An Integrated Urban Regeneration Approach For Historic City Centers

Historic city centers are places of collective memory, daily gatherings and stages of past events for a community. Therefore they have a crucial role in the context of city identity and urban character due to their tangible nature. Nevertheless, after the industrial revolution and World War I and II, cities started develop very rapidly. The city centers shifted to new places while the old city centers went through decay and marginalization. They became half ghost urban spaces and historic buildings started to deteriorate. The situation today necessitates a comprehensive urban regeneration and conservation for historic city centers, as they are significant elements of urban identity and character. This book suggests an integrated approach of UNESCO's World Heritage List criteria and Placemaking principles for regenerating and reviving historic cities. Melaka, a small city from Malaysia, and Tire, a characteristic historic village from Turkey, are investigated for this purpose.