An evaluation for architectural heritage of small settlements on İzmir-Uşak railway line: Ahmetli, Salihli, Alaşehir, Eşme cases

The Western Anatolia has been the settlement area of many civilizations with its location and fertile lands since ancient times. The fact that İzmir, the port city of the region, is located on trade routes, has rich backlands and the transfer of the products produced in the backlands from the port has played an active role in the revival of trade. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Industrial Revolution paved the way for important steps in the transition to mechanization, the utilization of raw material resources in industrial and economic activities, and developments in transportation. The developments of the Industrial Revolution were reflected in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and railway lines were planned to start from İzmir, the trade center of Western Anatolia, to facilitate access to the region's productive products and rich resources. The first railway line in Western Anatolia was built between İzmir and Aydın in 1856 and the construction of the railway continued with the İzmir-Kasaba railway line. The construction of the İzmir-Kasaba line, which started in 1866, was completed and it was decided to extend it to Alaşehir and Afyon with concessions and it became a line connecting İzmir and its suburbs. In the last quarter of the 19th century, railway transportation shaped the urban centers and development directions of Ahmetli, Salihli, Alaşehir and Eşme, which were small-scale settlements on the line, and streets and avenues connecting the settlements with the station compounds were opened and architectural structures were built around them. With the proclamation of the Republic, a new era began, and the reconstruction of settlements destroyed by war and fire, and giving cities a modern appearance constitute the main approaches of the Early Republican Period. The important arteries opened with the access of railway transportation to the city provide urban mobility by connecting with the axes of the Republican Period. Examples of similar building typologies were given with the construction of public buildings such as the Government Office and the Municipality, educational buildings, especially primary and secondary schools, Tariş settlements, commercial buildings and residences reflecting the architecture of the period, and the buildings played an active role in shaping the city center. The planning approaches of the station areas developed in Ahmetli, Salihli, Alaşehir and Eşme, where the railway passes, the development of urban space and the construction of architectural heritage around this region are similar. Many of the transportation, public, educational, commercial and residential buildings examined within the scope of this thesis were started to be constructed in the settlements after the opening of the railway (1875) and the majority of the buildings date to the Early Republican Period. In parallel with the developments in the settlements that have been transformed by urbanization and industrialization after the 1950s, urban and structural changes have been experienced and transformations have caused losses in the original qualities of cultural heritage. These buildings, which have an important place in the memory of the settlements, reflect the life and architectural approaches of the period and it is important to protect them by adopting a holistic approach through analysis and inventory studies.