Understanding the transformation of experience in the modern city: The case of Theme parks

This thesis examines the emergence conditions of theme parks in Istanbul and their impact to eperiencing the city life from a sociological perspective. In the study, the ground for the emergence of the theme parks that are rapidly spreading throughout the country is explained by tracing the economic, cultural and social processes; thus, an integrated view of the determinants of the new structuring of urban space and the new dimensions of the transforming experience in the modern city was attempted. Social semiotic and qualitative research methods was used in the study and in-depth interview and document analysis techniques were utilized. The first section examining the cultural basis of the emergence of theme parks provides a theoretical explanation of the "aesthetic construction of experience" focusing on "aesthetics" and "reality" as central concepts. In the second section, which focuses on the economic basis, the process of evolving economic dynamics into the "experience economy" after 1990 is explained; however, attention is drawn to the parallelism of the economy and experience in the process of esthetization. In the third section, findings obtained from interviews with theme park designers and users, analysis of indicators in theme park advertising texts and visuals are given. As a result of the study, it was seen that the convergence of cultural and economic developments are clearly reflected in the production of urban space. New places of consumption are becoming widespread in the city; this expansion leads not only to the quantitative transformation of the city, but also to the qualitative transformation of the space using practices and the experience starting with the consumption culture. In this qualitative transformation, the "experience economy" which is the new dimension of the economy today has a decisive effect. As a result, "experience", following the discourse of the "destruction of experience" in the modern city, was reinvented with consumer culture and entered the circulation of everyday language. The results of the study provide a suggestion that the local opportunities should be rethought in line with the current needs and that the public spaces should be constructed beyond the needs shaped by the market. Key Words: theme park, experience economics, aesthetization of daily life, commodity aesthetics, hyperesthesia-anesthesia, design, hyperreality.