IN-PERSON ISTANBUL HERITAGE(S)

Abstract

Heritage, cultural pasts, and urban futures are deeply interconnected concepts shaped by social context, geography, and time. This paper adopts a holistic approach to heritage, as encouraged by UNESCO, arguing that definitions of heritage extend across disciplinary, experiential, and geographic scales and are continuously negotiated and reshaped by communities, institutions, and media. Through the examination of both tangible and intangible heritage—manifested in artworks, architecture, urban landscapes, and cultural identities—the complex relationships between place, tradition, and urban futures are brought to the fore. The study analyses how heritage and urban development are represented and debated across diverse media platforms and how these shape public perception and collective ownership in Turkey. It pays particular attention to how media commodifies, politicizes, or popularizes cultural heritage narratives. Framed by a critical comparison between Turkish and European (notably French) approaches, the paper illustrates how Turkey’s heritage discourse intersects imperial legacy, Republican modernization, and multicultural realities, leading to contested urban policies. In contrast, French and broader European models emphasize secularism, republican universalism, and monumentality while addressing regional diversity and evolving social dynamics. By exploring architectural heritage, conservation strategies, secularism, national identity, and media’s influence, this paper reveals complex negotiations between preservation and modernization, collective memory, and integrating heritage into urban futures. Ultimately, it advocates for nuanced, inclusive, and context-sensitive heritage and urban planning approaches that balance local realities with global movements. Situated in Istanbul’s dynamic context, the discussion contributes to international dialogue on heritage, identity, media, and sustainable urban futures.