RESPONDING THE CHALLENGES OF PRESERVING AN INDUSTRIAL NETWORK AS HERITAGE: TURKEY CELLULOSE AND PAPER FACTORIES (SEKA)
Reference: Kose, B. Responding the challenges of preserving an industrial network as heritage: Turkey Cellulose and Paper Factories (SEKA). Ph.D. dissertation. Middle East Technical University: Ankara, 2018.
Abstract
Industrial heritage places cover tangible and intangible aspects of industrial production and processes. They stand as the witnesses of ideological, political, economic and social shifts of their era, leading to industrialization, de-industrialization and post-industrialization periods in different scales. Therefore, industrial heritage places have a very complex nature, due to their interrelation with different aspects in different periods.
Besides, each geography has its specificities related to their contexts. Thus, values, problems and potentials of industrial heritage places arise from their complex nature as well as their specific contexts. Accordingly, to preserve an industrial heritage place, a holistic approach, which understands and assesses the place together with its geographical, political, economic, social and spatial contexts, is necessary.
Turkey Cellulose and Paper Factories (SEKA) is one of the earliest representatives of industrial places in Turkey, established during Early Republican Period. It was as a part of an upper-scale development project, designed to achieve the goals of “new” country. In time, it became a countrywide industrial network, spread to different regions of Turkey. Starting from its foundation until its closure, it interacted with the settlements, regions and the network they were in. However, due to the political, economic and social shifts, it lost its essential role, first leading to its negligence and then its privatization process.
This study acknowledges SEKA as an industrial heritage network, interprets its initial and current condition together with its economic, social and physical aspects in different scales; determines its values, problems and challenges arisen from its complex nature and define responses to challenges for its preservation and sustainability.