Istanbul Gezi Park resistance movement as public engagement in the making of place

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.05.048

Turkey has proved to be one of the fast developing countries until the end of 2013. The new intense construction activity was called “urban transformation”, for a better environment by the government, and aimed to replace the buildings that were unable to sustain earthquakes. As the transformation executed, it turned out that the buildings were functioned for excessive profit. This paper will focus on this issue in two phases. First phase exposes and spots the problems within the city of Istanbul, where author lives and documents the city as a professional photographer and artist. The second phase is an exploration on how public engagement is introduced the place-making in Istanbul. The recent Gezi Park Resistance that took place in Istanbul reflected a case of participatory, collaborative policy/place-making efforts that were able to call for people motivation to shape their lives and cities.