Kamusal/Kentsel İç Mekânda Yer Kimliğinin Bir Bileşeni Olarak ‘Anlam’ın Önemi: Kızlarağası Hanı, İzmir

Abstract

In the everyday life of cities, many interiors with public access and public use are considered public because they belong to people. Public interiors are part of public spaces in which the culture of cities is established and socio-spatial changes are noticeable. Following this approach, they play a significant role in constructing a place identity. In an urban environment, place identity is characterized by meanings in addition to the setting elements, events and activities. In this study, meaning as a component of place identity is investigated in public and urban interiors, which aims to determine how attributes and elements of meaning affect the interior identity. This comprehension clarifies the importance of meaning and its impacts on the place identity. As a case study, this research considers Kızlarağası Inn, located in Kemeraltı Bazar, İzmir, Turkey. Kızlarağası Inn has been specified as a semi-open public interior and its immediate environment as urban interiors. Data of the introduced case was analyzed to achieve a determination for the conjunction of meaning and indicators of public and urban interiors. The data were collected through field studies (observations, photo shoots, behavioral maps), questionnaires and interviews. The study’s findings show that place identity in public and urban interiors is interconnected with both physical and social environments. To be specific, people’s sensory experiences which create the individual and group meanings, attachments, intentions about these places and memories all function in the creation of place identity.