The role of museums in urban transformation

Cities that have experienced population loss due to economic, social and political reasons, can be promoted both nationally and internationally by revealing all their tangible and intangible cultural assets together with local governments, universities, non-governmental organizations, professional groups and local people in order to realize their transformation. Because of these museums reveal "cultural mind" and "social memory" and give honour to people, local society will own them and they feel cultural belonging. Hence, the city will be transformed both economically and socially. In this thesis headed "The Role of Museums in Urban Transformation" firstly, the concepts of city, culture and museum are clarifed. In the second part, examples of the museums visited in Turkey and abroad are explained: Bayburt Baksı Museum in Bayraktar village, and Konya Municipality Sille Culture Village are examined in Turkey's museum section. In the overseas museums section, the Museum City Mértola, the Museum of Ruralidade and Portimao Museum in Portugal are discussed. Based on these examinations, in the last chapter, Develi District of Kayseri was handled in terms of its historical, geographical, tangible and intangible cultural assets. With the transition of Kayseri into metropolitan status, a museum project was suggested to Zile which was formerly a village of Develi and later turned into a neighborhood. For this museum project, suggestions were made by researches, field studies, qualitative examinations and oral history pratiques. All the studies evaluated as a whole. Museum building's sketch plan and suggestions for pieces which can be exhibitoned in museum are also represented in the thesis. Key Words: City, museum, local, tangible and intangible cultural entity.