Public sphere and space, despite being the subject of academic studies many times, maintain their relevance and continue to appear in different contexts. The fact that humans are born into space and that life takes place within space necessitates addressing space outside of its physical meaning. For humans, the meaning of space is about existence/being, therefore space itself is affected by political changes – even changing the names of streets is a political choice – and carries symbolic meaning as areas where the emotions of societies are expressed – protest actions or joy demonstrations. Space can be both a private sphere as a home and a public meaning carrier as an outside. When space is the outside, it becomes an area of interaction for people: In times when life flows on the street and its flow is effective in establishing ties between the citizens of that country, public spaces also function as performance areas where favored behaviors are exhibited. In such cases, new arrangements are made in the city for the space that is outside. For example, the streets and public gardens connected to the square with the development plans made in the last period of the Ottoman Empire, the large squares, parks and both public and private buildings built in Ankara during the Young Republic years aim to build unity and reciprocity. This study aims to approach the concept of public space from these perspectives.
Apart from their importance in the fields of law and political science, the need to study the concepts of public sphere and publicness in terms of sociology and psychology will continue. The reason for this necessity lies in the dimension of human self-construction, interaction with other people and existence in the face of power. To put it simply, you can only grow with what you have in your land, and you will be deprived of what you lack in that land. Just as a plant is nourished by the soil in which it takes root, and needs soil in order to exist, and contains the characteristics of the soil in which it takes root, so existence needs space in order to realise its being. For space is the place where existence can be staged. The spirit of the place reflects on the being; the being will transform the place with what it receives. The behaviour and dress of individuals in their homes and their behaviour outside their homes are not exactly the same. During the process of socialisation, we learn the behaviours appropriate to our status and roles, and especially when we appear on stages outside the household, we behave as they require and express ourselves with the costumes they require. In short, not only clothing, but also behaviour, gestures and facial expressions, as well as forms of communication, undergo change and transformation. For example, as the Ottoman Empire neared its end, it began to transform classical Ottoman cities with new conceptions of public space in an effort to emulate its contemporaries. Even a casual observer will easily notice the difference between Topkapı Palace and Dolmabahçe Palace. Similarly, Kuleli Military High School and Selimiye Barracks are other examples where change is most evident. Modernisation efforts were not limited to the construction of Western-style public buildings; parks, or National Gardens as they were then called, were created where Muslim and non-Muslim subjects could equally participate in the public sphere. It is important to note that we are dealing with an example of the use of law as a means of creating a sense of belonging and obtaining consent, or more precisely, the use of the zoning and urbanisation dimension of administrative law. Behaviour, ways of sitting and speaking are also shaped by the characteristics of the time in which people live, and people influence each other in the way they do all these things. Just as it is not only the way a favourite film character dresses, but also the way he/she speaks and his/her attitude to life that becomes fashionable and influences people, citizens in public spaces also have such effects on each other, and what is more, they interact without saying a word. This is because the rules that power does not proclaim, but recognises as valid, become visible in public spaces and are effective in shaping the citizens that power wants. It is perhaps as important to be able to act equally and freely in a park, on the street, in a café or on a university campus, to be able to sit down, to look around, to act according to one’s status and role in the clothes one feels comfortable in, is perhaps the more important criterion of freedom than to write provisions on freedom into the constitution. This study will also approach public spaces in this perspective.
Public space, public sphere, transformation of space, subaltern counterpublics, contestation and bracketing.
