A study of urban transformation that aims at preserving history at the city centre: The case of Konya - Meram

With the rise of population in urban areas that started in the 1950s, urban sprawl, illegal dwelling, problems of basic infrastructure, structuring in disaster risk areas, decline in economic, social, and physical processes lead to obligatory and new policies and strategies about the active administration of urban areas. In this process, historical urban city centres that correlates past and future became almost collapsed due to old buildings, deformation in socio cultural and economic parts. Historical city centres have the soul and memory of the city. Therefore, historical and cultural richness should be preserved and the interaction between individual and urban space should be foregrounded without financial anxieties and rent seeking which is vital. This study analyzes Şükran Neighborhood in Meram as the application which is at the city centre and within the castle walls as a reference point. There have been various problems in Şükran Neighborhood for 20-30 years. In order to revitalize Şükran Neighborhood and foreground historical and cultural heritage, urban transformation fiction was analyzed for preserving, revitalization, and renewal strategies. The density of building have been descreased due to the archeological ruins in Şükran Neighborhood which is in the archelological site in the third degree. Therefore, transfering Uluırmak and Aymanas areas that resembles Şükran Neighborhood in socio economic level preferred.