Space Experiences: Example of the Sigacik Settlement of the Citta Slow City Seferihisar, Turkey

Abstract

The village of Sığacık attracts people with its castle, local products and narrow streets, along with its seaside lifestyle. The settlement is remarkable for its historical heritage, with an Ionian colony, founded approximately 1000 B.C, located 1 km south of the village. Sığacık, which is popular for its sights and tourist attractions, lies within the ‘citta slow city’ area of Seferihisar. For these reasons it was chosen as the research area and its open space experiences are examined in this study. The study was comprised of four main sections, namely; definition of the subject, data collection, results, evaluation and synthesis. After an initial search of the literature, a questionnaire form that evaluated the experience of the local people in relation to open spaces was prepared. The questionnaire was conducted with local people in Sığacık and the “Simple Random Sampling Method” was used to determine the number of users on which the questionnaire would be conducted, a 90 % confidence level and 0.1 sampling error were taken as the basis of the calculations. In the calculation, the total population number of 2.329 was used as the “Population Size (N)” and the number of users on which questionnaire would be conducted was determined as 66 (65.77). The questionnaire was aimed at evaluating the open space experience in a ‘citta slow city’ area. As a result; the Sığacık settlement is livable (62 %) according to the local people. They are pleased to live in Sığacık (86 %) and are pleased from its popularity (68 %). They are thinking that being a Citta Slow City member influenced their life positively (58 %). Daily life passes outside the houses in general and outdoor life style which forms the identity of the settlement needs to be supported.   Keywords: Landscape architecture, Cittaslow city, Open space, Seferihisar, Turkey