Importance of a management plan in protection of cultural heritage: Istanbul Historic Peninsula Case

Abstract

Today, while current discussions elaborate topics like integrated urban management strategies; conservation plans; renovation actions and financial mechanisms for these actions; and the development of socially responsible projects, the terms “area management” and “management plan” play an important role in the practice of urban protection and planning in Turkey, as in the rest of the world. Management plans constitute one of the tools used in the planning and application processes and are accepted as a basis for providing a balance between protection, usage, and development. In the most general sense, these plans can be defined as tools that would guide the authorities in protecting and managing the areas, and in applying the decisions to the related institutions, in both today's world and the future. The terms “area management” and “management plan” have been placed on Turkey's agenda with the “World Heritage Convention”, to which Turkey became a party in 1983, parallel to the decisions of the World Heritage Centre regarding United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization “UNESCO” World Heritage Areas. Istanbul's World Heritage Areas joined the World Heritage List in 1985, and the first management plan was approved in 2011.With the annual revision processes of the management plans, in the context of the reconstruction process that is organized once every five years, the draft of the most recent management plan has been accepted in 2018. This study elaborates the Istanbul management plans of 2011 and 2018, particularly focusing on their preparation processes, the approaches embraced while making the plans, the influence of the plans on the protection of the Istanbul World Heritage Areas, and the perspectives of the local authorities and NonGovernmental Organizations “NGO's” regarding the plans.