The site of Atatürk Airport, once the city’s bustling aviation gateway, is now transforming into Türkiye’s largest public park and a major disaster-assembly zone.
Following an inauguration ceremony led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Nov. 1, the park welcomed its first visitors.
Atatürk Airport was closed to commercial flights in 2019 after the opening of Istanbul Airport. Once home to the busiest air traffic in Türkiye, the area has since hosted various events.
It has now been redeveloped and designated as Türkiye’s largest urban park and disaster-assembly area in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district.
The park contains 1,215,000 square meters of green space and features a disaster-response area capable of accommodating more than 165,000 people.
Visitors may access the park from nine separate entry points. The disaster-assembly zone is equipped with a hangar, food-preparation facilities, water storage, wind and solar power plants and 19 restrooms. The project additionally includes 18 greenhouses, nine marketplaces and parking for 4,000 vehicles.
Within the park stand two complex buildings spanning 72,128 square meters, housing exhibition halls, workshops, restaurants and four libraries, offering families multiple recreational and cultural opportunities.
The landscaped zone includes 20,399 trees, 1,182,816 square meters of lawn and a 28,000-seat event meadow.
Recreational sections are structured around Istanbul’s seven symbolic hills representing Sarayburnu, Süleymaniye, Fatih, Yavuz Selim, Edirnekapı, Kocamustafapaşa and Çemberlitaş.
The park is also traversed by a 2.5-kilometer watercourse.
The sports facilities feature tennis, basketball and volleyball courts, football fields, skate parks, 10,679 square meters of cycling paths, 85,371 square meters of walking trails, 18,750 square meters of hiking paths and playgrounds for children.
