The Importance of Traditional Building Culture for Sustaining City Identity; Bursa/Turkey as a Case

Historic cities need new forms of intervention, regulation and management of the physical and social fabric upon which their localness and specificity are predicated, both for development and conservation. Sustainability and sustainable development policies are the key factors for planning and development process in historic cities. Consequently, investigating components of urban identity especially in traditional neighbourhoods is a very important necessity, in order to achieve urban sustainability of historic cities. In the context of this research, traditional housing environments in Bursa are observed and evaluated by means of the physical reflections of a mutual interaction between the architectural heritage of the city and its social structure and dynamism. The stress is put especially on the traditional construction materials and systems and their effects on the city identity. Bursa is one of the most important Anatolian cities which comprise of the oldest and most authentic examples of monumental and civil architecture and which combines rich tradition, culture, history and nature at the same time. Today, being the fourth biggest city of Turkey, Bursa is economically very dynamic and has been undergoing a rapid industrialization and urbanization processes. It has one of Turkey’s highest population increase rate as a result of its being a focus of large inner and outer immigration. This situation threatens historic and cultural heritage, thus identity of the city. The study consists of four sections including a brief introduction about the importance of historic and cultural heritage for city identity and sustainability. The second section contains a literature analysis including heritage conservation and studies about creating sustainable neighbourhoods, cultivating city image. The third section introduces a case study evaluating traditional housing areas which are important heritage sites of Bursa. The paper lasts with a conclusion offering some proposals for sustaining city image