Kentsel mekan deneyiminde dijital manipülasyon
Digital manipulation in the experience of urban space
Yazar: HİLAL KAHRAMAN
Danışman: DOÇ. DR. DİLEK YILDIZ ÖZKAN
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü / Mimarlık Ana Bilim Dalı / Mimari Tasarım Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2023
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture
Dizin: Dijital =   ; Kentsel değişim = Urban change ; Kentsel mekan = Urban space ; Manipülasyon = Manipulation ; Mekansal algı = Spatial perception

Özet:
İnsan ve kent karşılıklı etkileşim içindedir; kentin deneyimle şekillenmesi gibi, insan da kentin onun üzerinde bıraktığı etkiyle şekillenir. Bu karşılıklı ilişkinin odağında yatan ve çalışmanın temel meselesini oluşturan deneyim, mekana dair ilişki kurmanın en iyi yöntemlerinden biri olması sebebiyle tez kapsamında yürüme eylemi üzerinden ele alınmaktadır. Mekana dair algılarımızı besleyen yürüme eylemi kentsel mekanın keşfi için de önemli bir mekansal pratiktir. Literatürde kentin kaşifi flanör figürüyle anılır; ancak değişen alışkanlıklar yeni kent kaşifi figürlerini de ortaya çıkarmıştır. Dijital çağda kentsel mekan internet ve akıllı telefonlar aracılığıyla, yalnızca fiziksel erişilebilir olma durumunun sınırlarını aşarak sanal ve hibrit mekanda da erişilebilir hale gelmiştir. Bu hibrit deneyime fiziksel olarak bir mekanda bulunmasına karşın kişinin deneyimini dijital araçlarla da destekleyen phoneur figürünü örnek verebiliriz. Yeni bir kent figürünün dönüşen çağdaki kentsel mekan deneyimi, tez kapsamında konum tabanlı mobil bir oyun olan Pokémon GO üzerinden ele alınmaktadır. Bu oyunda fiziksel mekanda bedenin hareketliliği, oyunun anlatısı aracılığıyla mobil cihazın sağladığı dijital rota üzerinden yönlendirilmektedir. Oyunun dijital anlatısının bireyin algısal deneyimini de yönlendirebilme potansiyeli taşıdığı konusundaki merak, araştırmayı tetikleyen ''dijital medya çağı konum tabanlı mobil oyunlar aracılığıyla kentsel mekan deneyimini nasıl etkilemektedir?'' sorusunu oluşturmuştur.
Çalışma kapsamında amaca yönelik ve keyfi olarak gerçekleştirilen yürüme eylemlerinin kentsel mekan deneyimiyle olan ilişkisi, phoneur (Pokémon GO oyuncuları) ve kent gezgini flanör üzerinden yapılan saha çalışması yardımıyla kıyaslamalı olarak incelenmiştir. Flanör ve phoneur kent kaşifi figürlerinin birbirinden farklı olabilecek odaklanmışlık durumuna bağlı olarak şekillenen algısal seçiciliğin, kentsel mekandaki anlatıyı, keşfi ve rota seçimini nasıl etkilediğinin araştırılması çalışmanın hedeflerindendir. İçindeki yaşantıyla anlam kazanan kenti fiziksel ve sosyal bir olgu olarak ele alan mimarlık için, dönüşen çağdaki kentsel mekan deneyimi yorumlarını incelemek kentin mekan açılımlarını okuyabilmek ve onu anlayabilmek için oldukça önemlidir.
Çalışma kapsamında öncelikle literatür taraması yapılmış ve kullanılacak olan kavramsal çerçeve açıklanmıştır. Ardından araştırma kapsamında kullanılacak olan yöntemde birbirini desteklemek amacıyla üç ayaklı veri toplama tekniği kullanılmıştır. Bunlar yürüme eylemi, anket ve bilişsel haritalama tekniğidir. İlk aşama olan yürüme eyleminde toplamda 40 kişiden oluşan katılımcı grubu, flanör ve Pokémon GO oynayarak yürüyüşünü gerçekleştiren phoneur olarak ikiye ayrılmış ve Sultanahmet bölgesinde farklı gün ve zamanlarda 20 dakikalık yürüyüşler gerçekleştirmişlerdir. Gezinti sonrasında araştırma için gerekli veriyi çıkarabilmek amacıyla katılımcılara anket çalışması ve bilişsel haritalama tekniği uygulanmıştır. Toplanan tüm cevapların üst üste çakıştırılmasıyla birlikte araştırma sorusu ve alt sorularına yanıt aranmış, Pokémon GO aracılığıyla konum tabanlı mobil oyunların kentsel mekan deneyimini nasıl etkilediği, bulguların odaklanmışlık seviyesi, rotanın bilişsel imgesi, rota seçim nedenleri, mekanın keşfi ve rotada dikkat çeken/cezbeden mekanlar üzerinden kıyaslamalı olarak değerlendirilmiştir.
Çalışma sonucunda, bir yere varma amacı olmayan serbest yürüyüşlerle şehri tanımaya ve keşfetmeye çalışan flanörler ile elinde telefonuyla gösterilen hedefe varmaya çalışan phoneurlerin gezintilerinin farklı hareket olgularını içinde barındırdığı gözlemlenmiştir. Dolayısıyla flanör ve phoneur figürlerin kentsel mekan deneyimlerinin de farklılaştığı görülmektedir. İçinde gözlem ve merak olgusu barındıran flanör gezintilerinde birey mekana daha bütünsel yaklaşırken; bir noktaya ulaşma amacıyla çıkılan phoneur gezintileri hedefe odaklanmışlık içerir. Mekanla kurulan algısal ilişkide phoneur bireyin dikkati dijital rota doğrultusunda yönlendirilmekte ve kişi algılama sürecinde seçici davranmaktadır. Sonuç olarak araştırma kapsamında, phoneur bireyin Pokémon yakalama gayesiyle bazı şeylere odaklanırken bazılarını görmezden geldiği; flanör bireyin ise mekansal keşfi ve farkındalığının daha yüksek olduğu belirlenmiştir. Kısacası konum tabanlı mobil oyun olan Pokémon GO, bireyin kent algısını dönüştürerek kentsel mekan deneyiminde dijital manipülasyona neden olmuştur.

Abstract:
Human and city are in mutual interaction; just as the city is shaped by experience, human is also shaped by the city's effect on oneself. The experience, which is at the center of this mutual relationship and constitutes the main issue of the study, is considered as the state of perception of the city together with the exploratory actions in the physical space. Individuals can act selectively in the process of perceiving space based on their ability to direct their attention; while focusing on some things, they can ignore others. Therefore, the state of focus is important in the experience of space.
Experience of urban space is discussed through the act of walking within the scope of the thesis, as it is one of the best methods of establishing a relationship with the space. During the experience of the space, meanings about the place are developed through perception through the act of walking. Walking establishes a relationship with the space, and this relationship varies depending on factors such as the purpose of walking, its speed, and whether it is performed individually or in a group. Therefore, the act of walking is the verb-essence of the urban space experience within the scope of the study. In addition, walking is a creative and active spatial practice for the exploration of urban space.
In literature, the explorer of the city is referred to with the figure of flaneur, however changing habits also revealed new urban explorer figures. In the digital age, urban space has also become accessible in virtual and hybrid space, by exceeding the limits of being only physically perceivable, via the internet and smart phones. It is possible to give an example of this hybrid experience, the phoneur figure who is physically located in a place, which supports his experience with digital tools.
Within the scope of the thesis, the urban space experience of a new urban figure in the transforming age is discussed through a location based mobile game Pokémon GO. In this game, the movement of the body in the physical space is directed through the digital route provided by the mobile device through the narrative of the game. The narrative of the game sometimes drags the player to experience iconic places in the city, and sometimes it has the power to construct a new route in the city by having it experience unexpected places. In fact, it is understood that the game has potential to direct the perceptual experience of the individual with its digital narrative. In addition, the blurring of the line between the virtual and real world causes curiosity about how these environments are perceived. In the literature, it is mentioned that the citizens of the city do not consider all stimuli by focusing on the elements of the game by applying a psychological filter while they are playing such games. In the light of all these considerations, the problem that triggers the research is the question ''how does the digital media age affect the urban space experience through location-based mobile games?'' For this reason, the focus of the study will be new ways of experiencing urban space, produced by the new social structure caused by the digital age.
In the study, definitions of the purposeful (phoneur), arbitrary (flaneur) and conceptual types of walking were made in parallel with the walking purposes of the flaneur and phoneur groups, which are the subject of the study. Unlike the purposeful walking, in the act of arbitrary walking, the journey itself and the spaces on the route are important. While arbitrary walking is concerned with discovering the space walked, purposeful walking is concerned with reaching the goal. Therefore, the discovery of space constitutes an important point between these two walking actions. In addition, the awareness of the space can be effective in the selection of the route. Since these two types of walking actions contain two types of movement phenomena, namely, observation-based movement in an unknown environment and target-oriented movement in a known environment. In the act of arbitrary walking based on observation, the individual may follow meandering roads with the desire to explore the place, while he may prefer shortcuts in goal-oriented circulation. Preferring shortcuts in order to save time during movement may lead to a decrease in experience. Therefore, route selection is also important in the spatial experience.
In the Pokémon GO game, the encouragement of taking the players to tour in different parts of the city is presented both as a criticism of inactivity and as a marketing strategy for the discovery of new places. It is curious to what extent the purposeful walking action, which is carried out depending on the target Pokémon points shown on the map, contributes to the space explorations that promised by the game.
Within the scope of the study, the relationship between purposeful and arbitrary walking actions and the experience of urban space was examined comparatively with the help of fieldwork conducted on phoneur (Pokémon GO players) and flaneur. One of the objectives of the study is to investigate how the perceptual selectivity, which is shaped by the state of city explorer figures' focus that may be different from each other, affects the narrative, exploration and route selection in the urban space. It is significant to study the interpretations of urban space experience in the transforming age in order to read the city in the framework of architecture, which regards the city as a physical and social phenomenon developing meaning with the life in it.
The transforming age not only reveals new urban explorer figures, but also causes the formation of new urban spaces. At this point, the study includes new space definitions that transform from physical space to hybrid space, similar to the figures of the urban traveler. Thus, before the case study, the subjects and spaces of the study are read through literature. Then, the concerns and thoughts of theorists about the transformation of urban space experience in the digital age, which is the main issue of the study, are discussed. In the light of all these thoughts, it has been concluded that the transforming age invites a new experience, but whether the experience has been manipulated has been opened to discussion.
In the method to be used within the scope of the research, three-step data collection technique was used in order to support each other. These are the act of walking, the questionnaire and the cognitive mapping technique. Firstly, the participant group consisting of 40 people was divided into two as phoneur playing Pokémon GO and flaneur, and they walked for 20 minutes in different days and times in the Sultanahmet region. After the walking, a questionnaire study and cognitive mapping technique were applied to the participants in order to extract the necessary data for the research. Answers to the research question and its sub-questions were sought by overlapping all of the collected answers. Through Pokémon GO, how augmented reality games affect the urban space experience has been comparatively evaluated through the findings about the level of focus, the cognitive image of the route, the reasons for choosing the route, the exploration of the space and the places that attractive on the route. The collected findings were evaluated with content analysis, descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U test, and answers were sought for the research question and sub-questions. Mann-Whitney U test was used to test whether the data obtained from two independent variables (flaneur and phoneur) differed significantly from each other. The accuracy of the hypothesis was questioned over the level of significance by looking at the mean difference between the groups.
According to the findings of the study, the trips of flaneurs attempting to explore the city with free walks that do not aim to reach a destination and phoneurs attempting to reach the target indicated with their phones in hand contain distinct movement phenomena. Therefore, it is seen that the urban space experiences of the flaneur and phoneur figures also differ. While the person approaches to space more holistically in the flaneurs' tours, which include observation and curiosity, phoneurs' tours with the aim of reaching a point involve focus on the goal. In the perceptual relationship established with the space, attention of the phoneur is directed by the direction of the digital route and person behaves selectively in the perception process.
As a result, within the scope of the research, it has been determined that while phoneur focuses on something for the purpose of catching Pokémon while ignoring others, flaneur has higher spatial exploration and awareness. While the flaneur participants remembered more detailed and more images of the city after their tour, phoneur participants, experiencing the city with a location-based mobile game, remember a more general and less image of the city.
In addition, when the reasons for choosing the route examined, it was seen that flaneurs wanted to reach to the unexplored places, the majority of the phoneurs chose the route according to the density of Pokémon in general. Therefore, the urban walkings constructed through the game have an important effect on the route selection. Also, those who experienced the place as flaneur discovered more places after their tour than those who experienced the place as phoneur. When the distribution of Pokémon caught points in the game setup and the routes of the players are examined, serious densities were found in some places. Therefore, it is possible to say that the play created a public mark in the city.
In short, in the discussion conducted over Pokémon GO, with the articulation of digital data to physical space, the city has turned into a multi-layered structure, therefore the urban space experience of the users can be manipulated by the game. When all answers given to the research question and sub-questions are examined, it is possible to say that the location-based mobile game Pokémon GO has transformed the individual's perception of the city and caused digital manipulation in the urban space experience.
In this study, while presenting a critical perspective on how the spatial experience offered by location-based mobile games through Pokémon GO differs from the experience of flaneur, it has also been tried to be a source of inspiration for academic studies in this field.