Transformation of Collective Memory in the Case of Mersin Amusement Park

Abstract

Urban spaces are the social arenas of urban life; they are the places of experience and communication. But the rapid changes in economical, technological and social areas effects our cities in terms of public space. Turkish cities are also in a state of loosing their public space including streets, boulevards and public plazas due to many reasons ranging from political decisions derived by short-term economic interests to the lack of maintenance of the physical environment. The collective memory of space contains the inferences from dynamic processes of human and socail will, and critical interpretation. It is a shared socio-spatial history of a specific group of people who coincidently have constructed collective environmental experiences. These shared activities, events make people create a sense of common background. The time elapses and the spatial environments evolve with massive economic, technological and social changes. To this end, the collective memories transform in accordance with the spatial use and experiences, which, in turn, may change the meaning of space. Within the methodological context, this paper emphasizes the role of collective memory studies in revealing the changing socio-spatial processes. It evaluates the Amusement Park in Mersin as a social urban place for the community, also draws the changes in the collective memory. This paper is a rewriting of the collective memories by comparing different time sequences to observe the changes on the amusement park as an urban physical space and the impacts of these changes on the collective memory. We use in-dept-interviews with Amusement Park inhabitants over different ages. These age groups will be helpful to define different time sequences. The comparison between different time sequences will demonstrate the transformations of the collective memory of these inhabitants. This discussion of the Amusement Park as an urban place and effects of the physical change on the collective memory will open up a new point of view. In conclusion, as Rudofsky emphasized today’s cities grow with no concern for the future and with no thought of the community. The understanding of the local governments on the production of space completely exclude the human aspect. In this sense, the findings of the case study showed that today the point that we have arrived practically identifies with the loss of the meaning of the Amusement Park.