Assessment of the urban and tourism development in the Fener-Balat Districts

Abstract

Fener and Balat districts are located on the historic peninsula of Istanbul, Turkey. Rehabilitation programme of those districts is the first work in Istanbul after UNESCO has declared it as a world heritage site in 1985. The aim of the programme is to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of Balat and Fener. Buildings and environment of Balat and Fener, that a great part consists of traditional dwellings, demonstrate many problems of decay and dereliction. Occupiers of those buildings are the ones, who have low incomes. In the past years, this historic area took attention of the visitors like other historic quarters in Istanbul by the influence of the rehabilitation programme and world heritage site status. And these districts meet to tourism. But tourism can be a threat for historic areas without a proper urban planning. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the impacts of the tourism and recent urban planning in those historic districts and find a balance between urbanism and tourism.