Redefining Leftover Space

Redefining Leftover Space

This book is an inquiry on leftover spaces, regarding their values and potentialities for the city based on their contributions to the public realm. To develop a consistent understanding of the public realm in the city, the book encompasses a comprehensive survey of theoretical approaches towards urban space. The survey includes a discussion on the concept of appropriation as a specific mode of using spaces. Design attitudes in applied projects are researched through literature, and a critical model of public realm is obtained concerning the elaborated concepts and objectives. The study demonstrates the peculiarities of leftover spaces and a contemplative design attitude towards them in relation to the developed model. Both actual use and physical characteristics of spaces are matters of concern, with the claim that such disregarded urban spaces can be conceived as values for the city. The study ends with a discussion on the characteristics of leftover spaces in the context of Turkey, as values and potentialities for public realm, elaborated in relation to the types observed in the city of Ankara.