Examination of Güzelsu rural settlement in Akseki district of Antalya province within the context of integrated conservation

Rural settlements are values that are in harmony with the surrounding environment, shaped by traditional architectural products, conventional production techniques, cultural accumulation, and must be protected with a integrated conservation. However, rural settlements are facing conservation problems and extinction due to developing technology, urbanization and increasing rural to urban migration, and lack of conservation awareness. This study addressed the Güzelsu rural settlement in Akseki District of Antalya Province, which is faced with the conservation problems of the rural settlements as well as the opening of marble quarries, within the scope of integrated conservation. The study guided to document the natural, social, cultural environment and traditional architectural products that constitute the settlement and to determine the conservation problems in the rural settlement and to bring proposals within the scope of integrated conservation. In this context, the existing natural, architectural and intangible cultural heritage values in the settlement were revealed through field research and analysis studies. According to the analysis results, environmental, structural, socioeconomic and sociocultural structure intervention and conservation decisions were determined by taking into consideration the traditional texture data in the settlement. This study is an original study carried out within the scope of determining conservation problems and receiving integrated conservation suggestions in Güzelsu rural settlement, documenting Güzelsu with its natural and cultural values, and conservation-survival studies. Also, this study provides an example base for future rural conservation studies.