From the production space of modernism to the consumption space of postmodernism: The example of Ak-İş yarn factory- Palladium Antakya shopping center

Abstract

From the 1950s to the 1980s, urbanization processes based on labor power occurred in Turkey, and this process has been replaced by urbanization processes based on capital accumulation due to the neoliberal practices that have taken place in urban space since the 1980s. One of the most concrete examples of the changes and transformations that took place in urban spaces in this way is the industrial facilities located in city centers being replaced by shopping centers because of the changing economic conditions. The research question that motivates this study is: "How is the urban space shaped in the transition from a producing society with a sense of belonging to the factory to a consuming society as the guests of the shopping mall?". Ak-İş yarn factory, which was the largest production center of Hatay in the 1950s when it was put into service, lost its function over time and was demolished and a shopping center was built in its place. The aim of this study is to reveal how this transformation from labor power to capital accumulation shaped the urban space of Antakya with empirical analysis. In the study, the mixed method, which assesses both quantitative and qualitative data, was employed. The qualitative data were obtained from in-depth interviews with five retired employees from the Ak-İş Yarn Factory. In order to collect the quantitative data, a questionnaire was administered to 265 participants residing in Antakya. The qualitative findings of the study were based on three themes, namely labor power, urban memory, and space use. Qualitative findings revealed that the factory, as a production space, played an important role in the production of new spaces. Information obtained from quantitative data and field observations, on the other hand, revealed that urban space underwent significant changes and transformations with a focus on consumption and capital.