Exploring Identity Issues in Development Areas of Vernacular Rural Settlements: A Case Study of Behramkale, Türkiye

Authors

  • Assist. Prof. Dr. Didem Boyacıoğlu Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Ozyegin University, Türkiye https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3320-3405
  • Dr. Özgür Göçer Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Ozyegin University, Türkiye
  • Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ebru Ergöz Karahan School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25034/ijcua.2023.v7n1-4

Keywords:

Vernacular Rural Heritage, Architectural Identity, Development Area, Identity-based Design, People-centred Design

Abstract

Sustainable rural development is a challenging issue, considering the pressure of change brought by the demands of globalisation and intensified tourism activities in rural vernacular settlements. While studies in this field often focus on historical centres, research on the distinctive urban and architectural identity of “village development areas” in rural vernacular settlements remains scarce. To address this gap in the literature, a field study was conducted in the vernacular rural settlement of Behramkale, located in the Northern Aegean region of Türkiye. The study explored the continuity of architectural and urban identity and its significance. The research involved a qualitative assessment of primary data obtained through architectural surveys and archival documents collected in 2017 and 2021. Data analysis not only focused on static features of place identity but included dynamic and perceptual features of place identity. Planning policy inadequacies and the implications of top-down decisions on vernacular rural Türkiye are discussed. The key finding from the study highlights the necessity for a more participatory and site-specific approach to preserving vernacular rural heritage’s urban and architectural identity for sustainable development. In this regard, the paper proposes that an identity-based and people-centred approach should be integrated into the policies for the development areas of vernacular rural settlements. This integration aims to preserve the local architectural identity and promote a belongingness community among residents.

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Author Biographies

Assist. Prof. Dr. Didem Boyacıoğlu , Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Ozyegin University, Türkiye

Didem Boyacıoğlu is an Asist. Prof. Dr. in Özyeğin University, Türkiye. She graduated from İstanbul Technical University, Architecture Department. She took her master’s degree from the Restoration Program and her doctorate from the History of Architecture Program of the same university. Since 2010, she has been giving design and history courses in several universities. She has articles published in national and international journals, in the fields of history and theory of architecture, and heritage conservation.

Dr. Özgür Göçer, Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture and Design, Ozyegin University, Türkiye

Dr Gocer is an architect and she holds a PhD in Building Science from the Istanbul Technical University (Turkey). Before joining the University of Sydney as a lecturer, she was doing a post-doc at the Indoor Environmental Quality Lab with the study of “The impact of indoor environment quality on work efficiency and building energy performance in intelligent workplaces”. Her project was focused on the relationship between indoor environmental quality design parameters and work productivity. Her research interests relate to the sustainable building design, building and building materials performance simulations, and post-occupancy evaluation for indoor and outdoor spaces.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ebru Ergöz Karahan, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Australia

Ebru Ergöz Karahan is an Associate Professor in Architecture and works at Özyeğin University in Türkiye. As an architect, she worked for several national and international construction firms. Recently, Karahan has been involved in national and international workshops and conferences and has works published in national and international books and journals. Sustainable cities and housing, occupant behavior and energy use, post occupancy evaluation are among her research interests.

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Published

2023-06-15

How to Cite

Boyacıoğlu, D., Göçer, Özgür, & Karahan, E. E. (2023). Exploring Identity Issues in Development Areas of Vernacular Rural Settlements: A Case Study of Behramkale, Türkiye. Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs, 7(1), 51–68. https://doi.org/10.25034/ijcua.2023.v7n1-4

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2023): Journal of Contemporary Urban Affairs

Section

Resilience and Built Environment

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Copyright (c) 2023 Assist. Prof. Dr. Didem Boyacıoğlu , Dr. Özgür Göçer, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ebru Ergöz Karahan

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.