Turkey’s government will open the largest public garden in Turkey. Approximately 10,000 trees and over 42,000 plants will be planted in the old Ataturk Airport area, and the largest public garden in the country will be opened when the first phase of the project is completed
The part of the garden covering an area of 499,000 square meters (5,371,191 square feet) has been completed. The park is expected to cover about 2 million square meters of green space when completed.
The "green corridor" garden has been designed to serve citizens by offering large green areas and various indoor social facilities spread over a large area of 70,000 square meters. The decision to turn the airport into a public garden was made after the opening of the much larger Istanbul Airport in October 2018.
The officials said, “The cargo area of Istanbul Airport is bigger than Ataturk Airport alone, and one runway of Ataturk Airport will remain open to serve the needs of a nearby hospital.”
After completing the first stage, about 10,000 trees and 42,000 plants were planted. At the same time, the garden area representing the conquest of Istanbul is planned to consist of more than 145,000 trees, including 350-year-old olive trees, 50-60-year-old linden and plane trees. The public garden will serve nine separate entrances and will allow citizens to obtain natural products that will be grown in greenhouses and orchards located at these entrances.
It is also reported that the garden will feature a 2.5-kilometre-long (1.55-mile-long) artificial stream flowing from south to north, observation terraces, picnic and recreation areas, and bicycle and walking paths along the stream.
Emergency gathering area for earthquakes
Officials have also noted that "Atatürk Airport Public Garden" will be Istanbul's designated gathering area for disasters and earthquakes. In such emergency situations, the garden can accommodate 40,000 tents for those affected and provide emergency shelter for up to 165,000 people.
