Rural gentrification of the ancient city of Assos (Behramkale) in Turkey

Abstract

Behramkale, also known as the ancient city of Assos, has gained considerable national and international visibility after its declaration as an Archaeological site in 1982 and later in 2000 as Urban Archaeological site. The declaration brought with it stringent regulations limiting new constructions and simple extensions in the historical village and opened new construction site outside the ancient city walls for future developments. After declaration, the village has become a major destination for cultural heritage led tourism. This largely growth oriented transformation is concerning as less attention given to shift in class structure. The paper uses the concepts of rural and tourism gentrification to understand this transformation in Behramkale using empirical evidence from a longitudinal, case study approach spanning between 2000 and 2017. The longitudinal, case study documents transformation in terms of (i) demographic and socio-economic changes; (ii) conservation practice in old settlement and development of new settlement; and (iii) change in property prices and ownership. It is seen that the authentic characteristics of the landscape and traditional buildings that is being abandoned but remains desirable have led to a population influx from, bigger cities of Turkey and also other countries, purchasing these homes as a primary or secondary house. This has led to renovation of the existing buildings with an increase in the property prices and displacement of the local population to the new development area. Consequently, the conservation practice in Behramkale served merely encouraging investment in building renovation rather than a function of preserving local community. The paper contributes to limited literature on rural gentrification within the Mediterranean context.