Purpose Legibility, intelligibility, mental images and cognitive and syntactical mapping are significant issues that help expose the spatial knowledge necessary for effective urban design. They also help us understand how a city’s new image is forming. This paper aims to present a new holistic approach to define urban design strategies that improve a city’s imageability through cognitive and syntactic concepts. Design/methodology/approach The study establishes a coherent framework by including residents’ mental images and space syntax theory’s descriptors to understand how residents perceive their physical environment. Using a mixed-methods research design, the authors studied the Iskenderun city center’s image and spatial design. First, the authors used descriptive analysis techniques (questionnaires, verbal interviews and cognitive mapping) and consulted 110 Iskenderun residents. Second, the authors used analytical analysis techniques to investigate the structural relations among city elements with the help of space syntax descriptors. Findings The results demonstrated the importance of applying combined descriptive and analytic techniques to provide an understanding of the city’s image. The authors also offered a proposal including the appropriate urban design strategies to promote Iskenderun city center’s imageability. Originality/value Applying this new coherent framework can support design decision-making for redesigning cities at the micro level and for planning new cityscapes at the macro level.
Cultural heritage is the resources that reflect the tangible and intangible assets, events and information in the society to which it belongs. In order to protect this heritage with modern, scientific, innovative and sustainable methods, it is necessary to increase the level of social awareness. In particular, activities aiming to increase young people's awareness about cultural heritage and their participation in conservation processes should be developed. This study aimed to share the experiences of the Erasmus+ Youth Exchange project named "From Past to Future", which intended to raise awareness of tangible cultural heritage and its protection among young people and to evaluate the level of achievement/succession of the project. 43 young people from three different countries participated in the "From the Past to the Future" Erasmus+ Youth Exchange project, which spanned an eight-month calendar. In the project, 14 activities prepared with the themes of "what, why and how we protect" were carried out about tangible cultural heritage assets; in addition to the activities, a questionnaire was applied to the participants. The outputs of the activities carried out in the project were interpreted by the experts, and the survey findings were evaluated using descriptive analysis. As a result, it can be said that young people mostly have information about the definition, scope and classification of tangible cultural heritage, they understand the cultural heritage values that are the underlying reason for the conservation of heritage assets, and they are aware that these values can be preserved by increasing the level of social awareness, and they tend to participate in similar projects. These results indicate that the "From the Past to the Future" Erasmus+ Youth Exchange project increases young people's knowledge, experience, sensitivity and awareness about cultural heritage and encourages their participation in conservation processes.
Historical stratification resulting from ongoing settling is a common characteristic of most Anatolian settlements, both in urban and rural areas. In this regard, Yoran/Didyma rural settlement serves as an example; whose built environment comprises the coexistence of archaeological remains and traditional rural architecture. The continuing life in the traditional rural fabric on/around the ancient artifacts distinguishes Didyma from other archaeological sites. Due to Didyma's archaeological resources, it was designated as a 1st-degree archaeological site in 1976; however, traditional rural architecture and historical stratification of the settlement are neither assigned heritage values nor attempts undertaken to preserve them for a considerable time. More than 30 buildings were registered as cultural assets after 1998; however, this is insufficient to preserve the settlement's authentic character and integrity. In 2015, a major paradigm shift for preserving the settlement emerged by providing the stakeholders with a chance to discuss the settlement's conservation issues. In the conservation field, there are two main approaches which differ in terms of definition, purpose, and main aims of conservation, as well as conservation objects and methods: A material-based approach and a value-based approach. While the material-based approach’s primary goal is to prevent the loss of physical heritage, the value-based approach focuses on the values that society ascribes to heritage. In this context, evidence of these conservation approaches, which were effective in the preservation of Yoran in the historical process, were traced. This study aims to discuss the conservability of the Yoran/Didyma through the changing cultural heritage value perceptions of conservation experts and decision-makers; and is to question whether the conservation statuses defined in the national legislation are sufficient to respond to the unique conservation problems, threats and potentials of the settlement.
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