Fifteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Historic environments are the physical memories of history and protecting their identity needs careful considerations. Today, in the age of technology and smart cities, historic urban environments transform while facing the contemporary patterns of life. Importance of preserving these environments has become more obvious during the recent years, as they are being more negatively affected by the factors such as destruction, density pressure, functional changes, economic dynamics, and tourism. Despite the natural process of destruction, other factors emerge from the changing taste of decision makers for more financial benefits in the tourism market. Tourism breathes a new life into historic environments, but demolishing the identity of these areas by specific new constructions is a concern. Istanbul, the most touristic city of Turkey, is divided into European and Asian parts. Millions of tourists visit the European part of Istanbul each year, so, numerous hotel brands compete for attracting more guests by the most impressive design in this historic urban environment. This is a qualitative literature-based research which focuses on the selected hotels as new designs in European historic areas of Istanbul, Turkey to evaluate their architectural design in the historical context.