Participation in the design of open public urban places: The examination of the Urban Design Project of Bursa Atatürk Stadium and Its Environment

Concept of participation, that forms the conceptual frame of the thesis, has been researched in many different disciplines such as social sciences, public administrations, environmental and behavioral sciences. For this reason, the first method in the study is the research of the concept of participation within the context of ''open public urban places design''. Participation in the design phases of open public urban places anticipates that local authorities, non-governmental organizations, the experts, professional associations and universities should cooperate in the process of design and decision . Therefore, the roles of these actors have been examined in an ideal participatory design phase. Meanwhile, it has been observed that various methods are applied in the design process of open public urban places in order to adopt participation approaches. These methods include citizens in the process with different participation levels. These methods are also researched and questioned within the scope of the study. With the aim of completion of the conceptual frame of the thesis, the concept of governance has also been mentioned. Participation has been discussed in international platforms in order to have much more qualified urban and rural life in Europe and also around the world. It has been seen that these discussions are centered on the fact that, local authorities need to be provided with autonomy, non-governmental organizations need to be more active and the participation of the citizens need to be supported. The attitude of Turkey to the concept of participation has been questioned firstly in the context of the attitude to these international legal regulations. It has been seen that our country abstains in many of them. In the process of becoming a member of United Nations (UN) the necessity of accepting these regulations has been emphasized. Secondly, legal regulations in our country have been examined in terms of participation. Dealing the projects as a model for the planning, conducting and practice of participatory process establishes another framework of the paper. Bursa Ataturk Stadium and Its Near Environment Urban Design Project within the context of participation has been examined in the field work. Mentioned project consists of the demolishing of Bursa Ataturk Stadium, Indoor Sports Hall and High School Building in the city center and re-organizing the area as a square. After being shared with the public by Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, this decision of demolishing buildings has been critised by professional associations, as firstly TMMOB Chamber of Architects Bursa Branch and some non-governmental organizations. They have issued some press statements and protested. Within the context of field work, opinions and suggestions related with the project have been pooled, the ideas of citizens have been examined and a framework that enables citizens to have a voice on the process of decision and design has been created.