Regeneration, Heritage and Sustainable Communities in Turkey: Challenges, Complexities and Potentials

Over the last three decades, historic housing areas have become one of the major concerns in urban regeneration, housing renovation and conservation projects. Since the late 1990s, the notion of community, sustainability and sustainable community have become rising issues in the urban regeneration debate. Regeneration, Heritage and Sustainable Communities in Turkey contributes to this debate by integrating the interplay between regeneration, community needs and sustainability in the context of Istanbul. Together with the relational, multi-scalar and contingency planning approaches, these vital agents of regeneration provide new possibilities and creative opportunities to successfully deal with the uncertainties and complexities in evolving regeneration spaces. The interdisciplinary text reasons that finding the balance between the needs, aspirations and concerns of local communities and the conservation of the built environments will lead to more equitable and sustainable solutions to the problems faced in Istanbul's historic quarters.

Müge Akkar Ercan is Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture at Middle East Technical University (METU), Turkey. Her research focuses on urban design, public space, urban regeneration and conservation, and sustainable community development. She has mainly published on the topics of public spaces of post-industrial cities in Britain and Turkey, and on urban regeneration and sustainable community development in historic neighbourhoods in Turkey. She holds a PhD in Urban Design from Newcastle University, UK, a BSc in City and Regional Planning, and MSc in Urban Policy Planning and Local Governments from METU.