Abstract:

This paper aims to evaluate the relationship between the development of tourism and sustainable urban conservation. This evaluation has focused on structures that have been preserved through registration. Within the traditional urban fabric of Safranbolu, 826 registered structures have been classified according to their type of utilization. The current condition of these structures along with their various treatments, land surveys and official registration documents have been analyzed. Thus, the accommodation-purposed structures used for tourism have been compared and evaluated against the current condition of other structures in terms of their modification/authenticity and their project situations. As a result, accommodation-purposed usage has been identified as one of the most significant factors in physically conserving the structures. However, along with the opportunities tourism supplies in conserving the structures physically, the risks it bears in completely changing the existing social/economic situation of the traditional urban fabric, conserving the traditional urban fabric and sustaining tourism in the long run have all been considered and evaluated. Keywords:Safranbolu; urban conservation; sustainable tourism.