An urban design framework for sustainability of historical environment: A case of Safranbolu, Turkey

Abstract

Historical environments as open space museums which exhibit their own selves are historical heritages which demonstrate and reflect cultural identity. Turkey has a lot of settlements which are full of cultural and historical traces, but some abandoned and demolished parts of the historical settlements have suffered from a separation between the historical city centers. In order to integrate these areas to the other parts of the whole, revitalization, regeneration and re-functioning are necessary. Nonetheless, the key question is which target leading regeneration and design process will gain priority: heritage and culturally led regeneration or design led regeneration. Urban design process should contain these issues. In order for regeneration and sustainability of the heritage area and its identity, it is one of the basic principles in planning or design process that current tendencies of the community and public needs should be determined. In this study, a framework on urban design process considering the issues mentioned above was conducted in Safranbolu-Turkey, which was added to the list of world heritage. In the framework context, considering regeneration, sustainability, culture and community, some urban design scenarios have been built and evaluated. Furthermore, design guides as an application tool for good practice have been suggested.