Public spaces of post-industrial cities and their changing roles (1)/Endustri-sonrasi kentlerin kamusal mekanlari ve degisen rolleri

Turkish city planner Muge Akkar Ercan, gives an overview of changing roles of public spaces in post-industrial cities over the last three decades. With reference to many examples across the globe, the feature notes the increasing commodification, control and surveillance of public space in capitalist economies - a phenomenon at variance with the principles of democracy, where openness to encounters with groups of different backgrounds, classes and outlooks is essential. It argues that public spaces are not genuinely public as long they are planned according to the interests of specific groups or groups to the exclusion of others.