Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Histories of Urban Design: Global Trajectories and Local Realities, Zürich, İsviçre, 15 - 17 Kasım 2021, cilt.1, ss.130
The diffusion of the city planning practice took place often by the
initiative of local actors, and was enabled by the collaboration of
international experts in the early 20th century. In the newly founded
Republic of Turkey, “international experts” were invited to develop
city plans in conformity with the principles of the new “science of
town building.” A planning competition was organized for the construction of the new capital Ankara in 1927. Three planners from
France and Germany, Léon Jaussely, Hermann Jansen and Leon
Brix were invited to prepare their plans for the future capital city.
Jansen’s and Jaussely’s proposals reflected a similar understanding
influenced from the Garden City model, while they differed in their
approach to the old town and the representation of public spaces.
Jaussely’s plan that reflected the traits of French Beaux-Arts urbanisme brought a zoning on the basis of neighborhood units with
different building typologies. He developed a “système des parcs”
formed of a network of green boulevards superposed on the transportation infrastructure. Jansen proposed also a system of continuous green corridors -a network of “freiflächen” that connected the
neighborhood units destined to different socio-economic groups.
Yet, the attitudes of the two experts vis-à-vis the old town were fundamentally different. While Jaussely proposed to intervene radically
on the historical town by opening new avenues and squares, Jansen
preserved the historical urban core around the citadel, that he called
“the crown of the city.” The local jury found Jansen’s entry more suitable to the “national character” and more applicable. Finally Jansen
was given the commission to prepare the implementation plans of
the city. The present paper compares various aspects of the two
proposals for the new capital city by Jaussely and Jansen, and inquires into the way they were received by the local actors.