BASAK ZEKA DEMIR

Urban public squares, within the context of public spaces, are essential components of cities because they provide spaces for social interaction. This helps sustain the humanization of the society through gathering, lingering and wandering through, and engaging together into various human activities and can make significant contributions to the cultural development of communities. In the last three decades, the concept of public space has been redefined within the context of urban space development leading to socio-spatial developments like social polarization and spatial fragmentation. Accordingly, new places like shopping malls, parking lots, heavy traffic roads have replaced traditional public spaces such as squares, plazas and neighborhood streets. These alternative public spaces, in many instances, are provided without taking into consideration the human aspects. The aim of this study is to extract humanistic design attributes that can be used in the production of a public squa...

Growing energy need is obvious considering the increasing population,
industrial development, together with today's fossil fuel
based living conditions. Within this framework renewable energy
transition is inevitable in search for a long-term solution to this
growing energy need. However, several public oppositions are encountered
during such transition processes. This study focuses on
the wind energy - an important source of renewable energy - in
case of İzmir which is the leading city in Turkey in terms of number
of wind farms as well as intensive public oppositions. Study reveals
social sensitivity areas of wind energy production regarding natural
environment and economic life (agriculture, animal husbandry),
sensory (effect on visual integrity, noise), health (effect on human
health), technological (magnetic field and turbine number) issues.
The study reveals individual and collective perceptions about the
sensitivity areas, on the other hand, there is an opinion that does
not consider the expressed issues as a problem. The findings show
the validity of social sensitivity, but also raise the possibility of
making sensitivity assessment based on the thought that there is
no such thing or what he heard from others. According to the
findings of the study, increasing number of wind farms within the
context of İzmir creates a “saturation” among the society about
wind energy. In this respect, “minimum distance” criteria should
be determined for the wind farm site selection to the areas where
nature and human activities take place. “Cumulative effect” caused
by the concentration of wind farms in a certain area should also be
taken into consideration. Finally, public participation during these
processes and being informed is urgent.