Ankara Araştırmaları Dergisi (Jul 2023)
The Impact of Tanzimat Period Practices on the Urban Fabric of Ankara (1839-1924)
Abstract
Representing the starting point of the modernization efforts of the Ottoman Empire, the Tanzimat Edict of the 18th century decreed that a reform modeled on Europe would become an official state policy, thus initiating a period that reshaped the structure and social fabric of the Empire. The Tanzimat Edict transformed the institutional structure in terms of legal practices, introducing a land order, city administration and construction practice in the cities and the architecture. In the Tanzimat Period, Ankara was one of the main cities where the changes in the administration of the Empire were reflected. In this context, the aim of this study is as follows: to analyze the urban fabric of Ankara related to the process that started with the Tanzimat Edict, in line with the modernization of the Ottoman Empire. This period saw transformation in many areas within spatial structures, as well as in the central administration at the upper level (political, social and economic). Changes at the local context can be seen from the maps of 1839 and 1924. These identify the processes that have instigated these changes and improvements and reveal the relationship of these processes with the Tanzimat reforms. The research concludes that the Tanzimat era practices carried out in Ankara, unlike the structural changes experienced in Istanbul and port cities, did not create major transformations, but actually created only gradual changes in the city. However, it is observed that these modernization initiatives in Ankara brought about, especially in bureaucratic and administrative organizations, social, political and cultural changes, and that these changes paved the way for the Republican Period. There is therefore no doubt that the Tanzimat era is an important time period in the story of changes in the urban fabric of the city.
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