Urban Public Streets in the Collective Memory: A Case Study Of Uray Street In Mersin

Year 2023, , 1 - 14, 05.05.2023

Elvan Elif Özdemir

https://doi.org/10.55755/DepArch.2023.14

Abstract

Streets are public spaces that constitute the transportation network of cities, not only as a means of transportation, but also in the spaces they host, which have an important place in the daily life of individuals. It is affected by the social, social and economic transformations and changes we live in, in public spaces, which are an important part of cities, as well as cities. This situation causes the continuity of the urban memory to weaken and even to disappear over time. Collective memory, which has a strong connection with the physical structure of cities and the formation of their identity, is the reading of the signs and symbolic meanings of the physical environment in the cognitive structure of society with social, historical and psychological components. Cities, which are rapidly changing and transforming with new technological and economic advances, are gradually moving away from their own past and losing their identities. With its 'modern' spaces, which are standardized in terms of living spaces and, more accurately, monotonous, the city also destroys and weakens the bond it establishes with its inhabitants. This situation causes the city to lose its memory. This study investigates the changing and transforming position of Uray Street, which has been an important street since the first establishment of Mersin, a port city in the south of Turkey, in the city's memory. For this purpose, in-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with individuals in different age groups using Uray Street. The memories of Uray street were questioned by interviewing the users of long-term memory places in the area, and the changes that took place in the Uray street were questioned from the eyes of the owners of these places. The obtained memory data were evaluated and the changes were tried to be determined

Keywords

Collective Memory, Oral History, Urban Public Space, Streets, Transformation of Space

References

• Aşur F., Akpınar Kulekçi, E. & Perihan, M., (2022).,’The role of urban landscapes in the formation of urban identity and urban memory relations: the case of Van/Turkey,’ Planning Perspectives, 37:4, 841-857, doi: 10.1080/02665433.2022.2090418
• Boyer, M. Christine. (1996). ‘The city of Collective Memory:Its Historical Imagery and Architectural Entertainments.’ Cambridge: Mit, Press,
• Boyer, C., (1993).,’ The City of Collective Memory: Its Historical Imagery and Architectural Entertainments.’ London. MIT Press, pp.380.
• Carmona, M., Heath, T., Oc, T. & Tiedell, S., (2003). ‘ Public Places- Urban Spaces: The Dimensions of Urban Design’ (Oxford: Architectural Press)
• Carr, S., M. Francis, L.G. Rivlin, and A.Stone. (1992),’Public Space’. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Castello, L. (2010).,’Rethinking the Meaning of Place.’ Ashgate Publishing Limited, England.
• Chekki, D.,(1994). (Ed.), The Community of Streets (Greenwich, CT: Jai Press)
• Connerton, P. (1999). ‘Toplumlar nasıl anımsar?’(Çev:A. Şenel) İstanbul, Ayrıntı Yayınları
• Cullen, G., (1996)., ‘The Concise Townscape’, Amsterdam: Architectural Press.
• Danacıoğlu, E., (2001). ‘Geçmişin İzleri, Yanı Başımızdaki Tarih için bir Klavuz’ (Traces of the past, A Guide to the History Next to us), İstanbul. Tarih Vakfı Yurt Publishing.
• Doğu, T., Deligöz Varkal, M., (2017), ‘Hafıza Kutusu: bir kentsel kollektif bellek deneyimi’, Megaron, 12(4);545-552. doi: 10.5505/megaron.2017.09226
• Gehl, J., (1989), ‘AChanging Street Life in a Changing Society’, In Places, Vol:6, 8-16. SanFrancisco: College of Environmental Design UC Berkeley.
• Gehl, J., & Gemzoe, L.,(2000), ‘ New City spaces.’ Copenhagen: Danish Architectural Press.
• Habermas, J. (1989). ‘The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere: An Inquiry into a Category Bourgeois Society’. Cambridge: MIT Press.
• Halbwachs, M., (1952).,’ On Collective Memory.’ Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
• Hayden, D.,(1996).,’ The Power of Places: Urban landscapes as public history.’ In I. Borden, J. Kerr, A, Pivaro & J.Rendell (Eds.), Strangely familiar: Narratives of architecture in the city., London, England: Routledge.
• Jacobs, J., (1961). ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’, New York:Random House. 1961.
• Köksoy, K. G., (2009), ‘ Tarihsel alanlarda Sözlü Tarih Bilgiisne Dayalı Kentsel Tasarım Kriterlerinin Oluşturulması: Kemeraltı Anafartalar Cadddesi, Yayınlanmamış Yüksek Lisans Tezi, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi.
• Lofland, L., (1998). ‘The Public realm: Exploring the city’s Quintessential Social Territory.’, New York: Aldine De Gruyter.
• Lynch, K., (1960). ‘The Image of the City’, Cambridge: MIT Press.
• Mumford, L., (1973).,’ The city in history’, London: Penguin Books.
• National Main Street Center (NMSC) Available at http://www.mainstreet.org/ (accessed at June 2019) 2019
• Neal, Z., (2010),’Seeking Common Ground: Three Perspectives on Public Space’, Paper presented at the Institution of Civil Engineers on Urban Design and Planning.
• Nora, P., (1989). “Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire”. M. Roudebush, trans. Representations 26: 7-24.
• Nora, P., (2006). ‘Hafıza Mekanları’. (Çev: M.E.Özcan), Ankara, Dost Kitabevi.
• Özdemir, E.E., (2019).,’Street as a urban memory: a case study of uray street in Mersin’, LIVENARCH VI-2019: Replacing Architecture Symposium , 25-28 September, Trabzon, Türkiye.
• Rapaport, A., (1990),’ History and Precedent in Environmental Design’, New York: Plenum Press., pp 81.
• Rudofsky, B., (1969)., ‘ Streets for people.’, New York: Doubleday.
• Selvi Ünlü, T., (2019),’Urban memory and planning: investigating the use of oral history’, European Planning Studies, 27:4, 802-817, doi: 10.1080/09654313.2019.1567696
• Southworth, M. & Ben-Joseph, E., (1996),’ Streets and the Shaping of Towns and Cities. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Tosh, J., (2005), ‘Tarihin Peşinde: Modern Tarih çalışmasında Hedefler, Yöntemler ve Yeni Doğrultular’, In Pursuit of History: Aims, Methods and new Directions in the study of Modern History. Translated by: Arıkan Ö., Istanbul: Tarih Vakfı Yur Publishing.
• Vernez-Moudon, A., (Ed.), Public Streets for Public Use, New York: Colombia University Presss, 1991.