of open and enclosed public space examples which have multiple functions. Squares as the open public space examples and plaza atriums and shopping centers as the enclosed public space examples are investigated and compared in relation to the determined criteria. In the conclusion chapter, the differences and similarities of the open and enclosed public spaces are established using the comparison results obtained in the previous chapter. Keywords: Public space, consumption culture, enclosed public space, square, plaza atrium, shopping center «£<*