The Origins of public parks in the Early Republican Turkey

ABSTRACT The publication of Jiirgen Habermas's groundbreaking book, "Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit " in 1962 inaugrated a series of enduring discussions on the public realm, which gained ground in Turkey during the 1990s. This study presents an attempt to contribute to these discussions by problematising the issue as a theme for the history of architecture. Habermas's conceptual framework was utilised to construct a critical evaluation on the ideological factors shaping the historical origin, physical evolution, and transformation of urban parks in Turkey. Manmade interventions on the natural landscape has been intrinsic to all civilisations throughout history. In the traditional world, natural settings mostly served utilitarian and symbolic functions such as hunting grounds or plantations. Following the conceptualisation of aesthetics and the developments in the techniques surveying, nature too became a subject of design activity. From then on, nature acquired an ideological role. For instance, the early urban gardens in France were conceived of as manifestations of the power of the ruling Kings. Following the French Revolution, the urban landscape acquired a public role, which marked the dawn of public parks. The Industrial Revolution brought on changes to the ways in which these parks were used. With the recognition of the fact that physical exercise was essential for human health, these areas became popular areas for promenades and walks. The evolution of urban parks in Turkey follows a historical path similar to that in the Western world. While parks in Ottoman Turkey fulfilled a traditional role, they became grounds for urban recreation from the eighteenth century onwards. During the late Ottoman period, these areas were converted to urban parks and became significant agents of the modentisation project. During the early years of the Republican period, urban parks, which had completed their evolution half a century ago, attained an ideological position yet again. In a politico-social context that manipulated existing situations to serve present-day concerns, the public park became a more significant component of an ideological narrative and, as numerous other social structures, fulfilled its role as an active ground for the system's "ideological fabrications". VI