DECODING THE UNKNOWN HISTORIC URBAN GRAMMAR OF ANTAKYA THROUGH PROPERTY RIGHTS

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15320/ICONARP.2020.109

Keywords:

Property rights, urban morphology, urban conservation, interpretation, methodology, Antakya.

Abstract

Purpose

This research proposes that the property rights in the title deeds records in an urban setting merit investigation to decode the unknown urban grammar of the order of historic Islamic-Ottoman urban forms which have consisted invisible links between the creation of urban form and its inhabitants.

Design/Methodology/Approach

This consideration of how an urban form is created and regulated according to property rights is a subject that has to date not been investigated like in this way by analyzing the archive materials and records in the title deeds and cadastral plans in a specific urban form. Accordingly, the hypothesis of this inquiry is focused on defining the relationships between property rights and urban form, which will help to reveal the hidden and intimate norms-regulations of the context. This will also help in the making of an objective analysis through information gathered from primary legal written and graphical sources –title deeds and cadastral plans– for a subjective issue. This research, therefore, suggest that the property rights and its urban grammar are not only one of the important factors in the formation of urban form, but important aspects in understanding the dialectic relations between formation and persistence of urban form and features.

Findings

The research findings can be group into two headings: literature review and case-study research. The literature review findings focusing on the analogy which is firstly used and defined in this research as a philosophical tool to explain the rules and rights related to property, and their role in managing the process of growth and shaping the urban form under the main tangible and intangible aspects. The case study research findings relying on Antakya historic urban form under the influence of property rights and presenting original analysis relied on original archive documents and site surveys. Accordingly, it concentrates on evaluations for decoding the unknown historic urban grammar of Antakya and presents original findings of the research.

Research Limitations/Implications

The research uses historical interpretive and case-study research methodologies in the limitations and implications of urban form and conservation studies.

Practical Implications

Increased knowledge on the influence of property rights and its order on formation of historic urban forms. The case-study part of this research demonstrated that the property rights an important aspect for considering how inhabitants created an urban form.

Social Implications

This research helps to understand the intimate values of urban forms by an objective and reliable analysis. It also helps to define social and/or moral values of historical urban form.

Originality/Value

This research firstly revealed the property rights that have major implications for understanding the formation and persistence of every single component of Antakya historic urban form. Therefore, it deserves greater consideration in urban studies such as urban morphology and conservation in order to make holistic assessments.

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Author Biographies

Mert Nezih Rifaioğlu

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mert Nezih Rifaioğlu received Ph.D. degree in the Graduate Program in Conservation of Cultural Heritage from Middle East Technical University. He has been involved in various conservation projects in Turkey, including Commagene-Nemrut Conservation and Development Programme. His main academic and professional interest areas are conservation of cultural heritage, urban morphology, management, planning and interpretation of heritage sites, design in historic environments. Since 2012, he has been full time academic staff in Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Faculty of Architecture and conducting basic design and architectural design studios, teaching conservation lectures.

Neriman Şahin Güçhan

Prof. Dr. Neriman Şahin Güçhan, joining the academic staff of the Graduate Program in Conservation of Cultural Heritage, METU Department of Architecture in 1984 where she currently works as a professor. She particularly contributes to education on the issue of preservation of heritage places and historic sites and has been involved in many kinds of research and conservation projects since 1984 whilst acting as the architect for some others. Her academic fields of interest include preservation, rehabilitation, and management of the heritage places; Turkish legislative & administrative system on conservation of cultural heritage; training/education on the preservation of traditional houses and historical buildings and their construction techniques; Nemrut Mount Tümülüs, Adıyaman, Southern Anatolia Project (GAP), Ankara, Ancient Greek Settlements in Anatolia. Presently serving as a member of some of the Scientific Advisory Boards o heritage places such as two UNESCO World Heritage Sites as Ani Archeological Site, Diyarbakır City Walls, Bodrum Castle and Gaziantep Yesemek Archeological Site. In between 2006-2015, Şahin Güçhan had been the coordinator for Commagene Nemrut Conservation and Development Program (www.nemrut.org.tr) which focuses on Nemrut Mount Tumulus, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

References

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Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Retrived from http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html.

Günay, B., (1999). Property Relations and Urban Space, Ankara: METU Faculty of Architecture Press.

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Hakim, B., S. (2010). “The Generative Nature of Islamic Rules for the Built Environment”, Archnet-IJAR International Journal of Architectural Research, 4(1): 208-212.

Kropf, K. (1993). An Enquiry into the Definition of Built Form in Urban Morphology, un-published Ph.D. thesis, Department of Geography, University of Birmingham, vol.1.

Kropf, K. (1996). “Urban tissue and the character of towns”, Urban Design International, 1(3): 247-263.

Kubat, A.S. and Topçu, M. (2009). “Antakya ve Konya Tarihi Kent Dokularının Morfolojik Açıdan Karşılaştırılması”, Uluslararası İnsan Bilimleri Dergisi, 6(2): 334-347.

Lawson, F.H. (1958). Introduction to the Law of Property, Greate Britain: Oxford at the Clarendon Press.

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Rifaioğlu, M.N. (2012). An Enquiry into the Definition of Property Rights in Urban Conservation: Antakya from 1929 Title Deeds and Cadastral Plans, un-published Ph.D. thesis, Graduate Programe in Restoration, Department of Architecture, Middle East Technical University.

Rifaioğlu, M.N. and Şahin Güçhan, N. (2013). "Property Rights as a Source for Identifying and Conserving the Spirit of Place", Megaron, 8(3): 137-148.

Sait, S. (2010). Land, propertyandhousingrights in theMuslimworld, United Nations Human SettlementsProgramme (UN-HABITAT), UNON Publishing Services, Nairobi.

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Topçu, M., 2019. “Morphological Structures of Historical Turkish Cities” [Special Issue “Urban Morphology”]. ICONARP International Journal of Architecture & Planning, 7: 212-239.

Umur, Z., 1990. Roma Hukuku, İstanbul: Beta Basım Yayın Dağıtım.

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Published

25-06-2020

How to Cite

Rifaioğlu, M. N., & Şahin Güçhan, N. (2020). DECODING THE UNKNOWN HISTORIC URBAN GRAMMAR OF ANTAKYA THROUGH PROPERTY RIGHTS. ICONARP International Journal of Architecture and Planning, 8(1), 158–186. https://doi.org/10.15320/ICONARP.2020.109

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2020)

Section

Articles

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