An examination focused on the city image of Antalya Kaleiçi from its foundation to 1973

The image of the city is related to the elements of the urban space and the experiences that take place there. Socio-cultural and economic conditions in the city not only transform the urban space, but also create the urban image. Therefore, examining how the image of the city is formed and its elements provide a different reading of the city. Within the scope of this study, it was examined how the historical city center of Antalya Kaleiçi was established and how it changed by focusing on the city image during the period from its foundation to the 20th century (1923-1972). Research on urban image is important to make sense of a place/situation that has psychological and physical developments. For this reason, the study includes the analysis and the results, depending on the elements, of the urban image that should be kept for a legible city, where Lynch's work is also recorded. This talent was separated from the period starting from the Hellenistic period spent in Kaleiçi, until the registration as an Urban Site after the advertisement of the Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Ottoman and Republican periods. The effects of the determined images on the unique identity were evaluated by looking at the inter-period relations. There is no study in the literature that examines the historical and cultural elements of the city in the context of the image of the city. It is thought that this study, which reveals the effects of continuity and rupture in urban images in line with the changing needs from the past to the present, on the urban identity with comparisons and analyzes, is important in the context of preserving and maintaining historical environments. The importance of discussing the concept of urban image on the basis of theories and concepts such as urban identity, place attachment, urban memory and place preference comes to the fore even more with the acceleration of transformation practices in today's cities. KEYWORDS: City image, city identity, Kaleici, Lynch