Speaker
Description
Public spaces have always constituted a fundamental component of urban life, providing a platform for social interaction, cultural expression, and the formation of collective identity. They function as both material and symbolic environments for community activities, serving as sites where individuals construct and share meanings through their experiences. This study focuses on the symbolic and experiential meanings of public spaces by examining how Museum Gazhane -historically known as Hasanpasa Gasworks- is perceived and interpreted by its users.
Museum Gazhane stands out as a critical case due to its transformation from an industrial heritage site into a vibrant public space, the challenges and opportunities of preserving historical significance while addressing contemporary urban needs. The conservation and restoration of the Hasanpasa Gasworks which is one of the important industrial heritages of Istanbul, initiated as a neighborhood-based collective movement, evolved over time under the influence of several institutional actors. The site has been refunctionalized as ‘culture-art-oriented living space’ and reintroduced to public use under the name 'Museum Gazhane' by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) in 2021. The evolution of Museum Gazhane from a grassroots-driven initiative to a municipally-led project highlights the dynamic interplay between community efforts and institutional interventions in shaping symbolic and experiential meanings of public spaces.
The study employs a dataset of 3,025 Google Maps user reviews, collected via the Google Maps Reviews API (2021–2024), to examine predominant topics representing user perceptions of Museum Gazhane. These user-generated reviews provide valuable insights into the perceived quality, user satisfaction, and symbolic meanings of the site within a societal context. Using text mining and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling, the analysis identifies five dominant themes, including the site's historical significance, its transformation process, and its multifaceted roles as a public space. Further qualitative interpretations of the LDA topics reveal how individual and collective experiences contribute to shaping the symbolic meanings attributed to Museum Gazhane.
The findings draw attention to the potential of insights derived from user reviews to inform the design and management of public spaces, providing valuable input for navigating the complex challenge of balancing the multifaceted roles of public spaces with contemporary urban demands. Museum Gazhane is recognized by its users as a multifaceted public space, with user perception of the space is characterized by a multilayered structure.
Beyond its empirical findings, this study presents an innovative methodological approach to the analysis of user-generated data by integrating analytical and qualitative methods. Through the examination of Google Maps user reviews, it offers a robust framework for uncovering the complex dynamics of public spaces and understanding how public perceptions intersect with broader societal discourses. This dual contribution significantly enhances both theoretical understanding and practical applications in urban studies.
| Keywords | Public space; symbolic meanings; topic modeling; Museum Gazhane |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
