W08 – Residential environments and people

THE ROLE OF PUBLIC ART FOR

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF PUBLIC
SPACES IN THE RESIDENTIAL
ENVIRONMENT

Ahsen Özsoy

ahsenozsoy@gmail.com

Bahar Bayram

mimbabay@gmail.com
The Role of Public Art for Improving the Quality of Public Places
in the Residential Environment

Ahsen Özsoy
Faculty of Architecture
Istanbul Technical University
ahsenozsoy@gmail.com
Fax: +90 212 2514895

Bahar Bayram
mimbabay@gmail.com

Keywords: public art, quality of public space, residential environment

Abstract
People have deep feelings about a place or strongly connect with a community when they are
in contact with the environment and with other people. From this point of view, public places,
with the feature of being a life’s platform by creating the image of the environment and
identifying the properties of the community, are the residences of social-cultural activities.
With the effects of globalism, technology, economic dynamics and modernity, the design of
public places has changed. Nowadays, governments and NGOs are working to improve
environmental quality and place satisfaction. When organizing public places, the role of art
cannot be disregarded during this quality research with its image of the place and the creation
of its environmental identity.
The aim of this paper is to identify the usage of art in public places, the different experiences
that are presented and the role of art for improving the quality of public places by recognizing
the contributions of physical and social interaction. With this aim, the quality of public places
and the criteria that identify that quality will be investigated. Various approaches for
improving the quality of public places and the role of public art will be discussed. The concept
of public art, public art projects and organizations that support artistic activities will be
discussed, including examples from all over the world, and the effect of art activities on public
places will be investigated from the standpoint of quality improvement. With the case study
conducted in a very special residential setting (in one of the big cities of Turkey - Bursa), the
effect of an international public art activity for the improvement of environmental quality will
be examined.

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Introduction
Public spaces, which allow the interaction of various groups having different socio-economic
characteristics, have special importance as areas that meet the differing social and physical
needs of people. One of the most important problems in public spaces today is the
dissatisfaction of users from various characteristics of the environment. Places, which meet
basic human needs and allow for different activities, are not necessarily quality and attractive
environments that give a sense of place to their users. The concept of spatial quality and the
criteria which define quality spaces have increasingly been studied in recent years. Successful
public spaces have generally been planned and designed in an integrated way, creating variety
for different life styles. The role of art and artistic activities for the quality improvement of the
urban environment has been gaining more importance.
The paper aims to identify the usage of art in public places, the different experiences that are
presented to the citizens and the role of art in improving the quality of public places by
recognizing the contributions of physical and social interaction. With this aim, various
approaches to the improvement of the quality of public places and the role of public art will be
discussed. The concept of public art, public art projects and organizations that support artistic
activities will be examined including examples from all over the world, and the effect of art
activities on public places will be investigated from the standpoint of quality improvement. In
the case study conducted in a very special residential environment, the effect of an
international public art activity for the improvement of environmental quality will be
examined.

Approaches to Quality Improvement in Existing Environments

In parallel with the developments related to the quality concept in all sectors, various
approaches on various scales can be seen for a solution to quality problems in the urban
environment. Some of the examples, ranging from the urban scale to the street scale, include
quality improvement studies in urban residential environments, mixed use developments,
gentrification of declining urban patterns, transformation of waterfront areas, and
improvement of public space quality (Gülersoy, Özsoy, Tezer, Yiğiter, Günay, 2005). To
create high quality environments on various scales of the urban areas, adoption of a holistic
approach is necessary.
One of the most important characteristics of image and identity of a place is the existence of a
common language that is reflected by environmental components. Therefore, in renewal,
maintenance and improvement processes for the parts that compose the urban environment
(such as buildings, sidewalks, signals, street furniture) and their effects on the visual quality of
the city should be considered. However, quality improvement is not the only important aspect
for the urban built environment; it has also considerable positive or negative social outcomes,
such as an increase of living conditions, or a tendency to leave the existing environment
because of the problem of affordability.
Quality improvement of individual buildings also affects public space quality. However,
attention should be paid to more effective planning systems and their availability for improving
the quality of public spaces. Increasing the awareness of the legal system related to this process
is very important. It is necessary to have sustainable improvement approaches for historic
areas, careful placement of tall buildings for the urban silhouette, search for high design
quality. The useless and characterless plazas and avenues need to have improvements carried
out in integrated programs (Tibbalds, 1992).
Urban public space with all its physical elements and users is an entity unto itself. Quality
improvement attempts can be successful only if they are integrated. The treatment effort in

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Ortaköy, one of the historical locations of Istanbul, is a very good example. In the scope of the
operations started in the early 1990s, all buildings have been restored; and with a design
guideline for all kinds of quality improvement works, the area has regained its quality and
attractive identity.

Figure 1: Ortaköy
The enhancement of user satisfaction is the main aim for public spaces while increasing the
quality of urban public environment. Dilapidated, crumbling and characterless building blocks
have a negative effect on the users of public spaces and reduce their quality. In addition, urban
transformation and gentrification concepts started in the 1970s are the models for improving
the quality of urban public spaces.
When looking for the role of art for the improvement of public space quality, one should first
provide the methods and models for this quality improvement and determine how and in which
forms the art is to be involved. The development of pedestrian traffic, diversification of
activities, personalization, reduction of the disorganization of the urban furnishings,
signalization and direction, and maintenance and repair are quality improvement methods in
existing urban environments. And, public art is effective in the constructive treatment and the
urban transformation-gentrification process, components that directly affect the quality of a
public space.

Development of Pedestrian Traffic

Intercommunication solutions for crowded city centers play an important role in making these
areas appropriate for urban life. Avenues and streets are the public places used by all walks of
life, starting from youth, but the quality of this experiment is wide ranging The crowded traffic
of an avenue makes this experiment actually formed by the vehicles, and it is thought that it is
only for fast intercommunication. When infrequent traffic is the case, then usage by
pedestrians increases and there are possibilities for a wide range of activities (Woolley, 2003).
Pedestrian areas make art activity accessible for the masses. These areas can host various art
activities as well as be exhibition grounds. As a reaction to reducing trade level in city
centers, there are efforts to improve pedestrian areas on different scales. Specific avenue views
are improved by qualified design (street furnishings, illumination, etc.) (Fieldhouse,
www.rudi.net).
Copenhagen is a good example of development of pedestrian projects in public spaces. Due to
changes in urban design approaches in 1962, many avenues have been prepared for the use of
pedestrians and so urban life has become lively. Many cultural festivals and huge, popular
carnivals are organized. When compared with previous figures, street life in Copenhagen has
become very rich over many years (Gehl, Gemzoe, 2001).

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 Figure 2: Copenhagen Street Life

Diversification of Activities
The more urban places present a diversification of activities, the more they become quality,
because users and visitors demand choice and variety; they want to visit new areas and shops
and be aware of what is happening around them. People seek an environment to meet with one
another. Visitors and tourists look for quality places that take them far away from their normal
life (Tibbalds, 1992). Thus places should provide variety and be individually unique in their
historical and cultural mediums.

Figure 3: Public Space Activities

The characteristics of public places may have attributes that increase or reduce social activities
that are optional or obligatory (Gehl, 1987). For example, quality improvement processes in
Copenhagen are diversified, thereby increasing the usage of activities in public places.
Research conducted in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in Australia in 1978 indicates that
there is a direct interconnection between public place quality and public place activities (Gehl,
1987).

Personalization
Public places mostly have specific characteristics. Highlighting these characteristics and
making a place special are important factors for quality improvement. Designing the signs and
signboards in an integrative way and representing the same character everywhere in the city
supports the identity of the city in the mind of its users. Likewise, well-designed urban
furnishings, which have high functional and aesthetic values, are factors that increase the
users’ satisfaction in urban public space (Glover, www.rudi.net).

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Reducing the Chaos of Urban Furnishings
Locating urban furnishings such as traffic signs, cleaning materials, parking lots, along with
the chaotic visual composition of the avenues, causes a kind of environmental pollution and
negatively affects total quality. Therefore, every furnishing category in a public place requires
the consideration of an alternative that can perform its function. Reducing complexity also has
a dramatic effect on crowded avenues. Peripheral buildings can be easily discerned, and the
city becomes more attractive (Davis, 1997).

Signals and Orientation

City centers are the places where different activities exist together. Appropriate signals and
correct orientation affect the quality by increasing the decipherability of an urban setting. A
well designed signal and orientation system, better perception of urban public places and a
good impression of these places (mental memory) are targeted (Sangha, www.rudi.net).
There should be various and interesting signals for pedestrians in urban public places. There is
not yet an obligation for standardization of pedestrian signals different from traffic signals
(Davis, 1997). Private sector firms and big shopping entertainment and festival centers
collaborate with consulting firms for artistic support in the areas of concept development,
design and application. Today, this topic has become an important creative platform for artists
and designers.

Maintenance and Management Services

The quality of urban public places depends on the quality of maintenance services as much as
their physical features. An effective maintenance program should be provided. Cooperation
between local and private authorities to provide resources and implement solutions has an
importance that makes public places cleaner and more livable. This problem is approached
differently in city centers around the world (Davis, 1997).
The maintenance and protection of artistic works that serve aesthetic or functional purposes
are also important for providing a positive continuity of an urban outlook. Thus,
implementation should be performed with the collaboration of private and local sectors. Some
private and semi-private organizations have been established in city centers that are rich in
artistic works.

The Use of Public Art

The dissatisfaction of users is an important problem observed in newly created residential
areas. In such an environment, users cannot perceive themselves as a part of a whole and start
to be alienated (Atabek, 2002). In this respect, the environment that is aesthetically of high
quality and motivates the people who live there is important along with responding to the
needs of the users. Displaying public art is important for its aesthetic quality and for
increasing the satisfaction of the users.
The quality improvement of a public place and the function of public art to create more livable
places are important concerns of local and central administrations. The local and private
organizations, which support public-centered artistic works and training programs with the
aim of enriching public places, protecting and improving artistic and urban values are
numerous in the USA and Europe.
Including public art as a part of urban transformation projects aimed at creating a place feeling
and a place identity helps to create a definable urban pattern, which in turn creates a
permanent impression related to the city that visitors have traveled to.

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Transforming daily objects into extraordinary ones through the interventions of artists, such as
considering a bus stop or a sitting element as a work of art, are features that enrich the urban
environment, empower the urban identity and increase the variety of public space. Training
programs conducted with the collaboration of artists and the locals, new applications that are
to empower the public and environment, show important potential for the quality improvement
of public space (Gülersoy, Özsoy, Tezer, Yiğiter, Günay, 2005).
Many institutions that are active and successful in the design of public places support public art
activities because they contribute to urban life, ensure the use of public space and create
pleasure. Public art will be successful only if included as a catalyst in design strategy at the
planning stage (Public Art and Amenities: Art in Public Places, www.pps.org, access:
2.1.2007). Enhancing pedestrian areas with art objects is useful for providing mental relaxation
created from visual interconnections and cultural satisfaction (Şenliyer, 1995).
Temporary art or functional art works may ensure the possibility of the existence of a visual
aesthetic that creates charm and excitement on squares and plazas. Temporary art studies
create a positive effect on the success of public art programs. Moreover, they help to increase
the quality of space by providing various activities focusing on the arts (Public Art and
Amenities: Art in Public Places, www.pps.org, access: 2.1.2007).

Public Art
Public spaces must have a prototypical character; they are instruments of change for a society.
They are unique, they create an identity, and they must be able to stimulate the evolution of all
parts of a society. The singularness of public spaces remains a key attractor for a variety of
people, events, collective expressions and programs, but what comes out constantly changes,
adapts to new trends, forces, desires, and multiplies in its adaptations over time. The use of
public space proliferates increasingly in the ways that they are used and the ways that they
give form to a society and its dynamic mechanisms (Bunschoten, 2002).

Figure 4: Different Kinds of Public Art

All types of arts in public spaces, such as murals, statues and graffiti, attract a lot of attention.
In observations and interviews with people standing near murals and statues, a warm interest
in public art is apparent (Carr, 1992). The most effective method to make art a meaningful part
of life is to integrate it into public spaces. In this way, art work reaches the masses giving an
opportunity for the masses to benefit from the physical, cultural, social and economic features
of art work. Public art, generally, is art that performs in public places such as avenues, parks
and fronts of buildings (Parfect, Power, 1997).
When the concept of public art and its position in a specific architectural area is examined, it
can be concluded that this concept is not related to physical restrictions but rather to
accessibility to the art. If one tries to find a parallel between this concept and public places, it
can be concluded that museums, considered to be public places are not really open to the
public due to their physical restrictions. Galleries, which have lost their feature of being a

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metaphor of the politic systems that they belong to, have been transformed into a closed
institutional form, and because of this have become concepts that are not public. Art
institutions, such as museums and galleries, should not be considered public places, and the art
exhibited in those places should be considered apart from public art (Salgado, 2002).
According to Rendell (2006), to develop as critical practice, architecture must look to art,
moving outside the traditional boundaries of its field and into a place between disciplines. As a
mode of cultural production that enjoys a greater degree of separation from economic and
social concerns, art can offer architecture a chance for critical reflection and action. There is
much gallery-based art that provides cultural and political critique, but once outside the gallery,
as ‘public art’, art is better positioned to initiate critical spatial practices that can inform the
activity of architectural design and the occupation of buildings (Rendell, 2006).
Public art can be encountered in three forms: historical, aesthetic and functional (Carmichael,
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1555/public_art.html). Art works that are related with
important people or events help to link the public with its history and create a collective
memory. Various art works that respond to the aesthetic needs are also the components of a
place. In addition, functional objects that serve as bus stops, information boards, etc. in urban
spaces and produced by a designer or artist can be considered in this group.

Figure 5: Public Art Forms, Historical, Aesthetic and Functional

Public art projects can also be seen in three groups: created for a special place, social art
projects and temporary art projects (Design Review Criteria for Public Art, www.pps.org).
The “Cows and Pigs on Parade” project is one of the most striking examples of a temporary art
project. This project was first in Switzerland and then in other cities such as Chicago, New
York and Cincinnati, Ohio. Through the summer of 1999, within the context of the “Cows on
Parade” project, the streets of Chicago were adorned with a colorful show of 340 cows painted
by local artists.

Figure 6: Cows and Pigs on Parade

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Art in Public Places
Installation
The most frequently observed form of public art in cities are sculptures located in front of high-
rise office buildings, on plazas and in shopping areas in the city centers. Traditional paintings
and sculptures have been installed in new and abstract forms in urban open public spaces,
parks, streets and on building façades.
Lighting in urban public spaces is also frequently used as a way of creating a special
environment. It can be used to empower the identity of a public place or historic site. “A Last
Parting Look” by Joseph Kossuth in 2006, London, which is on the façade of a building, is a
contemporary example of using light to produce public art.

Figure 7: A Last Parting Look, Joseph Kosuth (www.axisweb.org)

Painting Wall – Building Façades – Ground

Today, the growing tendency is to paint the façades of the existing buildings, using relief,
colors and calligraphic techniques. Instead of adding these elements to the architecture,
collaboration between architects and artists in the design phase will create more quality urban
residential environments., As a widespread and strong way of expressing creative potential,
graffiti in New York in the early 1970s gave the opportunity to articulate the hopes and
demands of the young people living in difficult conditions (Ögel, 1997).

Public Place Exhibitions

Exhibitions organized in open areas of urban residential environments aim to attract the
masses, to broaden the limits of the arts and to get people involved. Participation and
interaction are the main goals of today’s arts (Ögel, 1997).

Urban Furniture
Creating worthwhile environments that enhance the quality of life necessitate the overall value
of each component of the total environmental design. Urban furniture, from pavements to
baskets and lighting elements, needs to be considered as artistic creativity. In Hanover,
Germany, within the context of the “Bus Stops Project”, 9 designers designed 9 different and
interesting bus stops. In this way, art reached all categories of citizens using public
transportation.

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 Figure 8: Bus Stops Project, Hanover

Interactive Art
Thanks to festivals, carnivals and activities that are performed by artists in interactive ways
with people in public places, participation has been possible. For example, in Santa Maria
Maggiore, one of Rome’s most important churches, the celebrations on the 5th of August have
today become an art activity.
Holiday celebrations are seen as opportunities to present various interactive activities in an
urban environment. With efforts started months before, Christmas activities are conducted and
brochures handed out. Cities, such as Vienna, Rome and Paris, are in competition to hold the
most successful program. In Vienna, streets and avenues are dressed up, and kiosks to obtain
information are built. In Rome, several concerts, skits and shows are held, and its streets are
full of people coming to see them. The Borgo Festival in Fiano Romano is an important
activity that interacts with its participants. Within the context of a historical festival, many
performances start there in the afternoon and go until midnight for 5 days.
Street artists performance is another form of interactive public art. Urban areas that are used
for festivals, concerts and ceremonies have a potential for street artists’ activities and
performances (Carr et al., 1992).
Today, public art works are acquiring different characteristics with the effects of globalization
and the reflection of technological developments on the arts. Art works and activities moving
to public places from enclosed spaces have raised the limits of art in human life. In the art
practices of today’s artists can be found historical, environmental, spatial and political clues.
In this context, public art activity is improved in a social perspective rather than as a symbolic
phenomenon.

Figure 9: Examples of Interactive Art

Inclusion of Arts and Artists in Gentrification Process

In gentrification and urban transformation processes that cause positive physical, social and
economic changes in urban public spaces, art is involved in the process through the works of

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artists, architects and designers as a catalyst that increases the cultural interactivity.
The gentrification process previously based on economic facts has currently become a
transformation process which mostly considers cultural functions as its main point. Producing
high-brow and popular culture products such as music, cinema and opera, and the
gentrification process that is in public places socio-culturally are important processes that
make clear the effect of artistic activities in public places.
Culture and art industries also make important contributions to the urban economy. Through
the concurrency of institutions such as theaters, galleries, artist studios and art schools, a
special synergy is created in architecture, advertising, photography, fashion design and other
artistic sectors (Özdemir, 2005). This is an important economic factor that fires up the
competition between the cities.
When reviewing the transformations and renewal processes in urban public places, it is
possible to say that artistic activities play an effective role. However, in gentrification
processes, it is observed that artists transform their living and working places affecting social
values. As gentrification and urban transformation are models for increasing quality, and the
actors (gentrifiers) and activities that start the process are art-centered, art is considered to
have an effect on public space quality.

The Importance and Effects of Public Art for Public Space Quality
User needs and requirements (lifestyles) in urban residential environments have their own
dynamics that have certain effects on the use of space. Today, vitality is an important element
for the prestigious urban environment. To make an urban residential environment more vital
necessitates conducting programs and projects of revitalization and rehabilitation on various
scales using works from many initiatives, with art being the most important element
(Carmichael, http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1555/public_art.html).
Art can be considered as a way to increase the value of an environment and its quality of life
(Longini, 2006). Public art can serve many objectives simultaneously, such as pleasing the
people, creating a well ordered world, making necessary interventions to boring building
façades, using wall murals and graffiti, and bringing prestige to a neighborhood.
Art works and artistic activities in public open spaces have various characteristics in terms of
strengthening public relations, creating aesthetic experiences, and leaving environmental clues
in the people’s minds. The effects of art works and artistic activities on the quality of public
space can be examined under the following topics: identity, public communications, cultural
continuity, aesthetic experience and economic benefits.

Identity
Creating identity in an urban and residential environment has become a requirement in the
globalizing world to emphasize the differences from the ordinary. Art, as an element giving an
identity to the settlement, makes the public open space different, special and attractive (Carr et
al., 1992). It awakens spatial feelings, reflects the social and cultural characteristics of a place
and creates a style that symbolizes a space. Art in the public space/arena is generally carried
out to make a place interesting and to add beauty, gaining character. As with the Statue of
Liberty in New York and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, works of art can be symbols for cities,
reminding people of the uniqueness of these places due to the art objects.
The planning and design process of public spaces should have short and long term effects and
consider future developments of the area. Buildings and public open spaces have to reflect the
vision of the city and its inhabitants, creating an individual identity.

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Art in the urban setting exists mainly for the sake of the community, joining utility and beauty,
and often historic meaning. Public art gives the community an identity – a character that can
be representative of the city and its people. Sculpture, memorials, monuments, fountains and
murals are located in public places to display historic meaning, cultural significance and city
beautification. Plazas offer pedestrians a place to gather, relax, enjoy the sights and play.
These places often incorporate art, decoration and landscape features to make a place beautiful
and give it character. Art gives the urban area a sense of place (Carmichael,
http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1555/public_art.html).

Public communications
The social contribution of art happens by changing our way of understanding art and our way
of looking at the world (Aydınlı, 1993). In public places, artistic activities (festivals, carnivals,
events) performed interactively with the people have gained importance for public
communications. These kinds of activities, bringing people together, create a synergy and
increase shared experiences and communications.

Cultural continuity
The main criticism about 21st century public space is the loss of vitality and dynamics of
public life in the urban residential environment. This may be the result of a decrease in
cultural activities or a loss of importance for the community (Uygur, 1996).
Art, as a direct reflection of culture and its components, has undeniable importance for the
development of a social structure. Culture exposes itself through art and its tangible objects.
Art, in some respects, is the outcome of culture transformed into a usable form (Şenliyer,
1995). Public art, on the other hand, is different from classic art approaches and processes, and
deals with many kinds of cultural phenomena.
Public art, reflecting people and facts with historic monuments and sculptures, defines a city,
while informing people about important events in its history, encouraging them to think about
their past (Lynch, 1972).

Aesthetic experience
The use of art in public spaces is an important factor which meets the aesthetic needs of
people, increasing their motivation and creative abilities. The environment that is aesthetically
of high quality and motivates the people who live there is important along with responding to
the needs of the users.

Economic benefits
It is obvious that public art activities, festivals and carnivals conducted in the urban setting
attract a great number of people to the cities. The “Animals on Parade” project is a well-
known case of an economic contribution of the arts for cities. During the “Cows on Parade”
contemporary art installation in Chicago, an extra 2 million tourists visited the city and spent
500 million dollars for accommodation, food, shopping and sightseeing over a 3-month
period. The same exhibit increased the tourist population in New York by 3-4 million people,
creating an extra 1 billion dollars in retail income and over 1 million dollars in income for
charity organizations (http://cowparade.net).

A Case Study: Gölyazı Contemporary Art Park Project

Developing technologies, marketing strategies and sponsorships today make possible very
different and new artistic activities. These types of activities conducted in public spaces -

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different from classical art approaches - are becoming platforms that express the problems of
social life, bring people together, and make participation possible.
Gölyazı is a settlement, connected to Bursa’s Ulubat Lake by bridge, having traces of
civilization from the 7th century BC. Fish and crawfish are the main means of livelihood for
the people. The population which was 2240 according to the 1990 census, decreased to 1806
in the last census (Yünkuş, 2006). This can be explained by the migration of people to the big
cities of Turkey to have better living conditions.

Figure 10: Gölyazı Settlement (Municipality Archive)

An international artistic project activity was conducted in Gölyazı between 15 August-15
September 2006, with participation of 21 artists from Turkey, Germany, Greece, Cyprus,
Canada, Mexico, Brazil and the US. The project aimed at transforming the settlement into an
international open air art park. During the project the artists who came to Gölyazı stayed a
month with the local people and created art works inspired from the social and cultural life and
physical and spatial characteristics of the settlement. They organized workshops and seminars,
created various art works in the public square, on the streets and the bridge and on the walls of
houses. At the end of the project they left their art works as gifts to the town.

Figure 11: General Views

Mainly as installations, these 23 art works were created in the most popular part of the town,
each referring to its social, economic and / or physical characteristics. During the project local
people participated in the process and were very active in choosing places and material, and
then naming the art works.
In order to determine the spatial and social effects created by the Gölyazı Contemporary Art
Park Project, to examine the attaining of objectives of the project and to analyze the effects of
the project on spatial quality, a case study was implemented, a survey and a series of
observations were conducted. The population mostly consisted of middle-aged people, having
primary school education. Although fishing had been economically sufficient for their
livelihood in the past and education had not been necessary for better living conditions, young
people are increasingly leaving the town with the aim of getting an education.

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 Figure 12: Examples from the Project
The main starting point of the “Gölyazı International Contemporary Art Park Project” was the
idea of making Gölyazı an attractive tourism center with its historical, natural and
archeological values, while increasing its spatial worth and quality of life so as to draw
attention through artistic events.
During and after the project, advertisements related to the artistic activities made the Gölyazı
settlement a more attractive, popular and lively place for tourists, especially during the
weekends. Because of its archeological and historic values, Gölyazı is a listed conservation
site having very restricted construction potential, but without enough places for visitor
accommodations.
Another benefit of the Project was to create economic support for the local people in the
settlement. Observations and interviews conducted show that commercial activities have been
improved and the number of cafés and restaurants has increased.
Survey results show that 25% of the local people became interested in painting and handicraft
activities after this event. For a relatively less educated community, art and artistic activities
have become a focus of interest, creating an important cultural development.
In terms of the effects of the Gölyazı Project on the public space quality of the settlement,
identity, social communication, cultural continuity, aesthetic experience and economic
benefits are the most important results observed. During this international project, the name of
the settlement (as host) was mentioned with these artistic events in various media (in
newspapers, on TV, in documentaries), drawing attention to the historical, natural and cultural
characteristics which give the settlement an international identity.
Primary objective Assessment Problem
To create an attractive place Published and presented in media
To attract tourists Increasing number of tourists Transportation
To build hotels and pensions Limited land
To create additional financial Economic development of local people Daily tourist visit because of
support for people lack of tourism facilities
Social atmosphere
To have more social atmosphere
Individual development
Lack of information for local
Increasing interest in art
people
To integrate local people with art Increasing participation
Percentage of old aged
population

Table I: Assessment of the project objectives according to survey results

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Residents got an opportunity to have face-to-face communication with the project leader and
participants. Dialogues of the artists coming from different cultures with the residents created
an agenda and a global vision for the community. Artists spent their time in Gölyazı during the
Project and learned about the social and cultural characteristics of the town, resulting in art
works designed to reflect these values.
The Project also activated restoration studies and archeological activities in the settlement.
Gölyazı gained a new face with the Contemporary Art Park Project and transformation
conducted during the process. Public places, where the art works are located, have been
renovated, and this process has positively affected the spatial quality. Low-income and less-
educated people of Gölyazı were introduced to the arts by means of the project and have
become interested in artistic activities. The demand of the people for a cleaner, better
maintained and more beautiful environment is another positive outcome of this art project.

Conclusion
The Gölyazı project, conducted in a relatively small scale settlement, affected the area, the
local people and also the social life in a very positive way. It is clear that an art object or an
artistic activity in a public space is an important touch that directly influences the quality of a
place. A variety of the artistic production in public spaces widens the sphere of influence in
the city. Public art is the outcome of society reflecting its culture, lifestyle and history. Artists
transfer their own values, visions and ideas and reach the masses, creating stronger interaction
between the arts, the environment and the people.
The influences of art on the quality of a public place show the importance of this factor for the
design of new settlements and quality improvement studies of the existing environments. To
increase the positive effects of the process, it is clear that interdisciplinary studies of artists
with planners, architects, etc. are necessary, where integrated planning and design approaches
are inevitable.

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