The importance of whole-part relationship in post-industrial urban landscapes for holistic conservation in line with the historical urban landscape approach: Eskişehir Old Factories district

Historic urban landscape approach, the latest paradigm in urban conservation, aims to conserve the city in a broader urban context beyond the boundaries of the conservation area, encompassing all tangible and intangible layers. It acknowledges that development is inherent in the nature of cities and argues that conservation is the key to sustainable urban development. Post-industrial urban landscapes also fall within the scope of the historic urban landscape as a historical layer and character area of the city. These landscapes within the city are subject to intense urban development pressure since they can include large unused areas and not every component is considered as heritage. A fragmented approach in conservation leads to the loss of the landscape's components on an individual basis, which damages the character of the industrial landscape. This deterioration also damages the integrity at a larger scale due to the fact that the loss of character at small scale negatively affects the urban identity. The post-industrial urban landscape of Eskişehir Old Factories Area is an example in this context and is examined as the study area. It is observed that with the demolition of individual factory buildings within the landscape located in the urban development area, monotonous construction has begun in the region, and the character has weakened. Within the chain of part-whole relationships, this destruction started at the scale of individual buildings that reinforce the distinctive features of the industrial landscape may lead to the deterioration of the distinctive character of the Old Factories Area, and then the character of Eskişehir city. The study aims to demonstrate the importance of developing a holistic conservation approach by considering the part-whole relationships. For this purpose, it examines how individual buildings in the post-industrial urban landscape of the Old Factories Area, a component of the historical urban landscape of Eskişehir, affect the area's character through solid-void analyses. Subsequently, it discusses the deterioration in character and the potential of the conserved character.