Browsing by Author "Sak, Segah"

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Open Access
Cyberspace as a locus for urban collective memory
(2013) Sak, Segah
However salient the concept of cyberspace is, this study is an exploration of the relationship of people with their places. With a socio-spatial approach, this work sets forth a theoretical plexus between collective memory, cyberspace and urban space. This construction intrinsically relies on a conflation of associations and dynamics of memory, technology and place. Accordingly, the study explores analogies between cyberspace and memory, and between cyberspace and urban space. Merging qualities of the given concepts reveal that the cyberspace presents contemporary formations both of memory and of place. In the light of this premise, the study argues that cyberspace potentially constitutes an external urban collective memory and that it should be utilized to invent cyberplaces in this context. To understand the extent to which such potential is realized, a sample of the websites of existing location-based digital storytelling or oral history projects are investigated. To illustrate the means of projecting a cyberplace as a locus of urban collective memory, a model is established and a pilot website is created. Depending on the theoretical construction and the following propositions, a guideline for possible future implementations is generated. The intention is to bring cyberspace – the indispensible component of contemporary everyday life – to the light as a media that can be used to strengthen people’s relationship with cities rather than submitting our thought to the unavailing dystopia of digital culture.
Open Access
Evading time and place in Ankara: a reading of contemporary urban collective memory through recent transformations
(SAGE Publications, 2019) Sak, Segah; Şenyapılı, Burcu
Based on precedent theories on collective memory and urban studies, this article develops a framework of approach to contemporary urban collective memory. Understanding urban collective memory by handling people and urban space as a system provides a sociospatial perspective for critical approaches to cities. The study initially provides overviews of theoretical approaches to collective memory and city, and then puts forth constituents of urban collective memory. Based on these constituents, contemporary urban collective memory is discussed, and a framework for analyzing contemporary cities in terms of urban space and urban experience is introduced. For a clear portrayal of urban issues within the context, the introduced framework is devised through the case of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey and the inspiring force behind this study. This framework aims to present a ground to assess people’s relation to urban spaces in the contemporary era.
Open Access
Formation of the city image : the role of the train station in the image formation process of Ankara
(2008) Sak, Segah
This thesis handles the city as a dynamic network of places and people, and investigates the concept of the image of the city. Early republican Ankara, the capital of Turkey, was chosen as the case of this investigation for an extensive understanding of the concept. The study is structured according to the components of the image of the city that were proposed by Kevin Lynch. Formations of these three components (identity, structure and meaning) are explained to be overlapping with the three phases (envisioning, planning, experiencing) of the formation of the city. Depending on the assumption that the buildings play the fundamental role in these formations, contribution of the Train Station to the formation of Ankara and its image is examined. The building, one of the most significant artifacts of the early republican Ankara, was studied in means of its contribution to the components of the image. With its spatial entity, the building reflected the modern identity of the city. Orienting the movement and development within its setting, it constituted an indispensable element of the structure of the capital. Furthermore, the station, as a building of prestige, accommodated contemporary practices and provided civilized conditions. The experience of these practices and conditions within the building, which was now an urban public space beyond being only a station, lead to attachment of its people to the station and to the city.
Open Access
Socio-spatial approaches for media and communication research
(Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) Sak, Segah; Kubitschko, S.; Kaun, A.
Sak handles digital media research through an architectural/urban viewpoint. The main line of argument is that, research on digital media does and can further benefit from socio-spatial research approaches. The chapter starts by explaining briefly the socio-spatial attributes of the digital realm and gives an overview of the ways in which methods and approaches of urban, environmental and behavioral studies are being adopted for media and communication research. Finally, Sak advocates a socio-spatial approach that can be employed by further research on the digital realm.
Open Access
Striving for wellbeing digitally in the city amidst the pandemic: solidarity through Twitter in Ankara
(Elsevier Ltd, 2023-05-25) Sak, Segah; Yavuzyiğit, Bilge Begüm
This article elaborates on the utilization of social media for practices of interaction in the city during the COVID 19 pandemic and discusses its potential in providing for the wellbeing of urban communities. During the early periods of the pandemic when preventative measures were taken intensively to decrease contamination, com munities lacked physical relationships with and within cities. Interactions realized in physical spaces in normal conditions were compensated with practices in social media. While such shift can be perceived to have decreased the meaning of cities in the pursuit of daily life and interactions, efforts which were localized upon physical human settlements yet were realized in the digital realm seem to have opened alternative paths for connection among residents. Within this context, we explore Twitter data through three hashtags which were promoted by the local government of Ankara and used densely by the residents in the early periods of the pandemic. Considering that social connection is one of the fundamental enablers of wellbeing, we aim to provide insights into the strive for wellbeing in times of crises where ruptures in physical interaction prevail. The patterns we observe in the expressions that gather around the selected hashtags shed a light on the ways the cities, their people and local governments are positioned in the struggles pursued in digital realm. Our findings support our arguments that social media has significant potential in contributing to the wellbeing of people especially in times of crisis, local governments can increase the quality of life of their citizens with modest actions, and the cities hold significant meanings for people as loci of communities and thus of wellbeing. Through the discussions we pursue, we seek to contribute to the stimulation of research, policies, and community actions that aim at the enhancement of wellbeing of urban individuals and communities.