VIRTUAL Lisbon Livable Cities

Abstract

The aim of this study is to understand the directions of change and sustainability conditions of urban green spaces in the neoliberal era. The method of this preliminary study, for which expert interviews are planned for the spring, is a case study based on secondary sources and photographic observation. The following places in Ankara and Samsun are studied: Papazın Bağı (The Priest’s Vineyard) in Ankara and the former Yalı Cafe in Samsun. The former is a privately owned green space and restaurant that operated until this year when it was closed. The latter, which had the characteristics of a social facility and green space before it changed hands in the opposite direction to the district municipality and was demolished after the 2019 local elections. This study seeks to answer the following questions: What are the main urban processes behind the transformation of urban green spaces today? What are the conflicts surrounding these spaces and how are they resolved? The preliminary conclusions of this first phase show that although the processes of transformation and ownership structures of Papazın Bağı and Yalı Cafe were very different, they both ceased to exist. To explain these Turkish examples, Bourdieu’s trialectic of physical, symbolic and social space provides a better understanding than concepts such as green gentrification. At the same time, the insights gained through these examples into the conditions of sustainability of urban green spaces support the study’s proposition that solutions beyond the public-private space dichotomy are needed to protect open green spaces.