A study on policies and experiences of cultural heritage protection in historical cities

Historical urban areas are the memory of a city, and the overall landscape they constitute displays the typical scene of a city in a certain historical period. Thus, they are of value for protection. Cities are often conceived as a cultural superstructure undergoing a permanent process of development, displaying temporal layers that hark back several generations to the nineteenth century or even earlier, shedding rings of past cultures. The repositioning of the contemporary urban area through representations of its past has been identified as a defining characteristic of European cities, with urban landscapes becoming sites of memory and representations of identity that are continuously being rewritten in response to social and political change. In the European context, heritage has been directly linked to the conservation of the (imagined) past, an important aspect of its power, stemming from trying to relive, re-create, or, more accurately, emulate it. As heritage is regarded as intrinsically specific and local, it can be used as an instrument for the creation and expression of the unique character of settlements. However, dealing appropriately with this valued legacy of the past is not an easy endeavor, with its importance being continuously reevaluated. While, initially, individual buildings, structures, and other artifacts were protected, later on, policies were targeted toward groups of historic buildings, townscapes, and the spaces between buildings, and more recently, policies have focused on the revitalization of the protected historic heritage. Thus, if ‘the preservation policies had largely been concerned with the pastness of the past, the later conservation and revitalization policies were about a future for the past’. Tourists and day-visitors alike make intensive use of the historic centers of the cities, since these historic city centers are one of the most important elements of the European cultural heritage; this particular cultural heritage ensuring, to a large extent, the quality of their experience. As these ‘new’, ‘post-mass’, ‘increasingly sophisticated’ tourists have flocked to novel and unusual destinations globally, the cities of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe have come up with new products, new experiences, and new destinations for heritage tourism, which is seen as the largest segment of ‘new’ tourism. Not only capital cities, but also regional centers have mobilized heritage and culture to capitalize on a shared architectural cultural heritage with Central and Eastern Europe, through place promotion and marketing.The City of Nicosia contains cultural heritage from different periods of history. Over time, due to user damage, illegal constructions, and abandonment, Nicosia has faced the danger of deterioration in its morphology and the loss of its original identity. With the recent strategic planning, the city of Nicosia has started to be revived. Within the scope of revitalization works, original or re-functional use projects are carried out on existing structures. Revitalization projects in historical cities should be implemented within the framework of sustainable development. In this study, the Arabahmet and Karamanzade regions of Nicosia were selected as the focus of the research. The research aims to assess revitalization works in selected zones within the framework of sustainable development. Three methodologies were followed in the research process: Theoretical, analytical, and practical approaches. As the first step in the theoretical approach, sustainable development was emphasized in historical cities and Nicosia City. Through an analytical approach, a current analysis of Nicosia city was made. In addition, in the practical approach, data highlighting the physical condition and architectural heritage of the regions were collected. In the practical assessment stage, data obtained within the scope of sustainable development and the revitalization works that can be applied in historical cities have been evaluated for the city of Nicosia. Analysis was made according to the data for the regions selected in line with the social, cultural, environmental, and economic criteria, which are the four pillars of sustainable development. In the last stage, the findings and discussion section, the direction of the revitalization works in the regions was assessed. Research reveals that the revitalization works carried out in the region are not fully addressed within the scope of sustainable development. The study reveals that it is essential for the sustainability of the conservation process of the local community.