A myth? Sustainable tourism as a tool for rescuing traditional spaces: A case study from Turkey, Ankara

Abstract

A myth? Sustainable tourism as a tool for rescuing traditional spaces: a case study from Turkey, Ankara Z. Ozcan, N. Ayalp & G. Guner Aktas TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Turkey Abstract The concept of social sustainability should be considered and investigated in developing the conditions of traditional urban spaces. Sustainable tourism can be a basic tool for the physical conservation of architectural heritage. The traditional spaces regain considerable visual and economical value with tourism investments but the social reactions are to the contrary. In the content of the study, two different characteristically spaces were selected in the city of Ankara. The selected urban core was composed of 19th century Ottoman dwellings called \“Hamamonu” which have not been considered for a long time. The local municipality developed a project to rehabilitate a part of this area with the help of tourism and left the other part untouched \“Hamamarkasi”. Social, physical and spatial aspects will be questioned and the opinions of respondents will be output about the rehabilitation project. Keywords: sustainable tourism, traditional space, hamamönü, hamamarkası. 1 Introduction The oldest urban core of a settlement covers special spaces that help to differentiate it from the others with its original spatial character. In developing countries like Turkey, they are \“lost” urban spaces turned to squatter zones, composed of \“unpopular” traditional dwellings. Deterioration of the physical space is also the indicator of social change. The new housing zones lead to a social migration from the traditional urban core, leaving the place to lower income groups unaware of their possession responsibilities, resulting in the further collapse of the architectural indoor and outdoor spaces. In several cases, it is observed that not only the physical spaces but also the user profile changes Sustainable Tourism V 297