A Study on Newly Founded Nation Gardens in Turkey: A Landscape Architecture Evaluation of Design Principles

Abstract

The construction of the newly designed large size garden projects, has become important topic, calling ‘Nation Garden’ in Turkey. As a part of the ‘Green City Visions’, Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanization has emerged in 81 provinces with a total size of 81 million m² Nation Gardens projected with various aims, sizes and designs principles. However, 61 of these projects have already been completed, and some of still under construction, at present time. Some opened and serviced Nation Gardens, which are located in provinces of Bursa, Istanbul, Konya, Mersin, Samsun, Sivas and Trabzon, were examined in terms of concept of Nation Garden. It has realized that Some Nation Gardens dominantly planted with lawn (Bursa and Baruthane-Istanbul), while some have combination with trees and shrubs (Samsun and Halkalı-Istanbul). When surface coverings considered, the concrete hard and lawn soft properties are balance in most of these gardens. However, these Nation Gardens are planned as attraction centers that reflect the identity of the cities. Therefore, they have built with different social dynamics, demand on different green space setups with different qualities and identities. It has been understood that majority of Nation Gardens have been built on close to shores, forests and lakes, or previously existing areas that have relaunched with minor adjustments.