Yedikule and Hevsel Gardens in Conversation:
How to Carry Agricultural Heritage of Istanbul and Diyarbakır into the Future?
September 2025 - May 2026
ISTANBUL, DIYARBAKIR
Affiliate: Diyarbakır Association for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage
This project aims to establish a common ground for thinking about the preservation of agricultural cultural heritage through the Yedikule Gardens in Istanbul and the Hevsel Gardens in Diyarbakır and how carry them into the future. Both areas hold unique value due to their historical continuity, ecological functions, and place in social memory. However, they currently face serious threats due to urbanization pressures and spatial transformation policies.
As part of the project, knowledge about traditional market gardening culture in both cities will be shared with a wider audience, experience will be shared among market gardeners, and current issues related to market gardens and gardens will be discussed from a spatial justice perspective. A participatory process will be conducted through field visits and workshops, in which various stakeholders—market gardeners, local government representatives, experts, and civil society—will contribute to the preservation of these areas.
These efforts aim to develop proposals for the future of market gardens and orchards, strengthen advocacy activities for the preservation of agricultural cultural heritage, and establish a solidarity network along the Diyarbakır-Istanbul line. Thus, the project aims to serve as an inspiring example for the preservation of not only these two areas but also similar agricultural heritage sites across Turkey.
The project will be implemented by MAD, with the participation of the Diyarbakır Association for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage, which works to preserve, make visible, and pass on Diyarbakır's historical and cultural heritage to future generations, and with the valuable contributions of researchers Bediz Yılmaz, Kiraz Özdoğan, and Suna Kafadar.
