CommonLab

After the earthquake, several civil society initiatives have emerged in Hatay.  It is important to note that they do not only aim to meet urgent needs but have wider agendas, such as protecting the cultural heritage and memory of Antakya, rebuilding together, fighting against profit-oriented urbanism, and producing together. Also, after the earthquake, it is inspiring to see how people tried to rebuild places and memories by embracing and continuing their cultural rituals and customs that give hope for future recovery, such as the easter mass held in April in the ruins of the Orthodox church, or decorating the tree in the ruins of the church for Christmas ceremony, or marching together to show their solidarity, resistance, and collective will to recover.

 

The case studies are located in three different districts of Hatay, Antakya, Samandağ, and Defne. The six selected case-study projects, Zeytun Children Life Area, Karaçay Community Center, Samandağ Earthquake Solidarity Center, Atelier Avangard, and Pop-Up Shops along Hatay and Harbiye Streets, are all community-led bottom-up projects that have transformed urban space and people.

 

The community centers are all self-organized by the local community, who are also earthquake survivors, and exist through collaboration between networks of local, national, and international civil society groups and individuals, some of which have emerged after the earthquake. They provide platforms for different organizations to interact and collaborate. Karaçay Community Center, similar to Samandağ and Zeytun, collaborates with over a hundred groups. They have even led to the emergence of new initiatives. They are funded by voluntary donations and support from local and international groups and individuals. They do not receive funding or support from government organizations.

 

The community centers are located in underused public spaces and vacant lots, activating these spaces as vibrant community centers through collective work. Since they do not have official lease agreements, the government tried to remove them from their locations. As they want to become permanent, the permanent permission to use land becomes very important, and they are in negotiations with the authorities to be allocated permanent land.

 

Community centers provide cultural, artistic, and educational activities for children and adults, especially women, such as workshops on cinema, drama, music, art, sculpture, photography, chess, mathematics, science, film screenings, concerts, games, and outdoor activities, providing a sense of normalcy that life continues. They aim to benefit from the healing powers of the arts. They provide environments to socialize when there is no city center or social activities left. They also offer health assistance, with psychological support services and a health clinic.

 

Zeytun Children and Life Area is located in Serinyol, Antakya, in an underused Park. Since the authorities provided no support or services, they self-organized as the local community and created a safe space where children could gather, socialize, and participate in activities to support the normalization process, as the schools were closed. They organize activities for children by coordinating professionals, as well as child-care assistance. The community area has become more than just a physical space for children and their parents; it has also provided psychological benefits. The small interventions, such as colourful paints or children’s figures, significantly impacted the atmosphere, softening the environment.

 

Karaçay Community Center is located in a previously vacant lot and is the most established one. Since there were no other functioning official schools in the area, and state institutions did not meet the students' needs, the citizens created an educational campus. The campus grew over time, and now they have around 1200 students in various age groups, including children with special needs. The campus provides a wide range of activities that go beyond the standard curriculum, including cultural and artistic events, which were detailed in the previous slide. The timber cabins designed and built by a local initiative, Yuva Project, provide a healthier environment compared to containers.

 

Samandağ Earthquake Solidarity Center is also located in a vacant lot, and is self-organized by the local volunteers due to the inadequacy of public authorities in relief efforts. It first functioned as a coordination center, and then transformed into a community center especially for women who were neglected after the earthquake. Women who are overwhelmed with domestic work can come together in the women’s tent to socialize, mourn together, attend various workshops and informative talks on women’s rights and health, or receive psychological support.  They also offer a mobile kitchen to women to sell the products they produce at home.

 

Atelier Avangard is an art course located in Samandağ, on an empty lot that was a dead-end street. They offer courses for students preparing for fine arts high school and university. Since their building was damaged in the earthquake, teachers and students built a temporary atelier by collectively finding resources and also working on some parts of the construction. Coping with difficulties together and being a part of the solution helped them to heal and deal with their trauma. The atelier became a social center for them, helping them to continue their daily lives.

 

Small details, such as plants in pots, colorfully painted tires, sculptures, colorful ropes, and a wooden block painted in bright colors, give character to the space. Everything seems attentively designed and built. They did more than just build a temporary space for classes or accommodation; it shows creativity and fosters a sense of space. Volunteers have set up tents and installed containers, actively contributing to rebuilding their city and improving community connections.

 

The second group of case studies is, which were initiated by the shop owners and created temporary bazaars. The temporary shops include various types of stores, such as grocery stores, cell phone sales and repair shops, money transfer shops, photography studios, cafes, food trucks, coffee houses, restaurants, beauty salons, and pet shops. The shops emerged along the main road, forming a temporary bazaar, as it is easy to access both by pedestrians and by cars. They are located on the pavement and in an underused public park. They exist in synergy, creating a temporary market space. As there had been no financial assistance or allocation of new space from the authorities, the shop owners set up temporary shops to restart retail activities, and also create a socialization space for people.

 

The shops were constructed from modified containers and trailers and could be relocated to other locations if required. The opening of pop-up shops brought life and vibrancy to the area, creating a safe space for citizens. Shops provided socializing opportunities, created a destination to visit, revitalizing life, as well as the continuity of retail activities. Community-initiated pop-up shops show much more creativity, character, and sensitivity to their surroundings than the temporary bazaars consisting of uniform prefabricated structures built by official institutions.

 

Different types of prefabricated units interact with their surroundings through movable elements on their facades; they create an indoor-outdoor relationship with simple elements but familiar relationships. Incorporating little things such as plants in pots, color, signage, light bulbs, sculptures, façade printings with images, and ornaments, they built a sense of place. Though temporary and recently built, they transform their surroundings with simple interventions and create a feeling as if they have been there for years.

 

Citizens took action due to the inadequacy and absence of public authorities; the initiatives emerged out of necessity to fill this gap. Citizens showed active citizenship without waiting for the state to take action. The people of Hatay could self-organize quickly due to the existing strong community networks, civil society, and solidarity culture, which created the collective power to take their will to recover into action. Self-organized collective efforts have become more comprehensive and disciplined than formal ones. Spaces created by communities showcase a strong sense of place in a city where not much is left. Brought life back to their surroundings, created vibrancy, and provided employment.

 

Citizens and groups involved in the community center decide on the programs and activities that will take place on the site, exercising self-governance and placemaking practices in a non-hierarchical structure. Citizens imagine the future of their city and the public space, generate and test their ideas through small-scale temporary urbanism interventions. The horizontal structure and collectivity created trust. Volunteers co-produced a public space. The interviewees expressed that being active in the rebuilding process, creating and producing, has provided psychological benefits for them, taking their minds off the earthquake. As they have a strong local network, they can get inside information on the community‘s needs accurately. Though makeshift, these community-initiated temporary structures show creativity beyond just creating what is necessary, revitalizing their surroundings.

 

Considering the scale of destruction, the collaboration of top-down and bottom-up approaches is essential for recovery. Instead of imposing top-down decisions and blocking citizens‘ efforts, central and local authorities should recognize the success of citizens‘ initiatives and develop tools to collaborate with them. The authorities should act as enablers of community-based placemaking practices by providing funds, adapting or relaxing regulations for temporary urban experiments where necessary, leasing or allocating public lands for community use, and building bridges between the private sector and lease vacant lands. Decision-making processes must involve all relevant actors, including citizens, civil society groups, local academics, professional organizations, and local institutions. Hatay should be revitalized by protecting its unique cultural and social capital and its people.