Defining semi-public space: A case study in the gated communities of Yaşamkent, Ankara

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Sosyoloji Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2017

Öğrenci: CEREN KULKUL

Danışman: AYÇA ERGUN ÖZBOLAT

Özet:

For centuries, the usage and the transformation of urban spaces has been defined as crucial in reproducing cultural codes of societies. Urban spaces did not only witness the conflicts, negotiations and dilemmas of the society; they were also shaped, transformed and produced by the people. Today, urban space is accepted as an inextricable part of the public life. It is assumed that upper-middle class has been separating itself from the rest of the society by living in enclosed and private spaces. This intentional disengagement from public life and public spaces has been studied by the gated community literature. This thesis embraces gated community beyond the debate of social segregation and includes it into the discussion of using, producing and transforming urban spaces along with isolating, privatizing and idealizing a specific place. In other words, this study departs itself from an understanding that gated community is only a new form of social segregation; it acknowledges enclosed residential areas as semi-public spaces in which the attributions of public and private spaces are merged. In doing so, the case of Yaşamkent, Ankara is studied on the basis of a qualitative research in Yaşamkent. Through such an analysis, it is aimed to understand how the residents of gated communities evaluate private and public spaces, how they demarcate these two spheres and correspondingly how can we define the gated community as a semi- public space which functions as a buffer zone in between private and public domains.