YERDEN YÜKSEK
2023 | PUBLIC INSTALLATION  |  İZMİR

An alternative public space to provide multiple benefits to the city

In COLLABORATION with

UNDP & Karşıyaka Municipality

COORDINATORS

Tuba Doğu & Melis Varkal 

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PROJECT TEAM

Gülşah Eker, Özlem Şenyol, Tomur Canatan, Onur Güneş

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In order to create inclusive, resilient, and sustainable cities, UNDP Türkiye, Karşıyaka Municipality, and UrbanTank collaborated to renovate a public area in the Bostanlı neighborhood.

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To contribute to sustainable urban development in Izmir, third most populous city of Türkiye located at the Aegean coast, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) realized an initiative through 'tactical urbanism', which means making spatial improvements in public spaces through rapid, low-cost, and effective interventions. The alternative public space called "Yerden Yüksek" (Upper Ground), which has several benefits of making urban gardening and collaborative production possible while creating shadow for vehicles, has been opened for public use in Izmir's Bostanlı neighborhood of the Karşıyaka district.

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The works carried out by UNDP, with the financial support of the Japanese Government, in collaboration with Karşıyaka Municipality and UrbanTank, aim to improve and increase the potential of the public spaces that are idle or lacking features with innovative solutions. The analyses conducted during site visits in the neighborhood, along with surveys involving local residents were interpreted in collaboration with Karşıyaka Municipality and UrbanTank. The findings were then reflected into conceptual design.

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With these tactical urbanism interventions, it is expected that the existing functions of the relevant public spaces will be strengthened and their utilization will increase. After the monitoring and evaluation work is completed, the aim is to transform the interventions made in the relevant areas into a model to be replicated in other parts of Türkiye.