Abstract:

This study considers the concept of collective memory as an integral part of urban identity and cultural heritage and evaluates the urban landscape of the Early Republican Period Ankara in this context. In the process of the establishment of modern capital, spaces representing the ideals of the republic and spatial practices developed in these places helped the creation of a new collective memory. The place of important landscape areas in the Early Republican Period, such as Atatürk Forest Farm and Youth Park, in historical process of Ankara is discussed through the construction of urban memory, its continuity and disengagement in time. The process of establishment of the capital as the symbol of modern Turkey was not only urban/spatial but also social/cultural project and it was the construction of collective memory. Memory occurs through the experiences of an individual in a social group and mantaines within a certain time and space relationship. Ataturk Forest Farm and Youth Park were the urban spaces where public experiences developed to create urban memory. These places are not only parks and farms that represents modern city but also they were the public spaces where modern living patterns developed. Changes happened in Turkey’s political and economic structure in historical process induced the transformation of cities in both spatial and public realms. Different social and spatial practices developed in the city changed the representation and continuity of these spaces. In today's Ankara, the social and spatial practices that form collective memory are being forgotten as recreational areas and are being destroyed, and the destruction of these spaces, as holders of the city's memory, culture and identity, means that social values and meanings will not be able to be transferred to future generations. The changing ideals, meanings, social and spatial practices in time have shown that their traces in urban space have been erased and urban memory has been forgotten.

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