CULTURAL HERITAGE BUILDINGS IN URBAN IDENTITY: THE EXAMPLE OF TRABZON

Abstract

Cities are settlements that constitute the whole of the political, cultural, and social accumulations of the periods they were in. Each city creates its own identity by differentiating with the values they have. The urban identity that makes a city separate and singular from the others changes due to factors such as irregular urbanization, economic factors, and globalization and disappears over time by losing its meaning. In this context, it is very important to protect the cultural heritage buildings that have a remarkable, massive impact on the city, have historical value, and constitute the identity of the city. Some of the cultural heritage values become the landmark of the city by differing in terms of the features they carry in the city. Landmark elements that affect permanence in the mind become a symbol of the city and give meaning to cities. The landmark elements that have become distinctive in the urban fabric by differentiating in terms of location, shape-size, and color-material are the symbols of the city thanks to their physical characteristics. Within the scope of the study, the prominent landmark building of the city of Trabzon, which provides a rich spatial diversity due to its hosting many civilizations and has a preserved architectural texture, were determined by a questionnaire applied to 272 participants and the comprehension of these buildings was The effect of its buildings on urban identity was investigated by examining in terms of their characteristics. As a result of the study, the importance of the physical properties of cultural heritage buildings such as location, shape-size, material-color was emphasized, the effect of physical properties on the awareness of the buildings was investigated and suggestions for the introduction of these buildings to the city were presented