Assessing Inclusivity in Design and Management of Public Space: Museum Gazhane and Galataport Istanbul Cases

Abstract

In recent decades, the political economy of cities has undergone a transformation that has led to fundamental changes in the design and management of public space. The production of public space has shifted from the predominantly public sector to a variety of private actors, both for-profit and non-profit. In this respect, the extent to which strategies for designing and managing public space are inclusive reshapes the publicness of public space. These transformations have made it increasingly necessary to examine how publicness is produced through concrete spatial and managerial practices rather than assumed from ownership status alone. This study develops the Public Space Inclusivity Index (PSII) as a structured framework for assessing how design and management strategies facilitate or constrain inclusivity through spatially encoded mechanisms of control. Based on a review of relevant literature and site visits to new public spaces in Istanbul, the PSII evaluates five interrelated dimensions: access, uses and activities, safety and surveillance, comfort, and image. These dimensions are operationalised through 34 indicators and applied to two publicly accessible spaces in central Istanbul: Museum Gazhane and Galataport Istanbul. The analysis draws on field observations, map readings, and document analysis The findings reveal how different governance arrangements and actor constellations produce distinct inclusionary and exclusionary conditions: Museum Gazhane demonstrates a relatively inclusive yet managerially conditioned form of publicness, while Galataport Istanbul reflects a more controlled and consumption-oriented regime. The study contributes to public space scholarship by offering a structured framework for examining how inclusivity and exclusion are materially produced through design and management strategies.