AN EXPLORATORY RESEARCH ON

KADIFEKALE

researchAn exploratory research on the perceptions of

people of Izmir on Kadifekale.

perception

territoriality

closed community

exploratory research

In Göztepe, Alsancak, Bostanlı and Balçova people of Izmir think that Kadifekale is a territory that afraid people who doesn’t live there.

According to interviews that we did in Kadifekale, they have some prejudices too.

They think that people afraid of coming to the Kadifekale.

They feel that people are disturbed from themselves.

People of Kadifekale feels estranged themselves from city life.

They think that they are outsiders. Kadifekale people are in social unrest because

of urban transformation. They are aware of thoughts of people who

don’t live in Kadifekale.

methodology

Observation

Photography

Interviews (open-ended survey)

Our results indicated that predictions and prejudices are not implicitly true.

conditions

2300 buildings and half of them are shacks. Rents vary between TL50 to TL200. There are two schools in this area No high school High school in Beştepeler lacks safety and order. Only two health care centers

conditions After the avalanche incident two elementary schools and two

health

care centers present in the area were shut down. Most of the roads and streets are not numbered. Foundation is insufficient No facilities available for sports or social and cultural activities. There are 1964 shacks that are ordered to be demolished and

only 234 shacks are already demolished.

despite the conditions

People of Kadifekale do not want to leave the area. City center.. They would have to pay transportation fees. They would not be able to handle living in an apartment. They are careful with family planning. Public is clamped together and they all know each other. Floor furnaces around the Castle. Women bake their bread there for their needs, even some of them

bake for selling Souvenir sales

despite the conditions

Hand-knotted carpets and handworks and women are dominant in this area as well

Having picnics, children flying kites and old men playing checker. No problems with security They feel the governance and monitoring of the police every moment. They are uncomfortable with the tension between the Kurdish and

Turkish people Kadifakale’s immigrants are mostly from the cities that are in the east

or southeast of Anatolia, such as Mardin and Diyarbakir.

solutions This research is mostly based on psychology. However what

we have examined is the environment of Kadifekale and the research was aimed to determine the perceptions of the people from the inside and the outside of the area.

The situation here is that there is a reaction of an effect; our prejudices cause their prejudices.

The city hall should consider leaving Kadifekale undisturbed and work to find ways to make the area function better in social interaction instead of demolishing the houses and uniting it with Agora in order to make it a touristic site.

The buildings should be restored rather than demolished, so that a better environmental planning would be made and the Castle would become more appealing.

solutions A restaurant or a social interaction space should be built inside

the Castle in order to connect two communities. In preference to a radical change, a gradual change should be provided. These changes would not only have positive feedback from the residents but also from the people who live in other areas.

For instance if Kadifekale were changed the way we propose, it could be a touristic site for the local people as well as foreigners and this would help to solve the social problems and make social interaction possible.

references

Izmir Ticaret Odası – Kadifekale’nin Sosyo-Ekonomik Profili ve Sorunları. (Ahmet Karayiğit, 2005)

Büyük İskender'in Kadifekale'si onarılıyor

(http://www.arkitera.com/h40548-buyuk-iskenderin-kadifekalesi-onariliyor.html)

Izmir Ticaret Odası – Kadifekale’de Durum Değerlendirmesi (Hitay Baran, Ümit Çiçek, 2006)

Kadifekale Halkı Diken Ustunde (İzmir/Evrensel Newspaper Kadir Çetrez-Mustafa Güven)

Deniz Öztürk

Duygum Girginer

Gün Ünbay

Tamer Egemen Gül